History · Greenbelt

Greenbelt’s historic district, a National Historic Landmark, takes in 1,608 buildings

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #89 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Greenbelt was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Greenbelt Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 1,608 buildings. Below: 23 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1940.

1935founded

1on the National Register

9%homes built before 1940

23old photos & papers

8famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Greenbelt’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Greenbelt began

When was Greenbelt founded?

1935

Greenbelt dates its founding to 1935 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 2,831 in 19402020 census: 24,92191 years

How historic is Greenbelt?

B⁻

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1937.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Greenbelt’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenbelt is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #89 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenbelt’s overall grade.

Founding era1935, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsD Homes built before 19409.1% of homes (±1.9) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National Register1 listing, 1,608 historic buildings, 652 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%

NewerOlder

Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 66%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Greenbelt’s 652 sits above most of its state (92% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1,608 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1935.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Greenbelt’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Greenbelt Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, takes in 1,608 historic buildings.A town in old photos23 old photos, postcards and papers.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Greenbelt Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.Famous sons and daughtersAfia Charles, Delonte Holland and 6 more were born here.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 1,608 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed

National Historic Landmark

Greenbelt Historic District

historic buildings protected

1,608

each building in a district counts

first listed

1980

Greenbelt Historic District

Districts★ landmark

★ Landmark

Greenbelt Historic DistrictBuilt 1935

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Greenbelt, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

The story

How Greenbelt came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenbelt.

Read it all →

Greenbelt was settled on September 30, 1937, as a public cooperative community in the New Deal era. The concept was at the same time both eminently practical and idealistically utopian: the federal government would foster an "ideal" self-sufficient cooperative community that would also ease the pressing housing shortage near the nation's capital. Construction of the new town would also create jobs and thus help stimulate the national economic recovery following the Great Depression.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greenbelt, 1897 to 1997

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1935
FoundingGreenbelt is established
1935BuiltGreenbelt Historic District is built
1935In the archiveTractor LOC fsa.8a00522
1937Post officeThe Greenbelt post office opens
1982Born hereDelonte Holland is born here
1986Born hereDerrick Harvey is born here
1992Born hereAfia Charles is born here
1997Born hereIsaiah Prince is born here
1997LandmarkGreenbelt Historic District named a National Historic Landmark

On the map

Greenbelt on the map, 1897 to 1942

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenbelt. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1897Laurel sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greenbelt.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewTractor LOC fsa.8a00522, 1935

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Greenbelt’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Greenbelt, census by census

Grew from 2,831 people in 1940 to 24,921 in 2020, 8 times over.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenbelt’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Greenbelt

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Afia CharlesAntiguan sprint athlete · b. 1992

Delonte HollandAmerican basketball player · b. 1982

Derrick HarveyAmerican football player · b. 1986

Isaiah PrinceAmerican football player · b. 1997

Henry BuchananAmerican boxer · b. 1978

Russell HairstonAmerican football player · b. 1964

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Greenbelt’s post office has been open since 1937.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Boxwood VillageSpringhill Lake

Gone or out of use

Mowatt Memorial ChurchchurchSchrom Airportairport

1cemetery inside Greenbelt

Greenbelt

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Greenbelt’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewTractor LOC fsa.8a00522: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Berwyn Heights1 historic placeC⁺College Park4 historic placesB SeabrookIts storyD Riverdale Park4 historic placesA⁻East RiverdaleIts storyC⁻New CarrolltonIts storyD⁻

Questions about Greenbelt’s history

What year was Greenbelt founded?

In 1935, according to Wikidata. Greenbelt’s post office opened in 1937, and the census of 1940 counted 2,831 people here.

How does Greenbelt rank for history?

Greenbelt is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #89 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Greenbelt?

One place: the Greenbelt Historic District (listed 1980).

How old are the homes in Greenbelt?

9% of Greenbelt’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1974.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (19), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

Post to Greenbelt

Check your email