Legends of healing waters in St. Mary's came from Native Americans and colonists who believed in the therapeutic properties of the fresh water springs at Charlotte Hall. Around 1698, Governor Thomas Nicholson appointed trustees to purchase land called Ye Coole Springs for houses to care for the sick and infirm. Many believe Ye Coole Springs was the site of the first hospital in Maryland and the second in the English colonies. Several natural springs still exist on the site today. The Southern Maryland Railroad was incorporated on March 20, 1868, with original plans to extend from Washington, D.C. to the deep water ports of the lower Chesapeake Bay with branches to the Patuxent and St. Mary's Rivers. By 1881, despite financial and other difficulties, rail service began from Brandywine to Mechanicsville, and by 1884 the line consisted of twenty-one miles of track.