[6] In the mid-1700s Richard Snowden, the Quaker grandson of one of Maryland's first iron ore producers, purchased tracts of land up the Patuxent River valley.

[10] Albert W. Bradey purchased the Fulton corner stores of his father and Smallwood, operating it until his death in a house fire at the age of 90.

In January 1998, Councilman Darrell Drown felt that the zoning would take only a night or two, and accommodated the developer with expedited hearings.

[16] The first phase of zoning faced multiple contentious votes and 32 record-length hearings between pro-development and rural supporters.

[17][18][19] In 2013, the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning sought to expand water and sewer service so that the remaining Maple Lawn property could be developed at maximum density.

A 7,000-person referendum attempt was launched and suppressed by the landowners' attorney, William Erskine, who sits on the economic development agency as well as the same law firm as County Executive Ken Ulman's father.

[citation needed] Fulton is located in southern Howard County, bordered on the south by the Patuxent River and on the east by U.S. Route 29.

Adjacent to the northeast border of Fulton is the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.Maple Lawn, a mixed residential and commercial community which started in 2004/2005, was developed by Greenebaum & Rose Associates and has brought a "Main Street"-style shopping districts.