Prince George's County History
During the 1700's, Prince George's County became a major tobacco farming region. More tobacco was grown in Prince George's County than in any other county in Maryland and there were consequently more slaves in the county than in any other part of the state. The county continued to grow during the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially with the laying of the first rail line across the county in the 1830's and with the installation of the nation's first telegraph line across the county a decade later.
In the early twentieth century, the federal government in Washington, DC expanded and Prince George's County became a desirable and convenient place to live for federal employees. After the initial explosion of growth, the county attempted to build an economy that wasn't directly tied to the federal government and its employees. County leaders began to seek industry and commercial enterprise that would bring economic prosperity to Prince George's County and would transform it from a suburban "bedroom community" to a dynamic player in the growing DC metropolitan region.
Prince George's County Historical Society