Suitland, Maryland
| Suitland, Maryland | |
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| Census designated place | |
The headquarters of the United States Census Bureau, in March 2007.
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 Suitland, Maryland
Suitland, Maryland
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| Coordinates: 38°50′55″N 76°55′28″W / 38.84861°N 76.92444°WCoordinates: 38°50′55″N 76°55′28″W / 38.84861°N 76.92444°W | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |
 Maryland
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| County |  Prince George's |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.2 sq mi (11 km2) |
| • Land | 4.2 sq mi (11 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 290 ft (90 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 25,825 |
| • Density | 6,100/sq mi (2,400/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 20746, 20747 |
| Area code(s) | 301, 240 |
Suitland is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, about 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 25,825. Prior to 2010, Suitland was part of the Suitland-Silver Hill census-designated place.
Suitland is named after 19th century landowner and businessman Senator Samuel Taylor Suit, whose estate, "Suitland," was located near the present-day intersection of Suitland and Silver Hill Roads.
In the 1600s, the Piscataway tribe inhabited the lands in southern Maryland. European settlers first visited Saint Clement's Island on the Potomac River and then established their first Maryland colony downriver at Saint Mary's City in 1634, and by the 1660s through the 1680s, settlers had moved into what is now known as Prince George's County. Faced with this encroachment, the Piscataways left the area in 1697, and moved north to what is now known as Conoy Island. They eventually moved further north into Pennsylvania and Michigan. The sole export of the European settlers was tobacco, and slaves were first brought to the county in the 1700s.
Prior to the American Civil War, tobacco production had made Prince George's County one of the wealthiest counties in Maryland, and half of the county's population was enslaved. After the war, old plantations were broken up and replaced by communities centered on small farming and country villages.
In 1867, Samuel Taylor Suit moved to Maryland and purchased more than 800 acres (320 ha) near Washington, D.C. In the 1870s and 1880s, such prominent guests as U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes visited the Suitland estate. It was the 1871 site of negotiations preliminary to the international tribunal in Geneva that arbitrated the Alabama Claims. After Suit's death in 1888, portions of the estate were sold (circa 1892 to 1903) to William A. Harrison, and the land was subsequently subdivided and sold over the years. Suit's son, Arthur B. Suit, retained 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land near the corner of Suitland and Silver Hill Roads, where he maintained a general store, a bar, a bowling alley, and the community's one-room jailhouse.
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