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Prince Frederick has served as the [[county seat]] of [[Calvert County, Maryland]] since 1722, when officials chose a plot of land known as "Williams' Old Field" as the spot for the new county courthouse. (Contemporary references to the piece of land include an upscale dining restaurant named [[Old Field Inn]], and a street in Prince Frederick is named "Old Field Lane.") The original courthouse was finally completed in 1732. The town was most likely named for [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], who reigned during the time of the town's original conception.

In the [[War of 1812]], [[Joshua Barney|Commodore Joshua Barney's]] [[Chesapeake Bay Flotilla]] found refuge from the advancing British in [[St. Leonard's Creek ]] in June 1814. While laying siege to Barney's force, the British under the command of [[Alexander Cochrane|Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane]] plundered and destroyed the area nearby, including burning the town of Prince Frederick.<ref name=barn>{{cite book

In 1984, Prince Frederick was named as one of seven "town centers" by [[Calvert County]]'s government. The town center designation meant while Prince Frederick was still not formally incorporated, special [[zoning]] regulations would be enacted and boundaries would be established so new growth would be centered around the existing commercial and residential districts. This was done in order to take advantage of existing infrastructure and discourage poorly planned [[urban sprawl]]. Prince Frederick's town center status also meant the creation of special architectural review boards who would encourage theme and unity of new buildings built within the town center.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/Planning_Zoning/Slideshows/March-6-07BOCC-UpdatesToTCMP.pdf|author=Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning|title=Town Center Update|date=March 6, 2007}}</ref>.

On April 28, 2002, an F4 [[April 28, 2002 tornado|tornado]] cut just south of Prince Frederick, killing one person. The same tornado had previously devastated the downtown business district of [[La Plata, Maryland]] in neighboring [[Charles County, Maryland|Charles County]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/apr28-2002/laplata.htm|author=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA)|title=La Plata Tornado - April 28, 2002}}</ref>.