Samuel Wright, son of James and Rhoda Wright, was the original proprietor of Old Columbia. He was a grandson of the town’s founder, John James Wright and Patience Gibson. He married his second cousin, Susanna Loudon, daughter of  John Loudon and Sarah Conner. 

Samuel formally laid out the town in 1788, surveying it into 160 building lots, which were then distributed by lottery. He was instrumental in establishing the town’s first public grounds company to manage the land, as well as developing key community structures including Columbia’s first water distribution system (which later became The Columbia Water Company), the Washington Institute (the town’s first school of higher learning), and Locust Street Park.

Samuel formally laid out the town in 1788, surveying it into 160 building lots, which were then distributed by lottery. Samuel Wright and other town citizens renamed the town from Wright’s Ferry to Columbia in honor of Christopher Columbus, aiming to influence the U.S. Congress to select it as the nation’s capital. Although the proposal narrowly failed by one vote, the town had significant ambitions.

Samuel Wright inherited the Wright’s Ferry Mansion from his aunt Susanna Wright, who had cared for the family and raised his siblings after their mother died. The Wright family, and Samuel in particular, were key figures in Columbia’s early development and history.