#beyond
As a recognized place, Cabin John emerged only in the 19th century but of course there were inhabitants long before then. When the first European explorers appeared in the early 17th century, the native Americans living in the area were the Susquehannahs. Later the Piscataways, and still later, the Senecas occupied the land.

By the middle of the 17th century, Maryland was becoming a settled colony, and Lord Baltimore, proprietor of the colony, was making land grants along the Potomac River. Several of these grants embraced what is now Cabin John. During the 18th century, farming predominated, particularly of tobacco. In the 19th century, the building of the C & O Canal in the 1820’s and 1830’s brought settlers to the Cabin John area, and the population further increased with the construction of the Washington Aqueduct in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Land ownership remained concentrated, however, and at the end of the century, three families owned virtually all the property in today’s Cabin John.