Waldorf, Maryland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland. It is 23 miles (37 km) south-southeast of Washington, D.C. The population of the census-designated area only (excluding St. Charles) was 22,311 at the 2000 census. Waldorf was settled before 1900 as a rural crossroads with a train station and was called "Beantown" after a local family. Waldorf is now largely subsumed by the large planned community of St. Charles.Waldorf's original name was Beantown. In 1880 the General Assembly of Maryland by an act changed the name in "Waldorf" in honor of William Waldorf Astor (1848–1919), the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor (1763–1848), who was born in Walldorf, Palatinate, Germany. Its subsequent substantial growth as a residential community began with a 1970 loan package from the Department of Housing and Urban Development which fueled the giant planned community of St. Charles, south of Waldorf.St. Catharine, or the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.Waldorf is predominantly a bedroom community for many residents who commute to work at other points in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, especially personnel at Andrews Air Force Base. Waldorf's local jobs are primarily in the service and sales industry. Nearby St. Charles Towne Center, a 2-story shopping mall, opened in 1988