Land Use in Charles County

Abstract

The land use of Charles County does not basically differ from that in the past. Land in forest and land in farms are the two categories of land utilization. The great demand for tobacco on the overseas markets in the early days of the county's history, led to the introduction of this crop. Because of the favorable climate and soils, tobacco became soon the mainstay of the county's economy, a situation which still exists today. The purpose of the thesis was to determine which geographical factors and others accounted for the use of the land. In addition to field work, use was made of detailed statistical data. It was found, that the county could be divided into three sections. In the western section, land in forest was the dominating land use form. In the central section, land in forest and land in farms were about equal in areal extent, whereas in the eastern section, land in farms dominated. The reason was that soils in the western part became exhausted, and a shift to the eastern section took place. Landforms contributed much to the distribution of land in crops, especially for tobacco. Recently, a change in the use of the land is taking place. The encroachment of the Washington Metropolitan area, and the building of a major highway, connecting the North with the South, have induced farmers to sell their lands, which are converted into residential areas.