Brandywine, Maryland

The CDP and town are adjacent to the southern border of Prince George's County, lying east and west of busy Maryland Route 5/U.S. Route 301, which merge at Brandywine. Brandywine CDP is bordered by Accokeek to the west, Clinton and Rosaryville to the north, Croom to the northeast, and Cedarville to the southeast, all in Prince George's County. Waldorf in Charles County borders Brandywine to the south. The Brandywine zip code area encompasses parts of both counties and includes Cedarville and Baden.

Designated as part of the Prince George's County rural tier,[4] it is primarily rural with a suburban and commercial center.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 1,410 people, 478 households, and 377 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 320.4 people per square mile (123.7/km²). There were 501 housing units at an average density of 113.8/sq mi (44.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 56.24% White, 38.23% African American, 1.13% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 2.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.

There were 478 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.1% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $57,063, and the median income for a family was $64,038. Males had a median income of $41,783 versus $35,242 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $19,035. About 8.6% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.

William H. Early named the town of Brandywine as property he owned in the mid-19th century. The CDP consists of the property he owned in the 19th century. It is thought to be named after the Battle of Brandywine of the American Revolutionary War. Brandywine was developed on the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad's Pope Creek (Southern Maryland) line in about 1873 and was the only town on the route that developed into a railroad town.[6]

On September 1, 1877, around 4 p.m., a small 2.7 magnitude earthquake struck Brandywine.[7]

In 1912, the Bank of Brandywine was chartered from what had previously been the Southern Maryland German-American Bank.[8][9]

Although located between the substantial bedroom cities of Clinton and Waldorf, Brandywine remained rural until after the turn of the twenty-first century, when shopping centers - including big-box stores, and small residential developments were built. By mid-2019, relief should come from daily commuter traffic bottlenecks, when completion of a major highway overpass, and a roundabout, will eliminate two traffic signals.

Historical sites

The following is a list of historic sites in Brandywine, which includes Baden and T.B. identified by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, none of which are currently museums:[10][11]

	Site Name	Image	Location	M-NCPPC Inventory Number	Comment
1	Black Swamp School		19011 Croom Road	87A-057	Designated in 2009; Officially 1899 "Colored School No. 2, District 8" in Horsehead
2	Black Walnut Thicket		15508 Letcher Road East	86B-010	Located at Baden; 1856 plantation house, extensively altered in 1930s
3	Chapel of the Incarnation		14070 Brandywine Road	85A-032-27	Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 2000-12-13
4	Charles S. Early House		14280 Brandywine Road	85B-010	1870, 2-story, gable roof farmhouse
5	William W. Early House		13907 Cherry Tree Crossing Road	85A-032-09	Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as of 1988-06-30; privately owned
6	Gibbons Methodist Episcopal Church Site and Educational Building		14107 Gibbons Church Road	86B-1
7	Gwynn Park Manor		7911 Dyson Road	85A-013	Located at T.B.
8	Kalmia (Kalaird)		15110 Nelson Perrie Road	86B-009	Located at Baden
9	Marlow-Huntt Store and Casket Shop		13700 and 13702 Old Brandywine Road	85A-033-14	Located at T.B.
10	Old Bank of Brandywine		14110 Brandywine Road	85A-032-30
11	Poplar Hill School		19104 Croom Road	87A-12	Located at Baden
12	Rosemount (Skinner-Martin House)		13201 Martin Road	86B-002
13	St. Paul's Parish Church		SE of Brandywine off MD 381	86B-014	Located at Baden. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1977-09-15
14	St. Thomas Methodist Episcopal Church		18810 Aquasco Road	87A-10	Located at Baden
15	T.B. School		14000 Crain Highway	85A-26
15	United-Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church		6810 Floral Park Road	85A-018
17	William H. Townshend House		12804 Windbrook Drive	81B-007
18	Sasscer Tobacco Barn		13400 Molly Berry Road	86B-038

The Brandywine community includes Gwynn Park High School, several well-known automobile salvage lots, and a construction equipment vehicle sales lot. A large commercial center was created with the development of Brandywine Crossing shopping center's opening in October 2008[12] and growing to 800,000 SF with 49 commercial spaces as of 2016.[13]

Prince George's County Police Department District 5 Station in Clinton CDP and District 7 Station in Fort Washington CDP serve the community.[14][15]

The U.S. Postal Service operates the Brandywine Post Office.[16]

Brandywine residents are assigned to schools in Prince George's County Public Schools.[17]

Residential areas of the CDP area are zoned to Brandywine Elementary School,[18] Gwynn Park Middle School,[19] and Gwynn Park High School.[20]

• Donnie Neuenberger, NASCAR driver[21]
• People from Brandywine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brandywine, Maryland.

• Brandywine, Maryland
• Brandywine, Maryland at Curlie