User:Aude/Georgetown

Coordinates: 38°54′34″N 77°3′54″W / 38.90944°N 77.06500°W / 38.90944; -77.06500
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Georgetown Historic District
Former Riggs Bank building located at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, NW
LocationRoughly bounded by Whitehaven Street, Rock Creek Park, the Potomac River, and the Georgetown University campus
Coordinates38°54′34″N 77°3′54″W / 38.90944°N 77.06500°W / 38.90944; -77.06500
Area750 acres (300 ha)
NRHP reference No.67000025
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 28, 1967
Designated NHLDMay 28, 1967

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia. Georgetown retained its separate municipal status until 1871, when it was assimilated into the city of Washington. Today, the primary commercial corridors of Georgetown are M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, which contain high-end shops, bars, and restaurants. Georgetown is home to the main campus of Georgetown University and numerous landmarks, such as the Old Stone House, the oldest standing building in Washington. The embassies of France, Mongolia, Sweden, Thailand, Venezuela, and Ukraine are located in Georgetown.

Early history[edit]

The Old Stone House, built 1765, is the oldest standing building in Washington, D.C.

In 1632, English fur trader Henry Fleet first documented a Native American (Nacotchtank) village called Tohoga on the site of present-day Georgetown and established trade there.[1] At the time of its incorporation in 1751, Georgetown was part of the British colony of the Province of Maryland. The Maryland legislature authorized purchase of 60 acres of land from George Gordon and George Beall, and survey of the town was completed in February 1752.[2]

Situated on the fall line, Georgetown was the farthest point upstream to which oceangoing boats could navigate the Potomac River. Gordon constructed a tobacco inspection house along the Potomac in approximately 1745. Tobacco was already being transferred from land to waterways at this location, when the inspection house was built. Warehouses, wharves, and other buildings were then constructed around the inspection house, and it quickly became a small community. It did not take long before Georgetown grew into a thriving port, facilitating trade and shipments of tobacco and other goods from colonial Maryland.[3] One of the most prominent tobacco export businesses was Forrest, Stoddert and Murdock, formed in 1783 in Georgetown, by Uriah Forrest, Benjamin Stoddert, and John Murdock.[4]

Georgetown was established in 1751 when the Maryland Legislature purchased 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land for the town from Gordon and Beall at the price of £280.[5] 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.

Post-Revolution[edit]

The Maryland Legislature formally issued the town charter and incorporated the town in 1789.[6] Robert Peter, who was among the first to establish a business (tobacco export) in the town, became Georgetown's first mayor in 1790.[7]

Benjamin Stoddert was a major figure in early Georgetown history. Arriving there in 1783, having previously served as Secretary to the Board of War under the Articles of Confederation, he partnered with General Uriah Forrest to become an original proprietor of the Potomac Company. Stoddert purchased stock in the federal government under Hamilton's assumption-of-debt plan. He ultimately owned Halcyon House at the corner of 34th and Prospect Streets.

The terms of the land transfer to the federal government to create the national capital were worked out by Stoddert and other Potomac landowners at a dinner at Forrest's home in Georgetown on March 28, 1791. Stoddert bought land within the boundaries of the federal district, some of it at the request of Washington for the government and some on speculation. The speculative purchases were not, however, profitable and caused Stoddert much difficulty before his appointment as Secretary of the Navy to John Adams. Stoddert was rescued from his debts with the help of William Marbury, later of Marbury v. Madison fame, and also a Georgetown resident. The Forrest-Marbury House on M Street is currently the embassy of Ukraine.

Col. John Beatty established the first church in Georgetown, a Lutheran church on High Street. Stephen Bloomer Balch established a Presbyterian Church in 1784. In 1795, the Trinity Catholic Church was built, along with a parish school-house. St. John's Episcopal Church was built in 1803. Banks in Georgetown included the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, which was established in 1814. Other banks included the Bank of Washington, Patriotic Bank, Bank of the Metropolis, and the Union and Central Banks of Georgetown. Newspapers in Georgetown included the Republican Weekly Ledger, which was the first paper, started in 1790. The Sentinel was first published in 1796 by Green, English & Co. Charles C. Fulton began publishing the Potomac Advocate, which was started by Thomas Turner. Other newspapers in Georgetown included the Georgetown Courier and the Federal Republican. William B. Magruder, the first postmaster, was appointed on February 16, 1790, and in 1795, a custom house was established on Water Street. General James M. Lingan served as the first collector of the port.[8]

Georgetown around 1862. Overview of the C&O Canal, Aqueduct Bridge at right, and unfinished Capitol dome in the distant background.

George Washington frequented Georgetown, including Suter's Tavern where he worked out many land deals from there to acquire land for the Federal City.[9] In the 1790s, City Tavern, the Union Tavern, and the Columbian Inn opened and were popular throughout the 19th century.[10] Of these taverns, only the City Tavern remains today, as a private social club (the City Tavern Club) located near the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.

Thomas Jefferson lived for some time in Georgetown while serving as vice president under President John Adams.[11] Georgetown was home to Francis Scott Key who arrived as a young lawyer in 1808 and resided on M Street. Dr. William Beanes, a relative of Key, captured the rear guard of the British Army while it was burning Washington during the War of 1812. When the mass of the army retreated, they retrieved their imprisoned guard and took Dr. Beanes as a captive to their fleet near Baltimore. Key went to the fleet to request the release of Beanes, was held until the bombardment of Fort McHenry was completed, and gained the inspiration for "The Star-Spangled Banner".

By the 1820s, the Potomac River had become silted up and was not navigable up to Georgetown. Construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal began in July 1828, to link Georgetown to Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). The canal was completed on October 10, 1850, at a cost $77,041,586. The canal turned out not to be profitable, never living up to expectations with construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.[12] The Canal nonetheless provided an economic boost for Georgetown. In the 1820s and 1830s, Georgetown was an important shipping center. Tobacco and other goods were transferred between the canal and shipping on the Potomac River. As well, salt was imported from Europe, and sugar and molasses were imported from the West Indies.[8] These shipping industries were later superseded by coal and flour industries, which flourished with the C & O Canal providing cheap power for mills and other industry.[13]

African-American history[edit]

Georgetown historically had a large African-American population, including both slaves and free blacks. Slave labor was widely used in construction of new buildings in Washington, in addition to provide labor on tobacco plantations in Maryland and Virginia. Slave trading in Georgetown dates back as early as 1760, when John Beattie established his business on O Street and conducted business at other locations around Wisconsin Avenue. Slave trading continued until the mid-19th century, when it was banned.[14] Other slave markets ("pens") were located in Georgetown, including one at McCandless' Tavern near M Street and Wisconsin Avenue.[15] Congress abolished slavery in Washington and Georgetown on April 16, 1862.[16] Many African Americans moved to Georgetown following the Civil War, establishing a thriving community.

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, African Americans comprised a substantial portion of Georgetown's population. The 1800 census reported the population in Georgetown at 5,120, which included 1,449 slaves and 227 free blacks.[14] A testament to the African-American history that remains today is the Mount Zion United Methodist Church, which is the oldest African-American congregation in Washington. Prior to establishing the church, free blacks and slaves went to the Dumbarton Methodist Church where they were restricted to a hot, overcrowded balcony. The church was originally located in a small brick meetinghouse on 27th Street, but it was destroyed in the 1880s due to fire. The church was rebuilt on the present site.[17] Mount Zion Cemetery offered free burials for Washington's earlier African-American population.[18]

Post-Civil War[edit]

Sailing vessels docked at the Georgetown waterfront, ca. 1865

After the American Revolution, Georgetown became an independent municipal government of the federal District of Columbia, along with the City of Washington, the City of Alexandria, and the newly created County of Washington and County of Alexandria (now Arlington County, Virginia). It was officially known as "Georgetown, D.C." In 1862, the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company began a horsecar line running along M Street in Georgetown and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, easing travel between the two cities. Georgetown's corporate charter, along with Washington's, was formally revoked by Congress effective June 1, 1871, at which point its governmental powers were vested within the District of Columbia.[19] The streets in Georgetown were renamed in 1880 to conform to the street names in use in Washington.[20]

By the late 1800s, flour milling and other industries in Georgetown were declining, in part due to the fact that the canals and other waterways continually silted up.[21] Nathaniel Michler and S.T. Abert led efforts to dredge the channels and remove rocks around the Georgetown harbor, though these were temporary solutions and Congress showed little interest in the issue.[22] An 1890 flood and expansion of the railroads brought destitution to the C&O Canal, and Georgetown became a depressed slum, with alleys choked by tiny dwellings lacking plumbing or electricity. Shipping trade vanished between the Civil War and World War I.[23] As a result, many older homes were preserved relatively unchanged. Alexander Graham Bell's earliest switching office for the Bell System was located on a site just below the C&O Canal, and it remains in use as a phone facility to this day.

"From a pre-Civil War population of 6,798 whites, 1,358 free Negroes, and 577 slaves, Georgetown's population had grown to 17,300 but half these residents were poverty-stricken Negroes."[23]

Early twentieth century[edit]

P Street NW in Georgetown features conduit streetcar tracks installed in the 1890s; they have been out of use since January 3, 1960, when the Cabin John line (Route 20) was abandoned.

In 1915, the Buffalo Bridge (on Q Street) opened and connected this part of Georgetown with the rest of the city east of Rock Creek Park. Soon thereafter, new construction of large apartment buildings began on the edge of Georgetown. In the early 1920s, John Ihlder led efforts to take advantage of new zoning laws to get restrictions enacted on construction in Georgetown.[24] A 1933 study by Horace Peaslee and Allied Architects laid out ideas for how Georgetown could be preserved.[25]

The C & O Canal, then owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, formally ceased operations in March 1924. After severe flooding in 1936, B & O Railroad sold the canal to the National Park Service in October 1938.[16] The waterfront area retained its industrial character in the first half of the 20th century. Georgetown was home to a lumber yard, a cement works, the Washington Flour mill, and a meat rendering plant, and its skyline was dominated by the smokestacks of a garbage incinerator and the twin stacks of the power generating plant for the old Capital Traction streetcar system, located at the foot of Wisconsin Avenue, which closed in 1935 and which was not razed until October 1968. In 1949, the city constructed the Whitehurst Freeway, an elevated highway above K Street, to allow motorists entering the District over the Key Bridge to bypass Georgetown entirely on their way downtown.

Legislators largely ignored concerns about historic preservation of Georgetown until 1950, when Public Law 808 was passed, establishing the historic district of "Old Georgetown."[26] The law required that the United States Commission of Fine Arts be consulted on any alteration, demolition, or building construction within the historic district.[27]

Gentrification[edit]

As the only existing town at the time, Georgetown was the fashion and cultural center of the newly-formed District of Columbia. As Washington grew, however, the center of social Washington moved east across Rock Creek to the new Victorian homes that sprang up around the city's traffic circles, and to the Gilded Age mansions along Massachusetts Avenue. While many "old families" stayed on in Georgetown, the neighborhood's population became poorer and more racially diverse by the early 20th century. Its demographics started to shift again when gentrification began during the 1930s, as a number of members of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved into the area. By the 1950s, a wave of new post-war residents arrived. Many of these new residents were well-educated, from elite backgrounds and they took a keen interest in the neighborhood's historic nature. At about the same time, the Citizens Association of Georgetown was formed.

The area reached the height of fashionability when Georgetown resident John F. Kennedy was elected president. Kennedy lived in Georgetown in the 1950s as both a Congressman and a Senator. Parties hosted by his wife, Jackie, and many other Georgetown hostesses drew political elites away from downtown clubs and hotels or the upper 16th Street corridor. Kennedy went to his presidential inauguration from his townhouse at 3307 N Street in January 1961.

Georgetown is now one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Washington and home to many of the city's politicians and lobbyists. Current inhabitants include Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, past Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee, Washington Post Watergate reporter and current assistant managing editor Bob Woodward, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Montana Senator Max Baucus, among others. High-end developments and gentrification have revitalized Georgetown's formerly blighted industrial waterfront. The District's old refuse incinerator and smokestack, preserved for years as an abandoned but historic landmark, was redeveloped in 2003 to become the most pronounced feature of a new Ritz-Carlton Hotel.[28] Georgetown is home to a variety of luxury retailers and boutiques, including Georgetown Cupcake which opened in early 2008.[29]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Delany, Kevin (1971). A Walk Through Georgetown. Kevin Delany Publications.
  2. ^ Jackson, Richard Plummer (1878). The Chronicles of Georgetown, D.C., from 1751-1878. R. O. Polkinhorn. pp. 3–4.
  3. ^ Lesko (1991), p. 1
  4. ^ Ecker (1933), p. 12
  5. ^ Ecker (1933), pp. 1-6
  6. ^ Lesko (1991), pp. 1-2
  7. ^ Ecker (1933), p. 8
  8. ^ a b "An Old City's History: The Simple Annals of Our Venerable Suburb". The Washington Post. July 24, 1878.
  9. ^ Holmes, Oliver W. "Suter's Tavern: Birthplace of the Federal City". Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 73–74: 1–34.
  10. ^ Holmes, Oliver W. "The City Tavern: A Century of Georgetown History, 1797-1898". Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 50: 1–35.
  11. ^ Ecker (1933), p. 47
  12. ^ From its beginning to December 1876, the canal earned $35,659,055 in revenue, while expending $35,746,301. - "An Old City's History: The Simple Annals of Our Venerable Suburb". The Washington Post. July 24, 1878.
  13. ^ Gutheim and Lee (2006), p. 49
  14. ^ a b Lesko (1991), p. 2
  15. ^ Gutheim and Lee (2006), p. 51
  16. ^ a b H-DC Discussion Network
  17. ^ Mitchell, M. (1983), p. 10
  18. ^ Washington, DC-Mt. Zion Cemetery
  19. ^ United States Statutes at Large, Volume 16, pg 428, § 40.
  20. ^ King, Leroy O., Jr. "100 Years of Capital Traction: The Story of Streetcar Lines in the Nation's Capital". Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, 1972, Third printing 1989: 8, Library of Congress card number 72–97549, ISBN 0–9600938–1–8.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Gutheim and Lee (2006), p. 58
  22. ^ Gutheim and Lee (2006), p. 94
  23. ^ a b Smith, A. Robert and Sevareid, Eric. "Washington: Magnificent Capital". Doubleday & Company, New York, 1965: 154, Library of Congress card number 65–24912.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Mitchell, M. (1983), p. 2
  25. ^ Gutheim and Lee (2006), p. 199
  26. ^ Lesko (1991), p. 95
  27. ^ "Old Georgetown Act". National Commission of Fine Arts. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  28. ^ "The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences, Georgetown". Architectural Record. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  29. ^ Joynt, Carol (2008-02-19). "Washington Gets Cupcaked". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
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