Cabin John, Maryland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cabin John, Maryland
Census-designated place
Location in Montgomery County and Maryland
Country	United States
State	Maryland
County	Montgomery
Area
• Total	1.64 sq mi (4.25 km2)
• Land	1.22 sq mi (3.16 km2)
• Water	0.42 sq mi (1.09 km2)
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,459
• Density	2,015.57/sq mi (778.25/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code	20818
Area code(s)	301, 240
FIPS code	24-12075
GNIS feature ID	2389262

Cabin John is a small community in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the United States. It's not an official town, but a special area called a census-designated place (CDP). This means it's a place the government counts for population, but it doesn't have its own local government. In 2020, about 2,459 people lived there. Cabin John is located right next to the Potomac River and is close to Washington, D.C., making it a suburb of the capital city.

History of Cabin John

How Cabin John Got Its Name

The name "Cabin John" might have come from "Captain John's Run," which was a stream mentioned in old records from 1715. This stream is now called Cabin John Creek. People think "Cabin John" is a changed version of "Captain John," but no one is completely sure how the name started.

The Famous Union Arch Bridge

Cabin John is home to the amazing Union Arch Bridge. This bridge was built between 1857 and 1864 over Cabin John Creek. When it was finished, it had the longest single-span stone arch in the world! It's still the longest one in the United States today.

Next to the bridge, a place called the Cabin John Bridge Hotel was built in 1870. It started as a simple place for workers to get refreshments and stay. But it grew into a fancy hotel where important politicians and famous people from Washington, D.C., would visit. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this hotel was so popular that The Washington Post newspaper often wrote about it. Sadly, the hotel was destroyed by a fire in 1931.

Transportation and Growth

For many years, Cabin John was connected to other areas by streetcars. From 1897 to the 1930s, you could take a streetcar to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Around 1900, streetcars also connected Cabin John to Bethesda, Maryland. The streetcar service eventually stopped around 1960.

The Navy's Test Facility and Housing

Near Cabin John, in an area called Carderock, the U.S. Navy built a huge test facility between 1936 and 1939. It's called the David Taylor Model Basin, and it's one of the biggest places in the world for testing ship designs.

The Navy had originally planned to build this facility in Cabin John. Instead, they used the land to build homes for the workers. They built 125 homes: 100 for white workers and 25 for black workers. These homes were in two small neighborhoods: Cabin John Gardens and Carver Road. Many families who moved into these homes stayed there for generations.

In the past, before 1968, some property deeds had rules that made it difficult for African Americans and other people of color to buy or rent homes in certain areas. For example, a deed from 1924 said that property could not be sold or rented to "any person or persons of the negro race or other persons of color." These kinds of rules are now illegal because of laws like the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which made sure everyone has a fair chance to find a home.

Geography of Cabin John

Cabin John is located in the southern part of Montgomery County, Maryland. It's less than 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. To the south, it's bordered by the Potomac River and the state of Virginia.

Natural Features

A section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) runs through Cabin John, including several locks (numbered 8 through 12). The community is also where you can access Plummers Island in the Potomac River. This island is very special because it has been studied more than almost any other island in North America by scientists!

Boundaries and Roads

Since Cabin John is an unincorporated area, its exact borders aren't officially set by a local government. However, the United States Census Bureau defines it as a census-designated place (CDP). The CDP borders are the Capital Beltway (a major highway, I-495) to the west and north, Cabin John Parkway to the northeast, and the Maryland–Virginia state line along the Potomac River to the south.

The Clara Barton Parkway runs alongside the Potomac River and the C&O Canal, leading southeast into Washington, D.C. Downtown Washington is about 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Cabin John.

The Cabin John CDP covers about 1.64 square miles (4.25 km²). Of this, about 1.22 square miles (3.16 km²) is land, and 0.42 square miles (1.09 km²), or about 26.51%, is water.

Before the Cabin John Parkway was built in the mid-1960s, the area was thought to extend further north to River Road (Maryland Route 190). The Cabin John Parkway is a road that connects the Clara Barton Parkway to the Capital Beltway. It follows the Cabin John Creek valley and goes under the Union Arch Bridge. When the parkway was built, about half of the creek's width was turned into roadway.

Historically, Cabin John is part of a region called the Potomac Gorge. This is a 15-mile (24 km) long area where the hard bedrock of the Piedmont region changes to the softer rocks and soils of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The elevation drops from about 140 feet (43 m) to just 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level in this area.

Population Information

According to the 2020 census, the population of Cabin John was 2,459 people.

In the year 2000, there were 1,734 people living in Cabin John. Most of the people (about 85%) were White, and about 8.77% were Asian. About 3.63% were African American.

The average age of people in Cabin John in 2000 was 42 years old. About 25.8% of the population was under 18 years old.

See also

In Spanish: Cabin John (Maryland) para niños