Laurel, Maryland was formed from land on the fall line of the Patuxent River owned by the Snowden family, which also owned Montpelier. A grist mill on the site circa 1811 grew to a small cotton mill by the 1820s.In 1835, coinciding with the opening of the Capital Subdivision rail line from Baltimore to Washington, the Patuxent Manufacturing Company was chartered and the mill expanded greatly.Mill president Horace Capron with his partners built housing for close to 300 workers, and a bigger cotton mill.Cotton duck from the mill was shipped down what would become Laurel’s Main Street then by rail to Baltimore. The community was originally known as Laurel Factory, and was a true company town, with a school, and shops, and many of the mill workers' homes owned until the 1860s by the company.