Editing Columbia, Maryland (section)

=== Origins ===
Before European colonization in the 1600s, the area that is now Columbia served as farming and hunting grounds for indigenous peoples including the [[Piscataway people|Piscataway]] and [[Susquehannock]] peoples.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.howardcountymd.gov/history |title=Howard County's History |publisher=[[Howard County, Maryland]] |access-date=2023-08-22 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822072922/https://www.howardcountymd.gov/history |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dnr.maryland.gov/land/Documents/Stewardship/Howard-2022-LPPRP-Draft.pdf |title=Howard County Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan Update |publisher=[[Maryland Department of Natural Resources]] |access-date=2023-08-22 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822072923/https://dnr.maryland.gov/land/Documents/Stewardship/Howard-2022-LPPRP-Draft.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Columbia was founded in 1967 by [[James Rouse|James W. Rouse]], a native of [[Easton, Maryland]]. In 1935, Rouse obtained a job in [[Baltimore]] with the [[Federal Housing Administration]], a [[New Deal]] agency whose purpose was to promote home ownership and home construction. This position exposed Rouse to all phases of the housing industry.<ref>Unless otherwise noted, this section is derived from {{cite book| title=New City Upon a Hill: A History of Columbia, Maryland|author1=Joseph R. Mitchell |author2=David Stebenne |date=March 31, 2007 | pages=28–56 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9781614230991}}{{open access}}</ref> Later in the 1930s he co-founded a Baltimore mortgage banking business, the Moss-Rouse Company. In the 1950s his company, by then known as James W. Rouse and Company, branched out into developing shopping centers and malls. In 1957, Rouse formed Community Research and Development, Inc. (CRD) for the purpose of building, owning and operating shopping centers throughout the country. Community Research and Development, Inc., which was managed by James W. Rouse and Company, became a publicly traded company in 1961. In 1966, Community Research and Development, Inc. changed its name to The Rouse Company, after it had acquired James W. Rouse and Company in exchange for company stock.<ref>"C.R.D. Board Backs Swap of Stock With Rouse Firm," ''The Baltimore Sun'', February 9, 1966, p. C11</ref><ref>"Suit Filed to Void Rouse's Recent Acquisition of Firm," ''The Baltimore Sun'', August 21, 1966, p. FE29</ref>

By the early 1950s Rouse was also active in organizations whose goals were to combat [[urban decay|blight]] and promote [[urban renewal]]. Along the way, he came to recognize the importance of [[comprehensive planning]] and action to address housing issues. A talented public speaker, Rouse's speeches on housing matters attracted media attention. By the mid-1950s he was espousing his belief that in order to be successful, cities had to be places where people succeeded. In a 1959 speech he declared that the purpose of cities is for people, and that the objective of city planning should be to make a city into neighborhoods where men, women, and their families can live and work, and, most importantly, grow in character, personality, religious fulfillment, brotherhood, and the capacity for joyous living.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

In the early 1960s, Rouse decided to develop a new model city. Rouse's ideas about what a new model city should be like were informed by a number of factors, including his personal Christian faith as well as the goal for his company to earn a profit, influences that he did not consider to be incompatible with one another.<ref name=Numrich/> After exploring possible new city locations near [[Atlanta]], Georgia, and [[Research Triangle|Raleigh-Durham]], North Carolina, Rouse focused his attention between Baltimore and [[Washington, D.C.]], in Howard County, Maryland.