Cabin John is a census-designated place and unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 2,459. The Cabin John Bridge Hotel was built in 1870 adjacent to the west end of the Union Arch Bridge, overlooking the Potomac. Originally a refreshment stand and boarding house for bridge workers, it grew into "a sumptuous establishment frequented by the most powerful politicians and important social figures of Washington, D.C." In its heyday of the 1890s to early 1900s, "the hotel was so lavish and became so important a destination for Washingtonians that The Washington Post reported about it regularly." The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1931.

Bordering Cabin John to the west is Carderock, where in 1936–1939 the U.S. Navy built the David Taylor Model Basin, one of the largest test facilities for ship design in the world. The test basin facility was originally planned for Cabin John, but instead the original site, bought from Mary Ellen Bobinger, widow of the owner of the Cabin John Hotel, was used to build housing for workmen. "The Navy had 125 homes constructed… 100 for white workers and 25 for black." The homes were in two small neighborhoods, Cabin John Gardens, off MacArthur Boulevard, and Carver Road, off Seven Locks Road. The Cabin John Gardens homes were constructed on the site of the former hotel and sold by the government to employees, with the land itself held as a cooperative—the only single-family development of its kind in the county. Carver Road homes were located about 1/3 of a mile to the northwest and originally rented out for $28 a month. "Of the families who moved there, many are still there, as adult children and grandchildren stayed on."

Geography

Cabin John is in southern Montgomery County, less than northwest of the border of the District of Columbia, and bordered to the south by the Potomac River and the state of Virginia. It contains a section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O), including locks 8 through 12. The community is the access point to Plummers Island in the Potomac, originally owned by the Washington Biologists' Field Club and called "the most thoroughly studied island in North America."

As an unincorporated area, Cabin John's boundaries are not officially defined. Cabin John is, however, recognized by the United States Census Bureau as a census-designated place, and by the United States Geological Survey as a populated place located at (38.975110, −77.159281). The CDP borders are the Capital Beltway (I-495) to the west and north, Cabin John Parkway to the northeast, and the Maryland–Virginia state line to the south, along the south shore of the Potomac River. The Clara Barton Parkway parallels the Potomac and the C&O Canal, leading southeast into Washington. Downtown is to the southeast.

According to the census bureau, the Cabin John CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 26.51%, are water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Cabin John had a population of 2,459. The median age was 46.9 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.1 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 891 households in Cabin John, of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 68.0% were married-couple households, 8.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 20.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Of the 668 households 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 24.3% of households were one person and 8.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.11.

The age distribution was 25.8% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 34.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.

The median household income was $95,692 and the median family income was $125,493. Males had a median income of $84,112 versus $64,271 for females. The per capita income for the area was $52,401. None of the families and 2.4% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no one under age eighteen and 11.3% of those over 64.

Notable people

  • Jon Bernthal (born 1976), actor
  • Tom Bernthal (born 1974), news producer and marketer
  • Zachary Bookman (born 1980), co-founder of OpenGov
  • Wayne Frederick (born 2004), soccer player
  • Hugh Gallagher (1932–2004), author and disability activist
  • Tom Patrick Green (1942–2012), painter and professor
  • Andrew E. Rice (1922–2010), founder of the Society for International Development
  • John Riggins (born 1949), American football player
  • Ian Somerville (born 2000), ice dancer

See also

  • Cabin John-Brookmont, a census-designated place delineated in 1980 and 1990

References

  • CabinJohn.org, a community website