Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1906-03-16

! The following is an interesting skete
Of our County taken from the late report
Of the Bureau Of Statistics Of this State
just published
Charles County for ms the southwestern
portion Of the wester II shore OF the State,
and is bounded on the west and partl y
on the south by the Potomac River, on
the east, in part, by the Wieomico and
the PatuxeDt Rivers.
Charles County was one Of the earliest
settled counties of the State, being or
ganized in 1858, and given its name by
the second Lord Proprietary. Its area
is $50 square miles, and it has most i'm
portant resources in oysters, fish and
water fowl.
1t is traversed by the Wicomico River,
Nanjemoy, Port Tobacco and Malta
woman creeks. The county has proba-
bly, as much, if not more, water front
than any other county in the State.
Historically. Charles County is one Of
the most important. Port Tobacco, from
colonial times the county seat, is noted
in the history Of the Revolution, and
Marshall Hall, opposite Mt Vernon, is
closely connected with the memory Of
Washington, though it is now an excur-
sion resort. The grave of Generel Will
liam Smallwood on the ancestral estate
was marked on July 4, 1893, by the Mary
land Society of the Sons Of the American
Revolution with a massive monument.
The county was also the home of Thos-
Stone, a signer of the Declaration Of In
dependence, and other distinguished
men.
The population of Charles County is
1886, according to the last census, and
the total value of lands is estimated at
81, III, 240, and the improvements at
S1,2l6,610. The tax rate OF the county
for 1905 is sl.09
The only incorporated town in Charles
County is La Plata, now the county seat,
the change having been made some time
since, when La Plata succeeded Port
Tobacco. 1t has population OF 400, and
is the business centre of the county.
The Government Naval Proving Ground
and Powder Factory furnish employ
ment for about $50 laborers and mechan-
les and twenty clerks, and neeessitates
an annual expenditure in this county of
upwards of $4,000.
The Government Reservation at Indian
Head aggregates 2,200 acres.
The soil is loan, highly productive
under cultivation, the land being mostly
favorable to farming, and generally level
in the centre of the county, while on
either side there are small hills and val
legs. In some sections of the county
mari is found.
There are 1000 farms, with an acreage
Of 263, 255 acres in the county, and the
important agricultural productions are
tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye, fruits
and grasses.
The scarcity of farm labor the sparse
settlement, and the susceptibility of the
land to intensive cultivation make
Charles a desirable county for immi-
grants to settle in.
Nearly all the. steamboat lines that
run out of Baltimore and Washington
stop at some point in Charles County, in
addition to which water transportation
facilities the middle section of the
county is traversed by the Pope's Greek
branch of the Philadelphia, Baltimore &
Washington Railroad, while the eastern
section is traversed by short line rail
road under the management of the
Washington and Point Lookout Com
pany.
These manifest shipping advantages
and numerous water products make
Charles County most desirable loca-
ton.
The oyster and fish industries of
Charles County furnish occupation for
about one-tenth of the laboring people.
Large quantities Of fish and oysters are
annually shipped from the waters of
the Potomac, Wicomico and Patuxent
Rivers, there being nearly 200 vessels
and boats engaged in this industry, with
upwards of $50 people employed therein.
Charles County is manifestly not
manufacturing county, there being only
forty such in the county, with an invest
ed capital of $105, 900, while those with
production of more than $500 per an
mum are thus reported by the census of
1905
Number of establishments, 0.
Capital invested, s70,T49.
Proprietors and firm members, Q.
Salaried officials and salaries num-
Der IL; salaries, 81, 160.
Average number of wage earners and
wages Men sixteen years Of age and
over, 20; wages, $4,000 women sixteen
years of age and over, IL; wages 81 1872,
Miscellaneous expenses, Sl,555.
Cost of materials used, S7S,620.
Value of products, $103,601.
The principal business interests of the
county are represented in the following
lists, which includes manufacturing,
financial and other institutions.
Bread and Other Bakery Products. =
Ernest frankie, La Plata.
Flour and Grist Mill Products.-La
Plata Milling Company, La Plata; Han
cock & Cooksey, Dentsville Adrian
Posey, Faulkner Lemuel B. Owen,
McConehie; Edward f. Milliard, Mason
Springs; Geo. T. c. Gray, Nanjemoy;
Pomonkey Milling Company, Pomonkey;
G. A. Wright, Wayside Bryantown