Oxon Hill, Maryland | |
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 Houses in Oxon Hill, 2015 | |
  Oxon Hill Location within the state of Maryland Show map of Maryland Oxon Hill Oxon Hill (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:38°48′11″N76°59′23″W / 38.80306°N 76.98972°W /38.80306; -76.98972 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Maryland |
| County |  Prince George's |
| Area | |
• Total | 6.45 sq mi (16.70 km2) |
| • Land | 6.44 sq mi (16.68 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0077 sq mi (0.02 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 18,791 |
| • Density | 2,918.2/sq mi (1,126.74/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 20745 |
| Area codes | 301, 240 |
| FIPS code | 24-59500 |
Oxon Hill is an unincorporated area andcensus-designated place (CDP) in southernPrince George's County,Maryland, United States.[2] Oxon Hill is a close suburb ofWashington, located southeast of the downtown district and east ofAlexandria,Virginia. In 2008, the 300-acre (120 ha)National Harbor development on the shore of thePotomac River opened in Oxon Hill; it has since become a CDP of its own.
For the 1990 and 2000 censuses, theUnited States Census Bureau defined acensus-designated place consisting of Oxon Hill and the adjacent community ofGlassmanor, designatedOxon Hill-Glassmanor, for statistical purposes. As of the2010 census, Oxon Hill was delineated separately and had a population of 17,722.[3] Per the2020 census, the population was 18,791.[4]
Oxon Hill was named for the colonial 18th century manor home of Thomas Addison (which burned in 1895 but was replaced in 1929 by a large 49-room neo-Georgian-style home calledOxon Hill Manor, standing on a bluff over thePotomac River). The current Manor is now owned by theMaryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and is used for cultural activities, as well as being rented for weddings and special events. "Oxon" is an abbreviation for the LatinOxoniensis, meaning "of Oxford." The area now known as Oxon Hill reminded Addison of the area nearOxford,England.[5] TheRevolutionary patriotJohn Hanson died while visiting the first Manor, and may be buried there in an unmarked grave.
Oxon Hill Manor, theButler House,Oxon Cove Park, andSt. Ignatius Church are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[6]
Today the community is bisected by the busyCapital Beltway (I-95/495), which includes the interstateWoodrow Wilson Bridge built in 1961. The enlarged bridge was opened December 15, 2008, and highway interchanges and ramps near the bridge were also re-aligned and re-configured. Prior to that date, traffic backed up into Oxon Hill daily for decades as 250,000–300,000 vehicles a day crossed the Wilson Bridge.
Oxon Hill includes many garden apartment and townhouse communities along with single-family detached homes built mostly between the 1940s when suburban development began, through the early 1990s (except for the newer National Harbor condominiums), including the incorporated townForest Heights. Oxon Hill's two principal shopping centers ("Rivertowne", built about 1985 and "Eastover", built about 1955[7][8]) attract neighborhood customers as well as shoppers from nearbySoutheast Washington, D.C. Eastover, located at the D.C./state line, is a hub of many bus routes, some of them operating 24 hours a day, and has a Prince George's County Police station. The apartment communities closest to the D.C. line are informally called by their original name "Glassmanor", although rental companies have officially given them newer names.[citation needed] Rather unusual community features of Oxon Hill are a nursing home and a large cultural center, both operated for an ethnicFilipino population who are numerous in Oxon Hill andFort Washington.[9]
Until about 1960, the community used the mailing addressWashington, D.C., before getting its own postal designation. About 1980, theUnited States Postal Service detached the two-thirds of greater Oxon Hill that was furthest from Washington, D.C., and re-defined that part as a new postal designation,Fort Washington, MD. To make mail sorting easier at that time, the new postal boundary line separating the two Maryland communities was drawn along already existingzip code boundaries. (The former zip 20021 portion of Oxon Hill remained Oxon Hill with the new code 20745, while everything in the former zip 20022 portion of Oxon Hill about 1980 was automatically renamed the new Fort Washington 20744.) Illogically, this partitioning reassigned some areas that seem to be almost in the heart of Oxon Hill (such as all of the Bock Road, Tucker Road, Murray Hills, and Brinkley Road areas, including several large prominent churches, Rosecroft Raceway, the ice rink, and ironically even Oxon Hill Middle School) to Fort Washington mailing addresses, which can cause confusion.
Oxon Hill is located inPrince George's County alongMaryland Route 210 (Indian Head Highway) andMaryland Route 414 (Oxon Hill Road), less than 2 miles (3 km) south of the boundary ofWashington. The CDP lies directly south of theCapital Beltway (I-495/I-95), just east of theWoodrow Wilson Bridge over thePotomac River.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total area of Oxon Hill is 6.6 square miles (17.2 km2), of which 6.6 square miles (17.1 km2) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2), or 0.20%, is water.[10]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 11,974 | — | |
| 1980 | 36,267 | 202.9% | |
| 2010 | 17,722 | — | |
| 2020 | 18,791 | 6.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[11] 2010[12] 2020[13] Not enumerated separately in 1990 & 2000. Community combined with Glassmanor to form Oxon Hill-Glassmanor for 1990 and 2000 censuses. | |||
Oxon Hill first appeared as acensus designated place in the2010 U.S. census[12] formed fromparts of the deleted Oxon Hill-Glassmanor CDP.[12]
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2010[14] | Pop 2020[13] | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 1,073 | 833 | 6.05% | 4.43% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 13,235 | 12,064 | 74.68% | 64.20% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 58 | 51 | 0.33% | 0.27% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 1,006 | 1,030 | 5.68% | 5.48% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | 6 | 14 | 0.03% | 0.07% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 25 | 81 | 0.14% | 0.43% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 393 | 530 | 2.22% | 2.82% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1,926 | 4,188 | 10.87% | 22.29% |
| Total | 17,722 | 18,791 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Rosecroft Raceway (founded in 1949) and Henson Creek Golf Course (a nine-hole course) are among Oxon Hill's recreational attractions; Rosecroft Raceway offers a limited number ofharness horse racing dates throughout the year, as well as betting on select televised simulcast races from around the country (per article in Washington Post, May 20, 2010). (The Marylandslot machine referendum in November 2008 did not include Rosecroft in its list of possible sites to add slots.)[15]
The Parks Commission's 1974 Tucker Roadice skating rink, at the Tucker Road Athletic Complex, was enclosed and expanded to year-round use in 2005;[citation needed] across from it is the Tucker Road Community Center and nearby is a private swimming club, the Oxon Hill Recreation Club (OHRC). OHRC has been in continuous operation since 1958.[citation needed] A 37,000 square foot gymnasium and recreation and learning center (Southern Regional Technology & Recreation Complex) opened in 2013, on Bock Road.[16] The Henson Creek paved hiker-biker trail extends 5.5 miles (8.9 km) paralleling Henson Creek, a tributary to the Potomac River.Oxon Cove Farm (formerly Oxon Hill Children's Farm) is a free of charge, educational facility operated daily for families by theNational Park Service adjacent to, but separate fromNational Harbor. The farm also has a bicycle trail used by a few commuters to nearby government facilities. Public indoor and outdoor swimming pools are also located on Allentown Road near Padgett's Corner at the Allentown Splash, Tennis and Fitness Park.
Oxon Hill is also the location of National Harbor, a major development on thePotomac River: a 7,300,000-square-foot (680,000 m2) mixed-use community including 2,500 residential units, 4,000 hotel rooms, 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of retail, upscale dining, and entertainment, and 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of class-"A" office space, along with one of the largestmarinas on the Potomac and the 2,000 roomGaylord National Resort & Convention Center, the largest hotel in the entire Washington area.[citation needed] The first phase of the development began opening in April 2008, and is currently[when?] well into its second phase.
TheMGM National Harbor Resort Casino, located at the entrance to the National Harbor development and a $950 million project, opened on December 8, 2016.
Residents are zoned toPrince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS):[17]
Elementary schools serving sections of the CDP include Apple Grove, Avalon, J. Frank Dent, Flintstone, Oxon Hill, Valley View and Tayac.[18]
Middle schools serving the CDP include Isaac J. Gourdine, Oxon Hill, and Thurgood Marshall.[19]
High schools serving sections of the CDP includeOxon Hill High School,Crossland High School, andFriendly High School.[20] Oxon Hill High has amagnet science and technology program, which is offered at only three of the county's high schools; The original buildings from 1959 have been completely replaced by a new facility, which opened in August 2013.[21]
Another magnet school in Oxon Hill is the K–8Maya Angelou French Immersion School whose mission is to ensure that all students acquire knowledge and skills, through speaking, reading and writing the French language. The French Immersion school is also attached to the John Hanson Montessori School which upholds the teaching ideals ofItalian educatorMaria Montessori. Both are located in the former John Hanson Junior High School building, which is next door to the main Oxon Hill post office.
There is a Roman Catholic private school, St. Columba School. It was established in 1962.[22]
Prince George's County Memorial Library System operates the Oxon Hill Library.[23] It completely remodeled and reopened in 2005. Originally built in 1967,[24] the Oxon Hill Library Branch contains theSojourner Truth Room, an African American research collection. This comprehensive collection of reference materials onAfrican American history and culture includes over 16,000 cataloged items (many are rare or out-of-print), periodicals, sheet music by African American composers, pictures and posters. Vertical files contain pamphlets, clippings and bibliographies. Copies of selected materials are also in the Oxon Hill Branch's circulating collection. An extensive collection of current and historical periodicals, including theNAACP'sCrisis from 1910, theJournal of Negro History from 1916 andEbony from 1945. The collection includes original editions of some slave narratives, as well as many reprint editions and the thirty-one volume Writer's Project series. Other topics are antislavery and slavery tracts, literary criticism, and the history of African Americans in Maryland and Prince George's County.
Prince George's County Police Department District 4 Station inGlassmanor CDP, with an Oxon Hill postal address, serves the community.[25]
TheU.S. Postal Service operates the Oxon Hill Post Office in the CDP.[26]
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