Unincorporated County Areas Cause Confusion

Many maps list the area as East Riverdale, and it's been referred to in the news frequently as Lanham, but no resident wants to claim the unincorporated area around Third Avenue and Auburn St. where four family members were murdered on Aug 7.

The area is bordered by East Riverdale, Lanham and New Carollton geographically, and although it carries a 20706 zip code, which identified by Google maps as Lanham, nearby businesses like have addresses in Riverdale. Prince George's County police identified the area as Riverdale when asked at a press conference on Aug. 7.

It's the farthest area of unincorporated land from Riverdale Park's governed community. Although Riverdale Park police arrived at the scene on the day of the murder, they said the area is not in their jurisdiction.

"They're a long way from our border," Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer said. Archer suggested the area join with New Carollton's municipalities.

Riverdale was officially incorporated in 1920, and changed to Riverdale Park in the 80s, bordered by Riverdale Heights to the north and St. Bernard Church of Clairvaux by the East-West Highway to the south. Despite recent events, the area is not typically known as a bad area, according to Edmonston Town Administrator Guy Tiberio who served as Mayor of Riverdale Park in the 70s.

"Riverdale has always been a nice homogenous community," Tiberio said. "There are some bad people obviously, but it's not a bad area."

Tiberio said the town has been working on the issue with bordering unincorporated areas for years with the post office. It mirrors the same issue in Hyattsville, who share the same zip code with Rogers Heights. The town is frequently mistaken for the municipality, despite it being five miles away.

"Hyattsville gets it worse than anyone," Tiberio said, noting the many bordering areas with no governing body.

Eighty percent of Prince George's county has yet to be incorporated, according to Archer. Well-known towns in the county seem to represent all of the smaller, unincorporated communities due to maps and media reports. Yet, town administrators are quick to act upon news that happens in their community and call press immediately regarding mistaken communities, an act that happened particularly when major news outlets referred to Third Avenue and Auburn Street as Riverdale Park.

"We don't want the stigma put to the cities," Tiberio said. "Obviously if it's our problem we handle it, yes. But we try to keep the individual cities incorporated as they are. We try to get the post office to change this thing for years, but they just won't do it."

No comment was available from the post offices regarding the process of changing zip codes.

Nonetheless, town officials still keep up with issues in the unincorporated areas. Although they can't do much out of their jurisdiction, they do stress the importance of paying attention to their bordering neighborhoods.

"It's a horrible situation," Archer said regarding the murders. "I believe that they've caught the perpetrators and we are relieved to know that."