College Park, city, Prince George's County, central Maryland, near Washington, D.C.; incorporated as a city 1955. Major employers in the city are educational and research institutions and industries producing electronic equipment. The largest facilities of the University of Maryland are here, and the National Agricultural Research Center, the Goddard Space Flight Center, the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory, and Fort Meade are nearby. The community, settled in 1745, later grew around Maryland Agricultural College (1856), which became part of the University of Maryland in 1920. Population 23,614 (1980); 21,927 (1990); 24,657 (2000).
