Muirkirk is an unincorporated community in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located between Baltimore and Washington in the central part of the state.
It is located along U.S. Route 1 between Beltsville and Laurel. It has a stop on the MARC commuter rail (on the Camden line), and hosts a dinosaur park.
Many Muirkirk residents work for government agencies such as NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Food and Drug Administration and the headquarters of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
History
Muirkirk was the historic location of Muirkirk Furnace, from which the area takes its name. The ironworks were established before the American Civil War. After the conflict began, the US government hired a manager from the North, Charles Coffin, to ensure the works were kept under federal control.
Located along Old Muirkirk Road, near Muirkirk station and just east of the former furnace, is the historic African-American community of Rossville, originally composed mostly of families of men who labored at the ironworks. It has existed for more than 100 years. In 1868 after the Civil War, six black men purchased property for a church and cemetery, forming the Queens Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in the rural enclave colloquially referred to as "Swamp Poodle." Part of the property was already in use as a burial ground. They intended to use the church building, originally a small log structure, as a school for their children. This was the start of a postwar cohesive black community in which freedmen established a church independent of white supervision. The Queen's Chapel church was rebuilt in the 1950s. This former school was more recently used as an American Legion post.
Historic sites
The following is a list of historic sites in Rossville, near Muirkirk, identified by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission:
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:98%"
! |
! width = 25% | Site Name
! width = 8% class="unsortable" | Image
! |Location
! class="unsortable" | M-NCPPC Inventory Number
! class="unsortable" | Comment
|--
! | <small>1</small>
| Abraham Hall
| 100px
| 7612 Old Muirkirk Rd.
| 62-023-07
| Located at Rossville. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 2005-03-14
|--
! | <small>2</small>
| Thomas Matthews House
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 7700 Old Muirkirk Road
| 62-23-17
| Located at Rossville.
|--
! | <small>3</small>
| Muirkirk School
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 7813 Muirkirk Road
| 62-23-20
| Located at Rossville.
|--
! | <small>4</small>
| Queen's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church Site and Cemetery
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 7410 Old Muirkirk Road
| 62-23-21
| Located at Rossville.
|}
Education
Prince George's County Public Schools operates public schools serving Muirkirk.
During the era of legally-required racial segregation of schools, black students from Muirkirk attended Lakeland High School in College Park in the period 1928–1950; Fairmont Heights High School, then near Fairmount Heights, replaced Lakeland High and served black students only from 1950 to 1964; around 1964, legally-required racial segregation of schools ended.