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Welcome to La Plata ...

The town of La Plata is located in Charles County<1> and is the County Seat for Charles County.



While we don't have a date for the founding of La Plata, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, La Plata has a population of 9,659 people<2> (see below for details).

La Plata is 180 feet [55 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: La Plata lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for La Plata: (301) & (240)<4>

The ZIP code for La Plata: 20646<5>

Websites for La Plata ...

Official Website:   www.townoflaplata.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.cccc-md.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, La Plata had an population of 9,659 people. This is an increase of 10.35% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 47.44% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, La Plata had a population of 8,753 people (which is 5.97% of the total population of Charles County). This makes La Plata the county's most populous community.

The population of La Plata represents 0.15% of the population of Maryland (which has 5,773,552 people), making it the state's 26th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 8,753 people, the population of La Plata increased 33.61% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 6,551 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for La Plata.

Communities Also Named La Plata ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named La Plata - they are located in Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas (2) and Utah.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for La Plata.

Communities near La Plata ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near La Plata.

  • Alexandria
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Dumfries
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumfries
    • Dumfries is located in Prince William County (VA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,106 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dumfries <6>
  • Indian Head
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Head have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • Indian Head is located in Charles County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,787 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian Head <6>
  • Colonial Beach
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Forest Heights
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Heights
    • Forest Heights is located in Prince George's County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,558 people
  • Occoquan
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Occoquan have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Occoquan
    • Occoquan is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,097 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Occoquan <6>
  • Quantico
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quantico have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quantico
    • Quantico is located in Prince William County (VA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 558 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quantico <6>
  • Eagle Harbor
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Harbor
    • Eagle Harbor is located in Prince George's County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
  • Bel Alton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bel Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bel Alton
    • Bel Alton is located in Charles County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bel Alton <6>
  • Pomfret
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pomfret have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomfret
    • Pomfret is located in Charles County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pomfret <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around La Plata. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for La Plata.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of La Plata. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around La Plata.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around La Plata. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for La Plata.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for La Plata ...

Looking for more information about La Plata? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for La Plata, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for La Plata.

Adding La Plata to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of La Plata in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for La Plata was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found La Plata on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Maryland (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for La Plata.

The official website for La Plata: www.townoflaplata.org/

The official website for Charles County: www.charlescounty.org/

The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Maryland's counties, including Charles, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for La Plata.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around La Plata - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>Area code (240) is an overlay for area code (301).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a town (such as La Plata). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether La Plata or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024