Evening star., 1927-05-22

plans for increasing the local appro-
priation. Even the one-room schools
are rather well equipped. the teachers
being allowed a reasonable latitude In
making purchases. The lesson of the
tornado has not been lost, and school
buildings in the future will be con-
structed to resist the elements.
In addition to it's own facilities the
county pays tuition for pupils living
in the Waldorf neighborhood to the
Prince Georges County High School
at Brandywine. and a few attend, by
a similar arrangement, the vocational
high school at Baden. Eventually
Charles County plans to have a voca
tional and agricultural high school OF
its own, where boys and girls who
plan to remain on the farms will be
given a better start in life.
Much of the burden of the high
school situation has been relieved in
the past by an excellent parochial
high school at the historic village of
Bryantown, near Hughesville.
Highway Construction.
There are two trunk lines of hard
surfaced road running through the
county, both Of them we'll known to
Washington motorists and running
through a historic countryside. One
runs through La Plata and continues
to Chapel Point. The other branches
off at Waldorf and runs for so miles
through Hughesville and on through
st. Marys County TO point beyond
Leonardtown. There is also the road
to Indian Head, which is kept up by
the Government.
Branching from these main high
ways, there is a network of dirt and
gravel roads. But the gravel roads
at least, are excellent and are not al
lowed to deteriorate. Repair gangs
are kept busy all the time, the shoul'
ders are preserved and the roadbeds
kept drained. Good roads are consid'
cred a prime necessity in q county
where the farmers must travel SO
frequently to market.
The total population of Charles
County is about $4,000. 1t was 1900
at the time of the 1920 census. but
that figure included the wartime pop
ulation Of Indian Head which is a
Government reservation and not prop.
erly a part of the county. The popu'
lation Is about evenly divided between
white and colored. Approximately 80
per cent of the people live on farms.
All the village inhabitants are en-
ployed in administering to the wants
of the farmers.
There Is only one incorporated town
La Plata. This is on the Popes
Creek branch of the Pennsylvania
Railroad and is an important tobacco
shipping center. 1t has a population
Of about 400 and Is one of the most
active towns in southern Maryland. 1t
| boasts two banks. a newspaper and
three churches. besides the county
courthouse and all the county Offices.
La Plata--still a comparatively young
to~n--is growing. 1t lacks. OF course.
the color and romance of old Port To-
bacco, which it displaced. but prob
ably is buster today than the former
county seat in its most prosperous
years.
La Plata's history has been rather
placid snce the establishment of the
courthouse there in 1897 The one
event much out of the ordinary was
the tornado last Fall. Some beautiful
homes have been erected on the out
skirts Of the village. particularly
along the Port Tobacco and Chapel
Point roads. A notable business ac-
tivity of the town is afforded by the
automobile agencies and the tractor
and farm machinery houses. Few
farmers, or farm hands. in Charles
County are without their own cars.
There are two other corporations in
Charles County, but they are inactive.
One is the historic old village of Bene-
dict. where Gen. Ross troops landed
for their march on Washington in
1914. Benedict once was a thriving
business town, but only two or three
stores. administering to the neighbor-
ing farmers, are left. 1t is saved from
becoming another of the lost cities
by Its status as a Summer resort for
washington and Baltimore people.
The other town with charter
which 1t does not use is Indian Head.
Only the fringes of the reservation
are in Charles County territory and
subject to county taxation.
BESIDES La Plata, there are two thriv-
Ing Villages-Waldorf and Hughes
vile. The former, where the Leonard
town road branches off. is on the
Popes Creek Railroad and near the
border of Prince Georges County. 1t
is a comparatively new town, result
Ing from the railroad, and has become
a considerable trading center. Its
chief industry is a crea merry. to which
udHy products are Drought from
Charles and Prince Georges County
| farms within a radius of 10 miles.
There is one church and an elemen-
tary school in Waldorf.
Hughesville lies about 13 miles from
! Waldorf on the Leonardtown road
and Is the trading center for large
agricultural districts 1t is on the
Southern Maryland Railroad, which
| branches off the Popes Creek line
at Brandywine and runs to Mechanics
Vile. In st. Marys County. 1t has
two churches, savings bank and a
new high school under construction
II has absorbed much of the old town
of Bryantown, about the time of the
/ Civil War one of the most thriving
| villages in southern Maryland, hut
which lies off the railroad. Conse
quently there are only two stores in
Bryantown. compared with eight or
| ten in Hughesville. The latter town
| is rival of La Plata for the business
supremacy of Charles County and is
| an important tobacco loading point.
| Another old town which has dis.
appeared, the last house having
! burned about eight years ago. is Bean
town, about four mlfs from Waldorf.