Howard University - Bison Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 17 text:

Cfje s torp of asfjington Ciiv By William L. Tignor HE CITY that bears the honored name of Washington, within the Federal District named for the discoverer of America, is today recognized as the supreme combination of all that is desirable for a city designed to be the great capital of a great nation. It is al-ready the Paris of America in beauty and attractions. It is rapid-—ly becoming the Berlin of America in education and is destined to become the Rome of America in art. The reason for this growth is obvious. Washington is singularly free in its opportunity to devote its energies to enhancing its own stateliness and to furthering education and art, for it has never been a center for business or manufacture; it was built solely to provide a seat for government activities and a home for public servants to carry them on. The controversy over the location of the National Capital which finally ended in the selection of the “original ten miles square’' of the District of Columbia was bitter and long drawn out, lasting over seven years. About the first word heard of the question was in the fall of 1779 when some of the members of the Continental Congress discussed the advisability of setting up a capital at Princeton, New Jersey. Four years later, Kingston, New York, was offered as a site; Maryland offered Annapolis; New Jersey offered Nottingham Township; Virginia offered Williamsburg. Finally Virginia and Maryland united in an offer of land on the Potomac. A few days after the several bids for a capital site were presented, a mutiny of Pennsylvania troops occurred. The result was that Congress left Philadelphia and went to Princeton. The incident proved to Congress that the Federal Government must have a home of its own where it could have sole undisputed jurisdiction and where it could defend itself. The first Congress under the new government took up the matter and its second session fixed the site for the Federal District on the Potomac River. As soon as this was done, Washington himself took active charge of the wfork of its location. He finally selected the present site of the District of Columbia. The plan of the city was devised, as is well known, by Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French engineer, who had come to the United States in 1777 and had served during the Revolutionary war in the French contingent. When L'Enfant was notified of his selection as the architect, he visited the district, viewed the ground on horseback in company with Washington and immediately set to work to perfect his plan, which he had begun a few days before. Washington and L'Enfant in their planning for Washington left a framework for its development that the ablest architects and artists, now more than 100 years after the plan was drawn and its execution begun, have confessed themselves unable to improve. During the month of October, 1806, the government took possession of Washington. The arrival of the officials created great excitement among the 3,000 inhabitants. When the little “packet sloop” bringing the records and furniture of the departments and some of the officials was seen slowly sailing up the Potomac, most of the people of the city gathered on the river bank and gave the vessel a hearty welcome. One wing of the capitol was complete and ready for Congress which

Page 16 text:

The Haven of the “Peace that passeth all understanding.”

Page 18 text:

began its session in November. The city proved to be a very lonely place for the officials after their agreeable life in Philadelphia. One referred to it as “a city of magnificent distances set in a mudhole almost e iual to the great Serbonian Bog.” Satire and opposition could not prevent the city from growing. Its growth was very slow compared to what had been expected, but it was sure and steady for a number of years. In 1810 it had a population of 3,208 and in 1820 a population of 13,474. Jonathan Elliot says, “President Jefferson did much to further the prosperity of the city by procuring grants of money for carrying on the public buildings; he also gave encouragement to all the improvements brought forward during his administration. He caused Pennsylvania Avenue to be opened and planted with trees. President Madison was also friendly to the city but owing to restrictions on commerce and the subsequent war during his administration, little progress was made in the public works. But it was in the administration of President Monroe that the most extensive and valuable improvements were made in every part of the city and the public money expended on the national work with the greatest liberality.” On May 3, 1802, an act of incorporation was granted to the city of Washington which allowed the citizens to elect a city council, but put the appointment of the mayor in the hands of the President. The municipal form was continued until 1871 when Congress repealed the city charter and established a territorial government which remained until 1874 when three commissioners were appointed to have charge of the district. The government by commissioners under the supervision of Congress has been continued to the present time. In August 1814, the British landed a force on the Patuxent and marched on Washington. The capitol was burned. The soldiers marched to the President’s house and fired that and also other public buildings. They plundered stores and houses, destroyed the workshops in the Navy-yard and the fort at Greenleaf s Point and in various ways did a great deal of damage to the city. It was not until 1871, after the Civil War, that Washington began to be a beautiful city. The movement for improving it was started by Alexander R. Shepherd who afterwards became governor of the District. Shepherd, a man of indomitable will, determined that the National Capital should no longer be a comfortless, repulsive place but that it should become a metropolis in fact as well as in name and an object of pride and admiration of the people of the country. He secured the friendship of President Grant and awakened Congress to an interest in the affairs of Washington. An army of laborers were set to work to grade, to pave the streets and avenues, to cut down and remove banks and obstructions, to reconstruct the sidewalks, to set out thousands of trees, to develop parks, squares, and circles, and to do many other things which would improve and beautify the city. In a few years an almost incredible amount of work had been done. The old slovenly city had nearly disappeared. Fine business buildings, residences, churches, schools, and hotels were erected. One writer likened the improved Washington to a century plant set on the banks of the Potomac by the Father of his country which had now for the first time blossomed. Washington had become after three quarters of a century a truly magnificent capital. The city of Washington is located on the river front of the District and extends over a broad irregular valley up to the edges of a range of thickly wooded hills. The Capitol marks the center of the city and all the streets are laid out in right angles from it. There are four district sections of the