Queen Anne's County, Maryland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Queen Anne's County
U.S. county
Queen Anne's County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Maryland
Maryland's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Founded	1706
Named for	Queen Anne
Seat	Centreville
Largest community	Stevensville
Area
• Total	511 sq mi (1,320 km2)
• Land	372 sq mi (960 km2)
• Water	139 sq mi (360 km2)  27%
Population  (2010)
• Total	47,798
• Estimate  (2019)	50,381
• Density	93.54/sq mi (36.12/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	1st

Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,798. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville is the county's most populous place. The county is named for Queen Anne of Great Britain, who reigned when the county was established in 1706 during the colonial period.

Queen Anne's County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area, and is the easternmost in both. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects Queen Anne County of the Eastern Shore to Anne Arundel County on the Western Shore.

The American Discovery Trail runs through the county.

History

Queen Anne's County has two hundred sixty-five miles of waterfront area, much of that being the shores of Kent Island, which stands out from the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. From the waters of this county, watermen have brought oysters, crabs, and terrapin. Migrating waterfowl overwinter here, and hunting for geese and ducks has been an important part of the county's history. The first settlement in Maryland was on Kent Island in August 21, 1631, and included twenty-five settlers in a manor house, a fort, and other buildings. The settlement was referred to as Winston's Island. The first houses were built similar to log cabins. Although the county has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places, the original settlement no longer exists. One of the oldest towns still existing is Stevensville, earlier known as Broad Creek.

Queen Anne's County was organized under a sheriff in 1706, bounded by Talbot, Kent, and Dorchester Counties. In 1713, Queen Anne's County became an English postal district where the sheriff was the postmaster and would travel to Annapolis by boat to obtain mail. In 1773 a part of Queen Anne's County, together with a portion of Dorchester County, was taken to form Caroline County. The county now is enclosed by Talbot, Caroline, and Kent County as well as the Chesapeake Bay.

By the time of Independence, the county had several churches, a government, school, and a postal system.

In 1876, Queen Anne's County had the first printed independent paper called the Maryland Citizen, and a bank, located in Centreville; the Centreville National Bank exists to this day. When the Railroad Company was finished in 1868 it operated from Baltimore around the top of the Chesapeake Bay down to Queenstown, and connected with other railroads that continued east into Delaware as far as Rehoboth, and southward to the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In the 20th century, Queen Anne's County was the home of Baseball Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx. There is a statue and small park in Sudlersville, where Foxx grew up.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 511 square miles (1,320 km²), of which 372 square miles (960 km²) is land and 139 square miles (360 km²) (27%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Kent County (north)
• Kent County, Delaware (east)
• Talbot County (south)
• Caroline County (southeast)
• Anne Arundel County (west)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 47,798 people, 18,016 households, and 13,314 families living in the county. The population density was 128.5 inhabitants per square mile (49.6/km²). There were 20,140 housing units at an average density of 54.2 per square mile (20.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.7% white, 6.9% black or African American, 1.0% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.9% were German, 22.4% were Irish, 15.8% were English, 6.2% were Italian, and 6.1% were American.

Of the 18,016 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.1% were non-families, and 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age was 42.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $81,096 and the median income for a family was $89,188. Males had a median income of $57,218 versus $43,371 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,964. About 3.8% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Towns

Census-designated places

The Census Bureau recognizes the following census-designated places in the county:

• Chester
• Grasonville
• Kent Narrows
• Kingstown
• Stevensville

Unincorporated communities

Education

Public schools

Colleges and universities

• Chesapeake College

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Queen Anne para niños