Editing La Plata, Maryland (section)

==History==
According to an unconfirmed local story, the town was named by one [[Colonel Samuel Chapman]], whose family owned {{convert|6,000|acre|km2}} of land in [[Charles County]].  The Colonel traveled to [[South America]] with his son George, who had contracted [[tuberculosis]], in search of a cure.  In his travels, the Colonel had apparently encountered the [[Río de la Plata]], which flows through [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]], thus naming a portion of his property "La Plata".<ref>{{cite news 
  | last = Winkler
  | first = Wayne
  | title = How La Plata Got Its Name
  | publisher = Town Notes: News from La Plata Town Hall
  | date = February–March 2007
  | url = http://www.townoflaplata.org/vertical/Sites/{C5944482-8A4A-48D0-B56C-BE347B799FF3}/uploads/{9811B3A4-5434-428B-88D9-07C5D61B95B0}.PDF
  | access-date = February 2, 2007 }}</ref>

In the 1870s, a section of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] had been constructed through the town of La Plata, leading to its 1888 incorporation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Town of La Plata|url=http://townoflaplata.org/|publisher=The Town of La Plata|access-date=September 20, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

The [[La Plata courthouse]] had been built soon after the 1819 [[Port Tobacco courthouse]] caught fire in 1895 under suspicious circumstances.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Meyer|first1=Eugene L.|title=Port Tobacco: Where a Visitor Is a Crowd|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/2003/09/06/port-tobacco-where-a-visitor-is-a-crowd/fc51042e-48a4-4cc3-988c-14faf549ce0b/|access-date=September 20, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 6, 2003}}</ref> In 1904, the historic Christ Episcopal Church in Port Tobacco, which dates to 1683 and was reconstructed in 1884, was dismantled and its stones were then transported by oxen and cart to its current lot in La Plata.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://christchurchlaplata.org/about/history/|website=christchurchlaplata.org|publisher=Christ Church of La Plata|access-date=September 20, 2017}}</ref>

In 1940, the opening of the then Potomac River Bridge (later, the [[Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge]]), which carries [[U.S. Route 301 in Maryland|U.S. Route 301]] over the [[Potomac River]], provided a link to [[King George, Virginia]] and brought long-distance [[East Coast of the United States|east coast]] traffic through the town as an alternative to [[U.S. Route 1 in Maryland|U.S. 1]] and, later, [[Interstate 95 in Maryland|Interstate 95]].  The bridge was replaced and widened in 2021.

===Tornadoes===
Despite being well outside the climatologically favored area for significant [[tornado]]es, La Plata has been impacted by several throughout its history. The most recent tornado to strike the town was an [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF1]] on [[Tornadoes of 2017#February 25|February 25th, 2017]].<ref>Storm Reports ([https://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/event.php?date=20170225 February 25, 2017]) | [[Storm Prediction Center]]</ref>

'''1926'''

On November 9, 1926, an unusual [[Fujita scale|F4]] tornado killed 17 people. 14 of them where from the La Plata Elementary School, which was totally destroyed.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Tornado in Southern Maryland, November 3, 1926|author=Thomas R. Brooks|journal=Monthly Weather Review|publisher=American Meteorological Society|pages=462|volume=54, 11|date=November 1926|doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1926)54<462:TTISMN>2.0.CO;2|issn=1520-0493|issue=11|bibcode=1926MWRv...54..462B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gazulis|first=Thomas P.|title=Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. A Chronology and Analysis of Events|year=1993|publisher=Environmental Films|location=St. Johnsbury, Vermont|isbn=1-879362-03-1|page=804}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tornado Downgraded from Most Powerful |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-md.tornado08may08-story.html |publisher=Baltimore Sun |access-date=December 27, 2018 |date=May 8, 2002}}</ref> This is also the deadliest tornado in Maryland's history.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

'''1994'''

On July 27, 1994, the town was struck by two nonfatal tornadoes, occurring just 11 minutes apart. The initial tornado was rated [[Fujita scale|F2]] on the Fujita scale, which is already uncommon for the region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Washington Post, tornadoes in La Plata |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/04/30/not-la-platas-first-or-worst/63f19869-bd28-4934-8ab3-356c5dfa6562/}}</ref>

'''2002'''

''{{main|2002 La Plata tornado}}''

On [[Midwest to Mid-Atlantic United States tornado outbreak of 2002|April 28, 2002]], an extremely powerful and fast-moving F4 tornado cut a {{convert|78|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} swath through southeastern Maryland, with areas around La Plata being damaged most severely.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wilkes |first=Jen Narramore-Nick |date=25 April 2020 |title=La Plata, MD F4 Tornado – April 28, 2002 – Tornado Talk |url=https://www.tornadotalk.com/la-plata-md-f4-tornado-april-28-2002/ |access-date=2022-04-15 |language=en-US}}</ref> This tornado caused five deaths and at least $115 million in damages.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puzzilla |first1=Anthony G. |title=Hope Triumphs over Chaos: The la Plata Tornado of April 28, 2002 |date=2 April 2022 |publisher=Anthony Puzzilla |isbn=978-1734550443}}</ref>

Local officials credited federal- and state-assisted new construction efforts with helping them to remodel the downtown area following the tornado,<ref name="umd-newsline">{{cite web| url=http://www.newsline.umd.edu/politics/laplata/page5.htm| title=Rebuilding La Plata after the storm| year=2002| publisher=University of Maryland College of Journalism| access-date=June 30, 2009}}</ref> as several new public buildings replaced some of those damaged there. A new La Plata Town Hall, for example, became Southern Maryland's first [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED]]-certified building,<ref>{{cite news
   |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081500046.html
   |title=La Plata Town Hall Is First 'Green' Building in S.Md.
   |last=Rucker
   |first=Philip
   |newspaper=The Washington Post
   |date=August 16, 2007
|page=SM01
   |access-date=May 2, 2008
}}</ref> and an old building considered historic by local residents, which housed a [[CVS Pharmacy]] store at the time of the tornado, was rebuilt in a new location after the storm. In the days after the tornado, help was provided by twenty-seven different jurisdictions, as well as the nearby Amish community in St. Mary's County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.townoflaplata.org/vertical/Sites/%7BC5944482-8A4A-48D0-B56C-BE347B799FF3%7D/uploads/AFTER_THE_STORM_PASSED_BY.pdf|title=After the Storm Passed By|last=Eckman|first=William|website=Town of La Plata}}</ref>