Editing Upper Marlboro, Maryland (section)

==History==
[[File:PGcourthouse3.JPG|thumb|upright=1|The main entrance to the [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's County]] courthouse in December 2008]]
[[File:PGcourthouse2.JPG|thumb|upright=1|The Three Horse Statue featured prominently in front of the county courthouse in December 2008]]
The area of Upper Marlboro was first settled around 1695. It was named after [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]], an ancestor of [[Winston Churchill]]. The land, which was to become the town, was part of several estates known as Grove Landing, Meadows, and Darnall's Chance, owned by the Brooke, Beall, and Darnall families, respectively.

[[Darnall's Chance]], also known as the Buck House, Buck-Wardrop House, or James Wardrop House, is a historic home located at 14800 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, in Upper Marlboro. It is named after Colonel Henry Darnall, a wealthy Roman Catholic planter, who was the Proprietary Agent of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore and who served for a time as Deputy Governor of the Province. The house itself was built c. 1742 by a merchant named James Wardrop, after he bought some of the land from Eleanor Darnall Carroll and her husband. Today, Darnall's Chance houses the Darnall's Chance House Museum, an historic house museum that opened to the public in 1988.

In 1706, Marlborough Town was established as a port town by the Act for the Advancement of Trade and Erecting Ports and Towns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=United States Department of the Interior -National Park Service |date=October 28, 2012 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/b6a1a225-2486-4d8e-af00-f36b36d63bdb |access-date=February 18, 2024 |website=Town of Upper Marlboro Residential Area}}</ref> It was declared that the town would be constructed, "at the upper landing on the Western Branch, commonly called Colonel Belt's landing." County surveyor Thomas Truman Greenfield conducted a survey of {{convert|100|acre|km2}} of the three estates from which the town would be formed. Streets, alleys, a meetinghouse, lots for small businesses, and 100 lots to be used for homes were laid out. The earliest plans showed the town being laid out in a grid pattern with an L shape.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} In 1718 residents asked the county government's general assembly, then based in Charles Town, via petition to move the county seat to Upper Marlboro. The county seat has been there since that time.<ref name=HernandezLargo>{{cite news|author=Hernández, Arelis R.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/baker-wants-to-move-government-headquarters-to-largo-lawmakers-say/2015/07/22/3f5fa562-271e-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html|title=Baker wants to move government headquarters to Largo, lawmakers say|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=July 22, 2015|access-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref>

Residents of the area were not happy with Greenfield's initial layout and petitioned the General Assembly to have the town replatted. In 1744, the new survey was approved and the town was given a new name, Upper Marlborough. Upper was added to distinguish the town from the community of Marlboro (now known as [[Lower Marlboro, Maryland|Lower Marlboro]]) in [[Calvert County, Maryland|Calvert County]].

Early in its life, when the western branch of the [[Patuxent River]] was still navigable, the town served as a port town for tobacco ships. The town blossomed into an agricultural, social, and political hot spot. Farms, many of which raised tobacco, dominated the surrounding areas.

In 1721, a [[courthouse]] was constructed in the town. The county seat was then moved from Charles Town, on the banks of the Patuxent, to Upper Marlborough. The courthouse was built with money from a 12-pound tobacco tax imposed on county inhabitants. One of the first laws passed at the courthouse was the Public School Act, which established a public school system.

In 1814, Upper Marlboro was seized by British forces under the command of [[Robert Ross (British Army officer)|Major-General Robert Ross]] and [[George Cockburn|Rear Admiral George Cockburn]] during the campaign leading up to the [[Battle of Bladensburg]] and the [[Burning of Washington]].<ref>Latimer, John ''1812: War with America'' (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2007), 311.</ref>

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many prominent merchants, lawyers, and politicians lived and worked in the area. [[Horse racing]] came to the town around the mid-18th century and attracted many people from the surrounding areas. The [[Maryland Jockey Club]] sponsored spring and summer races at the race track south of town, and racing continued there until 1972, when they were moved to the [[Bowie Race Track]]. The race track is now part of the Equestrian Center owned by Prince George's County.

In 1870, the town was incorporated by the [[Maryland General Assembly]]. A volunteer fire department was organized in 1886, and the Marlborough Fire Association was incorporated the following year.

In 1878, [[Lynching of Michael Green|Michael Green]], an [[African-American]] man accused of assaulting a white woman, was taken from the country jail and hanged from a tree outside of town.<ref name=kent-9-7-78>{{cite news|title=Lynching at Upper Marlboro|url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013788/images/18780907kn_mike_green_lynching.pdf|access-date=May 13, 2015|publisher=The Kent News|date=September 7, 1878}}</ref> An "iron bridge just between the town and the railroad depot" was the site of two more lynchings. [[Lynching of Joseph Vermillion|Joseph Vermillion]] was killed there in 1889 and [[Lynching of Stephen Williams|Stephen Williams]] met the same fate in 1894.<ref name=sun-10-22-94>{{cite news|title=State of Maryland: Lynching of Stephen Williams, Colored, in Prince George's County |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013742/images/sun22oct1894.pdf |access-date=May 12, 2015|newspaper=[[Baltimore Sun]]|date=October 22, 1894}}</ref><ref name=msa/><ref name=msa2>{{cite web|title=Joe Vermilion Lynched in Upper Marlboro, December 3, 1889 |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013738/html/13738bio.html |website=Biographical Series|publisher=[[Maryland State Archives]]|access-date=May 12, 2015|pages=MSA SC 3520–13738|date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

Since its initial conception, the town has changed quite a bit. It initially boomed as a port town for tobacco trade, but the clearing and cultivation of land for farming would lead to erosion in the area. Over the years this erosion caused [[sedimentation]], leading the Western Branch to become unnavigable. The fields of tobacco that once dominated the area have been converted over to residential developments, with the number of farms dwindling each year.

As it is Prince George's county seat, located within the town are the Prince George's County Courthouse, County Administration Building, the Board of Education, and the headquarters of the [[Prince George's County Sheriff's Office]]. The town's atmosphere is remarkably different, depending on the time of day.<ref>{{cite web |website=www.uppermarlboromd.gov |lang=en |url=http://www.uppermarlboromd.gov/about/history/pppf.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207012503/http://www.uppermarlboromd.gov/about/history/pppf.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |title=Proud Past {{ndash}} Promising Future}}</ref>

===Prince George's County courthouse===
The courthouse has been a critical part of the town since it became the county seat in 1721. Since then, the courthouse in Upper Marlboro has seen many changes. Between 1798 and 1801, a new courthouse was constructed on the site of the old one. The courthouse was again rebuilt in the 1880s.

In 1939, the courthouse was substantially expanded and rebuilt. During this time, the building gained its famous stone [[Ionic columns]]. According to county historian Susan Pearl, "They wanted the neo-classic [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] university campus building, and that's what they got." The total cost of the revision was $178,000.

Small additions were made in 1947 and 1969.

In the early 1990s, a new courthouse was erected behind the existing courthouse. The new courthouse, composed of the Marbury and Bourne wing, was completed in 1991. The new building occupies {{convert|360000|sqft|m2}} of space and cost $80 million. The old courthouse was then designated as the Duvall Wing and was attached to the new section by walkways.

In May 2003, the old courthouse was closed for a $25 million renovation. On November 3, 2004, two months before the building was scheduled to reopen, a fire broke out and destroyed much of the {{convert|151000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} building. The fire left only a charred skeleton of the [[cupola]], which had overlooked Main Street for 64 years.<ref>{{citation
   |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21681-2004Nov3?language=printer
   |newspaper=The Washington Post
   |title=Fire Ravages Historic Courthouse
   |last1=Ruane
   |first1=Michael E.
   |last2=Stockwell
   |first2=Jamie
   |date=November 4, 2004
|page=B01
   |access-date=August 11, 2008
   }}{{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In January 2007, the courthouse briefly caught fire again when sparks from a construction worker's [[welding]] tool ignited building materials on the roof. Firefighters quickly contained the blaze, and the renovations continued.<ref>{{citation
   |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062001281.html
   |title=New Cupola at Courthouse
   |last=Berger
   |first=Judson
   |newspaper=The Washington Post
   |date=June 21, 2007
|page=T05
   |access-date=August 11, 2008
}}</ref>

On March 12, 2009, the Duvall Wing of the Prince George's County Courthouse reopened after being closed in 2001 for renovations.<ref>{{citation
   |url=http://www.gazette.net/stories/03122009/prinnew170042_32473.shtml
   |title=Centuries-old courthouse reopens today.
   |publisher=Gazette
   |date=March 12, 2009
|access-date=May 20, 2009
}}</ref>

===Proposed move to Largo===
Since the 1990s, the Prince George's County government has been purchasing land in [[Largo, Maryland]], due to its convenient location near the [[Washington Metro]] and interstate highways. In 2015, County Executive [[Rushern Baker]] recommended the move of the county's seat from Upper Marlboro to Largo so that residents could be better served.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/27571/prince-georges-could-move-its-government-closer-to-more-residents/ | title=Prince George's County could move its government closer to more residents }}</ref>