Crofton is a census-designated place and planned community in Anne Arundel
County
, Maryland
, United States
. Established in 1964, Crofton held its 40th
birthday celebration in 2004.
In July 2007 Crofton was named by
Money magazine as one of "100 Best Places
to Live" in the United States. Crofton placed 72nd out of 100
cities on the list. It was selected for its relative anonymity
while still boasting many major amenities, excellent schools, and
sought after location.
Community life frequently revolves around Crofton Parkway, actually
a scenic loop long, tangentially touching the larger "triangle"
made up of three nearby roads, which encloses the original Crofton
community. Crofton Parkway is the scene of yearly parades, two of
the community's three elementary schools, the Town Hall, Village
Green, community events, Crofton Country Club, and walkers, joggers
and bikers around the loop. The Crofton area now extends North from
the triangle, including Crofton Park. Crofton also has a community
pool, the Crofton Swim and Tennis Club [CSTC] but is restricted to
those inhabitants of the triangle.
Originally an exclusive gated community, Crofton's gates were
opened and they now only serve as a symbol for this community just
off
Route 3. As of the 2000 census,
the total population of the Crofton ZIP code was 20,091. Now the
population in Crofton is around 30,000.
History
In 1963, after the
Crawford
Corporation accumulated over 1600 acres (6.5 km²) of land,
it announced that it would build a new community called Crofton.
This new
town and planned community was founded at the same time as Reston,
Virginia
(April 17 1964) and Columbia,
Maryland
(1967). Crofton would be anchored by a
community golfcourse, which later became the Crofton Country Club.
Crofton was officially founded in the fall of 1964. The company
considered picking an English name for the new town that "sounds
well and implies that this is a pleasant place to live."
It ended
up picking the name "Crofton," named after a small township in
Cumberland
County, England
.
The
English
town
was originally called Croft-town, derived
from the word Croft, as the town
standing upon the Crofts.
Schools
- Crofton Elementary School
- Crofton Woods Elementary School
- Crofton Meadows Elementary School
- Nantucket Elementary School
- Four Seasons Elementary School
- Crofton Middle School
- Arundel High School
- South River High School
Geography
Crofton originally consisted of only the Crofton triangle, the area
bounded by
Route 3 (Crain Highway)
in the west,
Route 424
(Davidsonville Road) in the north, and
Route 450 (Defense Highway) in the
south.
The
Little Patuxent River borders
Crofton on its southwest corner at the intersection of Route 3 and
Route 450, providing a buffer between Anne
Arundel and Prince Georges
counties. This region near the Patuxent River is home to a small Air Force
base that serves as a satellite communications center to Andrews Air
Force Base
near Washington, D.C.
The Crofton area later expanded mostly north to encompass the area
bounded by Reidel Road and Underwood Road. The Crofton ZIP code of
21114—and thus the census area—does not encompass large portions of
the area commonly known as Crofton, including Crofton Middle School
and the region just north of Route 424 and Johns Hopkins
Road.
Crofton is located at (39.008860, -76.680991).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the Crofton ZIP code has a total area of
5.0 square miles (13.0 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 20,091
people, 7,404 households, and 5,478 families residing in the
Crofton ZIP code. The following data only includes census-listed
figures for the Crofton ZIP code and excludes other data for
Crofton-area residents.
The
population density was
3,998.6 people per square mile (1,545.3/km²). There were 7,573
housing units at an average density of 1,507.2/sq mi
(582.5/km²). The racial makeup of the community was 90.21%
White, 5.13%
African American, 0.23%
Native American, 2.33%
Asian,
0.04%
Pacific
Islander, 0.60% from
other races, and 1.44% from two
or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.48%
of the population.
There were 7,404 households out of which 40.9% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were
married couples living together, 10.0% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families.
20.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the community the population was spread out with 28.6% under the
age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 35.6% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45
to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in
the area was $93,198, and the median income for a family was
$101,644. Males had a median income of $56,819 versus $41,229 for
females. The
per capita income for
the area was $33,518. About 2.0% of families and 2.7% of the
population were below the
poverty line,
including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or
over.
Crime and law enforcement
The area of Crofton is policed by the
Crofton Police Department and is
aided by the
Anne
Arundel County Police Department and
Sheriff's Office as
directed by authority. Historically, Crofton has been a
statistically low-crime area but has recently experienced an
increase in violent crimes.
Crofton pond snakehead fish incident
Crofton was in the national news in late June and early July 2002
after a
northern snakehead was discovered in a pond behind
the Crofton post office (not the local landmark Lake Louise, but
instead across Route 3 from it).
The snakehead species, which is highly aggressive, voracious, and
can walk short distances on land, came from a live Asian food
market, where the fish is a delicacy. In order to ensure that the
fish were eliminated, the pond was dosed heavily with
rotenone, and subsequently with
potassium permanganate (September 17,
2002). Six adult snakeheads and more than one thousand juvenile
fish were found and destroyed.
Ultimately, the incident initiated a national discussion on
invasive species and comparisons
with the
mute swan, also an invasive and
destructive species of the
Chesapeake
Bay watershed but, in comparison, quite beautiful, and which
garnered support from some environmental and animal rights
groups.
There have been several movies inspired by this incident. The
SciFi Network has
aired two movies in relation to the snakehead outbreak. In March
2004, a movie called
Snakehead
Terror was featured, and in September 2005, the movie
Frankenfish was aired. There
has also been a movie produced by Ten Pound Films titled
Swarm of the
Snakehead which related to this incident.
In 2007, a
documentary on the National Geographic
channel titled Fishzilla: Snakehead
Invasion aired that discussed the ecological damage that the
snakeheads found in Crofton have done to surrounding
areas.
Crofton's population history from the U.S. Census Bureau
The following population history only includes census-listed
figures for the Crofton ZIP code and excludes other Crofton-area
residents.
- 1970.......4,478
- 1980......12,009
- 1990......12,781
- 2000......20,091
- 2009......30,000 (approximately)
Existing landmarks
- Whites Hall - birthplace for
Johns Hopkins. Gerrard Hopkins was
the first to come to America from England, settling in
Crofton in 1660. The Hopkins family was in the Crofton area
for 270 years and accumulated more than 1000 acres (4 km²) of
land. Whites Hall still exists near the corner of Reidel Road and
Johns Hopkins Road. It is privately owned.
- Linthicum Walks
- a home built over 200 years ago by Thomas
Linthicum III, a member of an influential family in Anne Arundel
County. The original grant for the land was to Evan
Davis in 1672 and obtained in 1699 by Thomas Linthicum, a Welsh
immigrant. It was part of a medium size tobacco farm.
George Washington stayed here during his
travels to and from Annapolis
and Philadelphia
and his home at Mount Vernon
, Virginia
. Located next to Crofton Middle School and
the planned location for Crofton High School, Linthicum Walks is
owned by Anne Arundel County, run by the Department of Recreation
and Parks and is currently being restored.
Famous Croftonites
Sources
- Browne, Joseph L., From Sotweed to Suburbia: A History of
the Crofton, Maryland Area, 40th Anniversary version,
1660-1960. Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc., published by the Crofton
Rotary to fund the restoration of Linthicum Walks.
- Crofton Small Area Plan
References
-
http://www.mdp.state.md.us/MSDC/Zipcode_map/2006/annezc06.pdf
-
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US2408775&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US24%7C16000US2408775&_street=&_county=crofton&_cityTown=crofton&_state=04000US24&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
External links
westward and, upon his death, founded
world-renowned Johns Hopkins
University and Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore.
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search