Washington County, Maryland is included in the Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area. The closes states to Washington County is west Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee. The western portions of the Province of Maryland (including present Washington County) were incorporated into Prince George's County in 1696. This original county included six current counties. The first to be created was Frederick, separated from Prince George's County in 1748. Following independence, the sovereign State of Maryland formed Washington County on September 6, 1776, by the division of Frederick County. At the same time, a portion
Laurel, Maryland the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Laurel is traversed from north to south by U.S. Route 1 (US 1), which links Key West, Florida with the Canada–US border in Maine. On the west, the city is bordered by Interstate 95, and beyond the eastern border lies the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Crossing all of these highways is the east-west artery of Maryland Route 198 (MD 198), which intersects with US 1 in the heart of Laurel. Other major state roads in Laurel are MD 216, which connects the city with