In 1751, the legislature of the Province of Maryland authorized the purchase of 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land from Gordon and George Beall at the price of £280.[3] A survey of the town was completed in February 1752.[4] Since Georgetown was founded during the reign of George II of Great Britain, some speculate that the town was named after him. Another theory is that the town was named after its founders, George Gordon and George Beall.[citation needed] The Maryland Legislature formally issued a charter and incorporated the town in 1789.[5] (Although Georgetown was never officially made a city, it was later referred to as the "City of Georgetown" in several 19th-century acts of Congress.[6]) Robert Peter, an early area merchant in the tobacco trade, became Georgetown's first mayor in 1790.[7]