Seat Pleasant is an incorporated city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located immediately east of Washington D.C.. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,522. Two state highways pass through the community — Maryland routes 704 (now called Martin Luther King Jr. Highway and previously named George Palmer Highway in honor of banker and community leader George Palmer) and 214 (Central Avenue). The Washington Metro's Blue and Silver Lines are nearby. The Washington Commanders' stadium is east of Seat Pleasant, near the Capital Beltway (I-95/495).
History
Seat Pleasant is located on part of what had been the Williams-Berry estate. In 1850, the descendants of General Otho Holland Williams, a Revolutionary War hero, and James Berry, a mid-17th-century Puritan leader, sold it to Joseph Gregory. Seat Pleasant was developed on the dairy farm of Joseph Gregory, the farm of the Hill family, and the land of building contractor Francis Carmody, among others. In 1873, some of the land along Addison Road was subdivided into small farms and rural home sites known as Jackson's Subdivision.
Designers of the Chesapeake Beach Railway, constructed in 1897–99 between Washington, D.C. and Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, located their first station in Maryland outside Washington on the railway's right-of-way that traversed the Gregory property. They called the station "District Line". The Columbia Railway Company operated a streetcar system that extended through Northeast Washington and terminated in Seat Pleasant at Eastern Avenue, near what is today Martin Luther King Jr. Highway. Finally, the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway passed through Seat Pleasant in 1908.
Steady growth of traffic on the railway between 1900 and its peak in 1920 translated into steady development for Seat Pleasant as a railroad suburb. Subdivisions were soon created, such as Seat Pleasant, Seat Pleasant Heights, Oakmont, Palmer's, Boyer's Addition, and Pleasant Hills. By 1915, two churches had been organized, and a fire department had been founded. The introduction of street lighting followed in 1918. When the community was incorporated as a town in 1931, it had a school, water company, sewer connections courtesy of the District of Columbia's sanitary system, and reliable fire protection by the Seat Pleasant Fire and Community Welfare Association. The Chesapeake Beach Railway ceased operations in 1935. In the 1980s, the old railroad roundhouse and turntable were demolished to make room for the Addison Plaza Shopping Center on Central Avenue.
Politics
The current mayor is Kelly Porter.
{| class=wikitable
|+City Council
|-
! colspan="1" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;"| Position
! style="text-align:center;" | Name
! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| Serving Since
! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| Term Expires
! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| District
|-
| President
| style="text-align:center;" | Vacant
| style="text-align:center;" | -
| style="text-align:center;" | -
| style="text-align:center;" | -
|-
| Member
| Lamar Maxwell
| style="text-align:center;" | 2016
| style="text-align:center;" | 2020
| style="text-align:center;" | Ward 1
|-
| Member
| Hope Love
| style="text-align:center;" | 2010
| style="text-align:center;" | 2020
| style="text-align:center;" | Ward 2
|-
| Member
| Reversal L. Yeargin
| style="text-align:center;" | 1996
| style="text-align:center;" | 2020
| style="text-align:center;" | Ward 3
|-
| Member
| Charl M. Jones
| style="text-align:center;" | 1998
| style="text-align:center;" | 2020
| style="text-align:center;" | Ward 4
|-
| Member
| Donovan Bilbro
| style="text-align:center;" | 2016
| style="text-align:center;" | 2024
| style="text-align:center;" | Ward 5
|-
| Member
| Shireka McCarthy
| style="text-align:center;" | 2016
| style="text-align:center;" | 2024
| style="text-align:center;" | At Large
|-
| Member
| James Wright
| style="text-align:center;" | 2022
| style="text-align:center;" | 2024
| style="text-align:center;" | At Large
|}
Schools
The city is served by the Prince George's County Public Schools district.
Zoned elementary schools include Seat Pleasant, Carmody Hills, and Highland Park elementary schools. All residents are zoned to G. James Gholson Middle School. High schools serving sections of the city are Fairmont Heights High School and Central High School.
Geography
Seat Pleasant is located at (38.895362, -76.902205).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.