Greenbelt

History

Greenbelt was settled on September 30, 1937, as a public cooperative community in the New Deal era. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, helped Tugwell lay out the Maryland town on a site that had formerly consisted largely of tobacco fields. She was also heavily involved in the first cooperative community designed by the federal government in the New Deal Era, Arthurdale, West Virginia, which sought to improve the lives of impoverished laborers by enabling them to create a self-sufficient, and relatively prosperous, cooperative community. Cooperatives in Greenbelt include the Greenbelt News Review, Greenbelt Consumers Coop grocery store, the New Deal Cafe, and the cooperative forming the downtown core of original housing, Greenbelt Homes Incorporated (GHI). Applicants for residency were interviewed and screened based on income and occupation, and willingness to become involved in community activities. African-Americans were initially excluded, but were later included by the Greenbelt Committee for Fair Housing founded in 1963, and came to account for 41% of residents, according to the 2000 census. The same census data also indicates that African-Americans are isolated in certain parts within the town, and the percentage of African-Americans within the historic area is between 0% and 5% on most blocks. Much of the federal government planned and developed portion of the city is located within the Greenbelt Historic District. Greenbelt was the subject of the 1939 documentary film The City. In 2021, the city created a reparations task force to study the issue of whether or not to award reparations to African-Americans in Greenbelt.

Geography

Greenbelt is located at . NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, located directly adjacent to Greenbelt's eastern boundary, utilizes a Greenbelt postal address (Greenbelt, MD 20768), as well. It is partially within the former Goddard census-designated place. Greenbelt Park, a unit of the National Park System, is located within the City of Greenbelt's boundaries, at its southernmost portion.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  142,584
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  130,306
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  112,656
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  109,591
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  103,748
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  101,276
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  91,664
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  90,766

Largest nearby schools

• High Point High
  High · Beltsville · 3,003 students · 18.4:1 ratio
• Charles Herbert Flowers High
  High · Springdale · 2,569 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• Parkdale High
  High · Riverdale · 2,561 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Eleanor Roosevelt High
  High · Greenbelt · 2,526 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• Duval High
  High · Lanham · 2,503 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• Bowie High
  High · Bowie · 2,460 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Northwestern High
  High · Hyattsville · 2,346 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Bladensburg High
  High · Bladensburg · 2,164 students · 16.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2025-10-27
  4 km E of Riverside, Maryland
• M 2.6 — 2021-06-25
  2 km SE of Woodlawn, Maryland
• M 3.03 — 2016-01-17
  3 km NE of Ranson, West Virginia
• M 3.6 — 2010-07-16
  5 km NNW of Barnesville, Maryland