Thank you for looking at homes on our site. You can see Homes for Sale in Bowie, MD 20720. They are active in our Regional Multiple Listing Service (Bright MLS). To learn more about these properties or to schedule an appointment to see them, you can Request More Information so that we can start to help you.
Bowie is a city located in Prince George’s County. In 1853, Colonel William Duckett Bowie got a charter from the Maryland legislature to construct a rail line. In 1869, the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Company began building a railroad from Baltimore to Southern Maryland. The rail line ended at Pope’s Creek in Charles County. The area had many small farms and large tobacco plantations. It’s economy at the time was based on agriculture and slavery.
A land speculator and developer sold building lots around Bowie’s railroad junction in 1870. The settlement was named Huntington City. By 1872, the rail line was completed. There was also a “spur” to Washington, DC. In 1880, Huntington City was rechartered as Bowie. It was named for Oden Bowie. He was Colonel Bowie’s son and business partner. Bowie was a former Governor of Maryland. He was also president of the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad.
In the early days of Bowie, the land was subdivided by developers into more than 500 residential building lots. This created a large town site at a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac’s main line and “spur.” By 1902 the Baltimore & Potomac was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. A second railroad entered Bowie when the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway line started service in 1908.
In 1914, the Southern Maryland Agricultural Society built the Bowie Race Track. The track enabled the Belair Stud to become one of Maryland’s premier areas for thoroughbreds. Also, a teacher-training college was built in Bowie for African-Americans. It was located just outside the town. This is now Bowie State University. The town of Bowie was incorporated in 1916.
The city has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in the County. Bowie has an area of 16 square miles with nearly 2,000 acres set aside as parks or open space. It has 72 ball fields, 3 community centers, an ice arena at Allen Pond Park. The City also has the Bowie Town Center, the 800-seat Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, a 150-seat theatrical playhouse, a golf course, and three museums.
Bowie’s rail town history is on display via the Huntington Railroad Museum. It is found inside the local rail station’s restored railroad buildings. In 2006, the city reopened the Bowie Building Association building. It is a small brick and block structure constructed around 1930. The building now serves as a Welcome Center. It originally housed the Bowie Building Association, which helped finance much of the community’s early development.
Bowie is home to the Bowie Baysox. It is Class AA Eastern League professional baseball team that is affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles. The team moved to Bowie from Hagerstown in 1993. The Baysox began to play at Prince George’s Stadium in 1994. In 2015, the Baysox won their first Eastern League Championship, defeating the Reading Fightin Phils in five games.