The HILL DNA Project was founded in June of 2002 by E. Ray Hill of Livingston, TX, a descendant of Jonas Hill. He affiliated the project with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) in Houston, TX in July of 2002. The fast and steady growth of the Hill Surname DNA Project can be credited to Ray's knowledge of many HILL lines and his years of connections with the active researchers associated with those lines. Ray's efforts were augmented by the help of researcher Travis Hill, who generously sponsored six early participants, and Byron Hill, the administrator for the HILL-L Discussion List at Rootsweb.  Together, Ray, Travis and Byron continued to seek out other HILL families and other known researchers. Within the first 18 months that the project was online, the number of participants soared to over 100. Today the HILL Surname DNA Project is one of the most active and most successful surname DNA sites in existence.

On January 1, 2005, Ray Hill turned the administration of the project over to Byron Hill. Byron has already made a few changes including the purchase of a dedicated domain name for the project, and with the HTML expertise of Michael Hill of Walnut Creek, CA the Test Results page was soon expanded to include 37 markers, and in February of 2007 expanded to include 67 markers.

"Ray Hill has been the driving force behind this project since the very beginning. He has served the participants so well that I can't imagine being able to do the job any better. I have made a few changes in the site,  all with Ray's blessings. I have insisted that he remain active as a consultant. This is his baby, and I will do my best to live up to the great service Ray has given to our research." -Byron Hill