Samuel Wright, son of James and Rhoda Wright, was the original proprietor of Old Columbia. He named and laid out the bounds of the early town in what was then Wright's Ferry. His generosity to his fellow townsmen was manifested in a grant of land and the creation of the Old Columbia Public Ground Company to administer it. Through this trusteeship the town gained its first water distribution system, its first school of higher learning, Washington Institute, and Locust Street Park for the recreation and pleasure of the citizens of Columbia.