Morningside, MD

Morningside is an incorporated Prince George's County town whose growth followed nearby Andrews Air Force Base. Local residents incorporated it in 1949; at first, the streets lacked paving and homes relied on wells or septic systems. By the late 1970s, paved roads, public water, sewer, storm drains, streetlights, and Morningside Elementary had arrived. Those changes tell the town's basic story: a place built out alongside a major federal installation, then gradually supplied with its own municipal infrastructure.

The town is governed by a mayor and council and maintains its own police department. The town also has its own public works department. A volunteer fire station serves Morningside and adjacent communities in Prince George's County. Morningside Elementary, the Benjamin Foulois campus, and Michael J. Polley Neighborhood Park sit within the town limits. Its location near Joint Base Andrews puts national travel close to the neighborhood, but the local map is made up of everyday town institutions—schools, a park, town offices, and the streets that connect them.