Adelphi is an
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in
Prince George's County,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 16,823. Adelphi includes the following subdivisions; Adelphi, Adelphi Park, Adelphi Hills, Adelphi Terrace, Adelphi Village, Buck Lodge, Chatham, Cool Spring Terrace, Hillandale Forest, Holly Hill Manor, Knollwood, Lewisdale, and White Oak Manor.
History
The unincorporated Adelphi community takes its name from the historic
Adelphi Mill, established in 1796 along the
Northwest Branch of the
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...
. and continues to attract visitors and can be rented for special functions. During the 19th century,
George Washington Riggs acquired much of the area northeast of
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, as his Green Hill estate in the
Chillum Manor district. That estate included present-day Adelphi. In the early 1920s, part of the area was acquired by
Leander McCormick-Goodhart as part of his
Langley Park estate. Labor organizer
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones died in 1930, at the farm of Walter and Lillie May Burgess near Powder Mill and Riggs Roads in present-day Adelphi. A marker was erected by the
Maryland State Highway Administration
The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA, MDOT SHA, or simply SHA) is the state mode responsible for maintaining Maryland's Maryland highway system, numbered highways outside Baltimore. Formed originally under authority of the Maryland ...
commemorating Mother Jones at her death site. Unlike its nearby neighbors
Hyattsville and
College Park, the area remained relatively undeveloped until immediately following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. At that time, subdivisions quickly developed.
To distinguish it from the other neighboring unincorporated communities of
Lewisdale and
Langley Park, the growing subdivisions banded together in the mid-1950s and adopted the name "Adelphi" to reflect their commitment to the preservation of the historic mill of the same name. A community focal point that originally developed in the late 1950s is the Adelphi Pool, a private pool in the Adelphi neighborhood, located next to George Washington Cemetery on Riggs Road.
Use of the Adelphi Pool requires paid membership or being accompanied by a member and paying a small fee. The Adelphi pool offers swimming lessons and also features swim teams which compete against each other. Two notable features of the Adelphi Pool are its long water slide and basketball hoop.
In 1971, the
Harry Diamond Laboratories
The Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) was a research facility under the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and later the U.S. Army. It conducted research and development in electronic components and devices and was at one point the largest elec ...
was established on in the northern part of Adelphi. That facility continues as the Adelphi Laboratory Center,
Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the foundational research laboratory for the United States Army under the United States Army Futures Command (AFC). DEVCOM ARL conducts intramural an ...
(ARL), the U.S. Army's corporate research laboratory.
Other adjacent federal facilities include the
National Archives at College Park
The National Archives at College Park (also known as "Archives II") is a National Archives facilities, major facility of the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States which is located in College Park, Maryland. The facili ...
and headquarters of the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
.
Historic sites
The following is a list of historic sites in Adelphi identified by the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.
History
The commission was formed in 1927 by the Maryland G ...
:
Geography
Adelphi is located at (38.996860, −76.966755).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the Census Designated Place (CDP) has a total area of , all land.
Adjacent areas
*
Hillandale (northwest)
*
Beltsville (north)
*
Calverton (north)
*
College Park (southeast)
*
Hyattsville (south)
*
Lewisdale (southwest)
*
Langley Park (southwest)
*
Silver Spring (west)
Demographics
2020 census
2000 Census
As of 2000, there were 14,998 people, 5,332 households, and 3,321 families that were reported to be living in Adelphi, Maryland. The population density was . There were 5,627 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was quite diverse, including 29.48%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 39.83%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.28%
Native American, 9.95%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 15.04% from
other races, and 5.36% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 25.74% of the population.
There were 5,332 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.7% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.35.
In the CDP, the age distribution of the population included 22.7% under the age of 18, 13.0% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,827, and the median income for a family was $53,839. Males had a median income of $32,495 versus $31,932 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $20,952. About 6.6% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Government and infrastructure
The
Prince George's County Police Department serves Adelphi through District 1, with its station in
Hyattsville.
The
Chillum-Adelphi Volunteer Fire Department (CAVFD) serves Adelphi. The station is in Langley Park CDP and has an Adelphi postal address.
[2010 Census – Census Block Map: Langley Park CDP, MD]
" U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 31, 2018. In March 1951 and June 8, 1951 the CAVFD was established and chartered, respectively. From November and March 1953 the fire station on Riggs Road was constructed; the County Volunteer Firemen's Association designated it Station No. 34. Portions of Station No. 34 were rebuilt in the early 1960s, and it was rededicated on November 16, 1963. In 1962 the CAVFD began building a substation, No. 44, which was dedicated on November 16, 1963, but in 1992 it sold the substation to the county government.
The
University System of Maryland has an office in College Park, which has an Adelphi postal address and is called the "Adelphi Office".
[ - Annapolis and Columbia are stated as office locations. The "Adelphi" office is actually in College Park]
as indicated here
Formerly it was the headquarters of the entire system.
Education
Adelphi is the home of the
University of Maryland Global Campus, and the community is located near the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
main campus in
College Park.
Adelphi is served by the
Prince George's County Public Schools system. In 2000, a new elementary school opened in the community dedicated to labor organizer
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones.
Elementary schools in Adelphi:
[Neighborhood Elementary Schools and Boundaries School Year 2017-2018]
" Prince George's County Public Schools. Retrieved on January 31, 2018.
* Adelphi Elementary School
* Cherokee Lane Elementary School
* Cool Spring Elementary School]
* Mary Harris "Mother" Jones Elementary School
A southeastern section is zoned to University Park Elementary School in
University Park, Maryland, University Park.
[
Two middle schools in Adelphi, Buck Lodge Middle School and ]Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
Middle School, take up most of the CDP. Sotomayor Middle opened in 2023. Most residents are zoned to High Point High School in Beltsville.[Neighborhood High Schools and Boundaries School Year 2023-2024]
" Prince George's County Public Schools. Retrieved on September 28, 2024. A southeastern section is zoned to Hyattsville Middle School and Northwestern High School in Hyattsville.[
]
Notable people
* John Fahey— Recorded the first Tacoma Records album at the St. Michaels and All Angels Church
*Fred Funk
Frederick Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour, where he was an eight-time winner. Funk's signature win came at The Players Championship ...
- professional golfer.
* Roy Hibbert - NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player for the Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
*Mary Harris Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onward, was an Irish-born American labor organizer, former schoolteacher, and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organi ...
(1837-1930) - Labor organizer known as "Mother" Jones
* Hugh V. Perkins (1918-1988) - educator, author, and professor of Education, University of Maryland - College Park.
See also
* Avenel-Hillandale, name of a census-designated place that was part of Adelphi in 1970.
References
External links
Cool Spring Terrace Civic Association
Adelphi Pool
Chillum-Adelphi Volunteer Fire Department
History of the Army Research Laboratory
Mother Jones Plaque in Adelphi, MD
A scalable PDF map of Prince George's County, MD, showing the boundaries of the Adelphi Census Designated Place and other CDPs and Census Incorporated Places in the county -- from the Maryland Department of Planning web site
{{Prince George's County, Maryland
Populated places established in 1796
Census-designated places in Prince George's County, Maryland
Census-designated places in Maryland
Washington metropolitan area
1796 establishments in Maryland
Neighborhoods of Silver Spring, Maryland