 In the early days the land was subdivided by developers into more than 500 residential building lots, to create a large town site at a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac's main line to southern Maryland, and the branch line to Washington, D.C.

By 1902 the Baltimore & Potomac was purchased by the powerful Pennsylvania Railroad.A second railroad entered the community when the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway electric trolley line commenced service in 1908.The large interurban cars brought rapid transit to the area, with trains running hourly.