Editing Waldorf, Maryland (section)

==History==
[[File:William Waldorf Astor.jpg|thumb|left|The community is named after [[William Waldorf Astor]], whose great-grandfather hailed from [[Walldorf]], Germany.]]

What is now the Waldorf area was originally part of the territory of the [[Piscataway Indian Nation]], along with all of Southern Maryland, including Charles County.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2018/10/01/piscataway-conoy/ |title=Piscataway-Conoy: Rejuvenating ancestral ties to southern parks, Territory and structure |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=October 1, 2018 |website=news.maryland.gov |publisher=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |access-date=March 8, 2022 |quote=}}</ref> Close to the current western Waldorf area, the presence of villages, Indian grave sites (holding remains of over 1,000 people) and hunting encampments of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] / Indian peoples have been confirmed, by archeological study of evidence dating from 1690 back to 6,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/PrinceGeorges/PG;83-11.pdf |title=Accokeek Creek Archaeological Site, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY HISTORIC SITES SUMMARY SHEET |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1950s |website=mht.maryland.gov |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/accokeek-creek.htm |title=Accokeek Creek, Piscataway Park, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 22, 2021 |website=www.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=March 8, 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

Europeans and African Americans first settled in the area in the 1600s.<ref name="auto1"/>  The town of Waldorf's original name was Beantown at least as far back as the [[American Civil War]]. During his flight after [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassinating Abraham Lincoln]], [[John Wilkes Booth]] told a road sentry he was headed to his home in Charles County near Beantown and was allowed to proceed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/booth.htm|title = The Death of John Wilkes Booth, 1865}}</ref> Booth later received medical attention for his broken leg from [[Samuel Mudd|Dr. Samuel A. Mudd]] at his [[Dr. Samuel Mudd House|home]] in Waldorf, before continuing his flight.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Dr. Mudd |url=https://drmudd.org/about-dr-mudd/ |website=Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum |date=March 2, 2019 |access-date=23 November 2023}}</ref> In 1880, the [[General Assembly of Maryland]] by an act changed the name to "Waldorf" in honor of [[William Waldorf Astor]] (1848–1919), the great-grandson of [[John Jacob Astor]] (1763–1848), who was born in [[Walldorf]], [[Electoral Palatinate|Palatinate]], [[Germany]].<ref>Herbert C. Ebeling: ''William Waldorf Astor''. (Walldorf: Astor-Stiftung, 2007, p. 106).</ref> On July 29, 1908, the city of Plumb Valley in [[Waseca County, Minnesota]], changed its name to [[Waldorf, Minnesota|Waldorf]] after Waldorf, Maryland.<ref>Herbert C. Ebeling: ''William Waldorf Astor.'' (Walldorf: Astor-Stiftung, 2007, pp. 107+113).</ref>

Once a [[tobacco]] market village, Waldorf came to prominence in the 1950s as a [[gambling]] destination after [[slot machine]]s were legalized in Charles County in 1949. The boom lasted until 1968, when gambling was once again outlawed.<ref>{{cite web
   |url=http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=9408
   |title=Feature: What Can Maryland's Troubled History with Slot Machines Tell Us About the Odds for the Future?
   |last=Janis
   |first=Stephen
   |publisher=Baltimore City Paper
   |date=2004-12-01
   |access-date=2008-04-18
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929205441/http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=9408
   |archive-date=2008-09-29
   |url-status=dead
   }}</ref> Its subsequent substantial growth as a residential community began with a 1970 loan package from the Department of [[Housing and Urban Development]] which fueled the giant planned community of [[St. Charles, Maryland|St. Charles]], south of Waldorf.