The development of the modern town began in 1903, when much of the land in Letchworth and the neighbouring parishes of Willian and Norton was purchased by a company called First Garden City Limited, founded by Ebenezer Howard and his supporters with the aim of building the first "garden city", following the principles Howard had set out in his 1898 book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform.

Their aim was to create a new type of settlement which provided jobs, services, and good housing for residents, whilst retaining the environmental quality of the countryside, in contrast to most industrial cities of the time.

The layout for Letchworth incorporates extensive parkland and open spaces, including Norton Common and Howard Park.

They secured an act of parliament which transferred ownership of the estate from the company to a public sector body, the Letchworth Garden City Corporation, in 1963.

The corporation in turn was replaced by a charitable body in 1995, the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, which owns and manages the estate today.

Letchworth today retains large business areas providing jobs in a variety of sectors, and the landlord's profits are reinvested for the benefit of the community by the Heritage Foundation.

As the world's first garden city, Letchworth has had a notable impact on town planning and the new towns movement; it influenced nearby Welwyn Garden City, which used a similar approach, and aspects of the principles demonstrated at Letchworth have been incorporated into other projects around the world including the Australian capital Canberra, Hellerau in Germany, Tapiola in Finland and Mežaparks in Latvia.

The hill fort was refortified c. 400 BC in the Middle Iron Age, and appears to have been occupied until the Roman conquest of Britain.

The garden city would be contained in a belt of open countryside, providing land not just for agriculture, but also for children's homes, asylums, new forests and brickfields.

[10][11] Howard's ideas were mocked in some sections of the press but struck a chord with many, especially members of the Arts and Crafts movement and the Quakers.

Ebenezer Howard's wife, Lizzie (Eliza Ann Bills), died in November 1904 in London, shortly before she had been due to move to a new house in Letchworth with her husband.

[18] In 1905, and again in 1907, the company held "Cheap Cottages Exhibitions", which were contests for architects and builders to demonstrate innovations in inexpensive housing.

[19][20] One possible visitor to the fledgling town was Lenin, who was reputed to have visited during May 1907 whilst attending the Fifth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in London.

[29] The ban was finally lifted after a referendum in 1957, which led to the opening of the Broadway Hotel in 1962 as the first public house in the centre of the Garden City.

Other significant early businesses included: The biggest employer for a number of years was the British Tabulating Machine Company, which moved from London to Letchworth in 1920.

Many houses were built in a modest cottage style, finished with cream painted render, green doors, and clay-tiled roofs.

[51] Private housing resumed more slowly after the Second World War, partly due to the tight controls on building materials and licences which were imposed and remained in force until 1954.

Following the completion of these developments in the 1980s, most new housing in the town has been on previously-developed land, as sites vacated by closed schools and businesses have been redeveloped.

Plans drawn up in July 1908 proposed a circular traffic island at this point, influenced by the Place de l'Étoile in Paris, which Unwin wrote about in 1909.

[59] Aspects of Letchworth's approach to blending town and county were subsequently used in the Australian capital Canberra, Hellerau in Germany,[60] Tapanila in Finland and Mežaparks in Latvia.

The council was created following a petition organised by a group of people dissatisfied with how the town was being managed by the Heritage Foundation.

Once the garden city was substantially complete it was envisaged that the estate would be transferred to a public body which would manage it for the benefit of the community, and until then dividends to shareholders were restricted to no more than 5% per annum.

[101][102] In 1956, limits on dividends to shareholders were removed, with the company chairman, Eric Macfadyen declaring that "there is no binding obligation to carry out the original policy.

Hotel York's chairman, Amy Rose (née Charles), became managing director of First Garden City Limited in January 1961.

[108] In response, the Letchworth Urban District Council began a campaign to restore the original ethos of the garden city to the estate.

[111][112] Paying this compensation led to the Letchworth Garden City Corporation operating at a loss for its first few years, funded by loans from the urban district council.

[115] The Heritage Foundation retains most of the former corporation's functions and responsibilities, and continues to operate the scheme of management for proposed developments on the estate.

[117][116][118] Although many residential properties have been sold since the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, the Heritage Foundation remains the landlord of most of the town's industrial, office and retail premises and the surrounding agricultural belt.

[150] The Icknield Way Path, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists, passes through the town on its 110-mile (180 km) journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk.

In his polemic essay on wartime Britain, "The Lion and the Unicorn", he said "The place to look for the gems of the future England is in light-industry areas and along the arterial roads.