Charles Benedict Calvert
Library of Congress. Public domain.

Charles Benedict Calvert

1808–1864 · Founder of the Maryland Agricultural College (now UMD)

Calvert, who lived at the Riversdale plantation next to present-day College Park, founded the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 — among the first agricultural colleges in America — by selling roughly 420 acres for its campus. The institution became the University of Maryland, placing the future flagship university directly on College Park land.

Connection to College Park: Founder whose Riversdale land became the University of Maryland campus.

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