Maryland
Bowie

Back in the 1700s, the area where Bowie is located today was filled with farms and plantations, taking advantage of the rich local soil to grow tobacco, and eventually becoming famous for breeding racehorses. In 1853, Colonel William D. Bowie, the city’s namesake, convinced Maryland legislators to charter the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, which eventually joined forces with the Pennsylvania Railroad to establish a line to Washington, and set up a station in Bowie. Bowie incorporated as a city in 1916, but didn’t really take off until the late 1950s, when New York-based developer William J. Levitt acquired the colonial-era Belair Estate and built thousands of affordable homes. Civil rights activists fought a long battle against the developer’s discriminatory sales practices, and today, many of the houses Levitt built are owned by Black residents. Bowie is now a thriving commuter haven, situated less than 20 miles from Washington. It has a variety of neighborhoods, ranging from walkable, urban-style environments to areas with a small-town rural feel where horses and cows graze in farm fields. The architecture includes multi-story brick and wood-frame homes, many with expansive yards.