In 1929 three brothers, James, Robert, and George McWilliams, become business partners selling sod in Timonium, Maryland. Several years later, in 1936, James and Robert formed a company that sold and installed sod. In 1946, James McWilliams and his wife, Marion, started a small propagation nursery in the Stoneleigh/Idlewood community north of Baltimore. The nursery quickly became the spring blooming attraction of the neighborhood. "Macs azaleas" became Maxalea, the family business that continues to operate from the same property. James and Marion McWilliams nurtured and successfully readied their business for the next generation. Using their horticultural backgrounds and skills in landscape architecture, sons Jack and Don teamed to develop Maxaleas landscape contracting division. More recently, within the emerging "Age of Technology" and at the threshold of the 21st century, Maxalea became the responsibility of a third generation. Five McWilliams family members assumed ownership and management responsibilities in 1998. Currently owned and operated by Michael, James, Stephen, and David McWilliams, Maxalea continues to be a leader in the landscape industry and is the recipient of many local and national awards. Maxalea has become a full service landscape contractor employing over 80 trained professionals including landscape architects, landscape designers, horticulturists, technicians, nurserymen, and grounds maintenance personnel.