The King family operated a tavern according to an 1847 advertisement in "American Farmer" (a pioneer agricultural journal) at the forks of Bel Air and Joppa (presumably present day Jerusalem) roads. U.S. postal records indicate that a post office was established at King's Tavern on January 29, 1829, with a George King noted as the postmaster; the office was named "Kingsville" on January 8, 1830. In 1840, State Geologist John Henry Alexander was the first to put Kingsville on a map.