=Washington, D. C.= [The “City of Magnificent Distances,” from its being
laid out on a large and regular scale; originally named Georgetown, but
when selected in 1790 as the Federal Capital was re-named Washington in
honor of the first President of the United States.]
The City of Washington, the Capital of the United States, lies on the
left bank of the Potomac River, in the District of Columbia, one hundred
and fifty-six miles from Chesapeake Bay, one hundred and eighty-five
miles from the Atlantic Ocean, two hundred and twenty-six miles
southwest of New York, one hundred and thirty-six miles of Philadelphia,
and forty miles of Baltimore.
The city lies on a plain with slight elevations and surrounded by hills,
and is generally accepted as the most beautiful in the United States,
being finely laid out, with wide asphalted streets, opening up vistas of
handsome public buildings, monuments, or leafy squares, with the Capitol
and the Washington Monument dominating the entire view.
The original plan of Washington City was made by L’Enfant, a French
engineer, who had adopted America as his residence. Based largely upon
the topography of Versailles, its characteristic features are the
crossing of the rectangular streets by frequent broad transverse
avenues, one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty feet wide,
lined with trees and named for various States of the Union. The streets
running north and south are numbered, those running east and west are
named by the letters of the alphabet. The circles formed by the
intersection of the streets and avenues are one of the most charming
features of the city.
Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House (a distance
of one and one-third miles), is the chief thoroughfare, and other
important business streets are Seventh Street, Fourteenth Street, Ninth
Street, and F Street. Among the finest residence streets are New
Hampshire Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Connecticut
Avenue, and Sixteenth Street.
The new Union Railway Station, completed in 1908 at a cost of fifteen
million dollars, including grounds and tunnels, is undoubtedly one of
the most successful buildings in the country. It is situated at the
junction of Massachusetts and Delaware Avenues, about one-third of a
mile, and in full view of the Capitol. In front is a large plaza,
embellished with shrubbery, fountains, and the finely sculptured
Columbus monument.
The Capitol, splendidly situated on a hill ninety feet above the level
of the Potomac, dominates the entire city with its soaring dome and
ranks among the most beautiful buildings in the world. It stands in a
park of about fifty acres, is seven hundred and fifty-one feet in length
and one hundred and twenty-one to three hundred and twenty-four feet
wide, and consists of a main edifice of sandstone, painted white, and of
two wings of white marble. The building covers an area of three and
one-half acres.
The cornerstone was laid by Washington in 1793. The main building, with
its original low-crowned dome, was completed in 1827; the wings and the
new iron dome were added in 1851-1865. The general style is classic,
with Corinthian details. The principal facade looks towards the east, as
the city was expected to spread in that direction, and the Capitol thus
turns its back upon the main part of the city and on the other
government buildings.
A fine marble terrace, eight hundred and eighty-four feet long,
approached by two broad flights of steps, has been constructed on the
west side of the Capitol and adds great dignity to this view of the
building. The dome, which is two hundred and sixty-eight and one-half
feet high, is surmounted by a figure of Liberty, nineteen and one-half
feet high. The total cost of the building has been sixteen million
dollars.
The front or east facade is preceded by three porticos, the main
entrance being in the center. To the right of the central portico is the
Settlement of America, a marble group by Greenough; to the left is the
Discovery of America, a figure of Columbus by Persico. In the pediment
above the portico is a relief of the Genius of America, by Persico; and
in the pediment above the north portico is a group representing the
Civilization of the United States, by Crawford.
The inauguration of the Presidents of the United States takes place on
the broad steps in front of the main doorway.
In the interior beside the rotunda with its historical paintings, are
the Senate Chamber in the north wing; the House of Representatives in
the south wing, the Supreme Court in the central building, and the old
Hall of Representatives, now used for historical statues.
To the north and south of the Capitol and connected with it by subways
are the Senate and House of Representatives office buildings, two white
marble edifices in a classic style, containing offices for senators and
representatives.
To the southeast of the Capitol stands the Library of Congress, an
enormous structure in the Italian renaissance style, four hundred and
seventy feet long and three hundred and forty feet wide, erected in
1888-1897, at a cost of six million one hundred and eighty thousand
dollars. It is in the form of a quadrangle, enclosing four courts and a
central rotunda surmounted by a flat gilded dome and lantern. The main
entrance, on the west side, is preceded by a broad flight of steps and a
granite terrace, against the retaining wall of which is an effective
fountain.
The interior of the Congressional Library is sumptuously adorned with
paintings, sculptures, colored marbles, and gilding. To the right and
left are massive marble staircases, richly adorned with sculptures and
with bronze figures as lamp-bearers. The ceiling of the hall,
seventy-two feet above the marble flooring, is resplendent in blue,
green, and yellow.
The reading room rotunda is perhaps the finest and most thoroughly
satisfactory part of the whole building. The chamber, which is one
hundred feet in diameter and one hundred and twenty-five feet in height,
accommodates about three hundred readers, is richly adorned with dark
marble from Tennessee, red marble from Numidia, and yellow marble from
Siena. The eight massive piers are surmounted by symbolical female
figures.
At the foot of the flights of steps descending from the terrace on the
west side of the Capitol is an heroic statue of Chief Justice Marshall,
by Story. The broad walk to the north leads to the Naval or Peace
Monument, by Simmons. The walk to the south leads to the statue of
President Garfield, by J. Q. A. Ward.
Diagonally to the southwest and northwest extend two grand avenues as
far as eye can see--Maryland Avenue to the left leading down to the
Potomac and carrying the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad to the river,
where it crosses over the Long Bridge into Virginia; and Pennsylvania
Avenue to the right stretching to the distant colonnade of the Treasury
Building and the tree covered park south of the Executive Mansion.
Between these diverging avenues and extending to the Potomac, more than
a mile away, is the Mall, a broad inclosure of lawns and gardens. Upon
it in the foreground is the government Botanical Garden, and behind this
the spacious grounds surrounding the Smithsonian Institution; and the
National Museum; while beyond, near the river bank, rises the tall,
white shaft of the Washington Monument with its pointed apex; on either
side spreads out the city, the houses bordering the foliage lined
streets and having at frequent intervals the tall spires of churches and
the massive marble, granite, and brick edifices that are used for
government buildings.
The Smithsonian Institution is a red stone building in the late Norman
style, erected in 1847-1856 at a cost of four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. The loftiest of the nine towers is one hundred and forty-five
feet high. In front of it is a statue of Prof. Joseph Henry, the first
secretary of the Institution, by Story.
[Illustration: =CORCORAN ART GALLERY, WASHINGTON=]
New buildings for the National Museum, on the Mall between Ninth and
Twelfth Streets, and the new one million five hundred thousand dollar
marble building of the Department of Agriculture, west of the
Smithsonian grounds, are notable. The former, originally established to
exhibit the rich contributions given to the government by various
countries from the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, has become a most
extensive and instructive collection of antiquities, ethnology, geology,
and natural history generally; and there are many museums, libraries and
art galleries.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where the paper money, bonds and
stamps of the United States are printed, is at the corner of B Street
and the Mall, southwest.
The national monument to Washington, popularly known as the “Washington
Monument,” is a towering obelisk of white marble, on the bank of the
Potomac, erected at a cost of one million two hundred and thirty
thousand dollars. It has a total height of five hundred and fifty-five
feet, an area at the foundation of sixteen thousand feet, and a weight
of thirty-six thousand nine hundred and twelve gross tons. The apex has
an aluminum point, and there is an elevator and an iron stairway of nine
hundred steps in the interior of the shaft.
From the Washington Monument the Treasury Department at Pennsylvania
Avenue and Fifteenth Street comes into full view. It is an immense
edifice, five hundred and ten feet long and two hundred and eighty feet
wide, with an Ionic colonnade on the east front and porticos on the
other three sides. The materials are freestone and granite, and it cost
seven million dollars to erect the edifice. Among the chief objects of
interest are the United States Cash Room, in the north corridor; the
Redemption Division, in the basement; the Silver Vaults, containing
bullion and coin to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars; and
the Secret Service Division, with its collection of forged money and
portraits of forgers.
On the south, opposite the Treasury, is the fine equestrian monument of
General Sherman, by Rohl-Smith, erected in 1903. The pedestal is
embellished with bronze reliefs, medallions, and figures of Indian
women, and at the corners are four sentinels.
Following Pennsylvania Avenue towards the west, Lafayette Square, is
approached. Here are bronze statues of General Andrew Jackson, by Clark
Mills; the Rochambeau Monument, by F. Hamar; and the Lafayette
Monument, by Falguiére and Mercié. On the east side of the square is the
Belasco Theater, occupying the site of the house in which an attempt was
made to assassinate Secretary Seward in 1865.
Opposite Lafayette Square is the entrance to the White House or
Executive Mansion of the President of the United States. The White House
is a two-story stone building, painted white, one hundred and seventy
feet long and eighty-six feet deep, with an Ionic portico. It was first
built in 1792, occupied by President Adams in 1800, burned by the
British in 1814, and rebuilt in 1818. In 1902-1903 the whole building
was admirably restored, within and without. The esplanade or terrace on
the west side connects the house with the new Executive Offices and
Cabinet Room. The large East Room (eighty by forty by twenty-two feet)
is open to the public from ten to two. The Reception Rooms, which
contain portraits of Presidents and valuable gifts, and the handsome
Dining Room are shown by special order only. The rest of the house is
private. The grounds surrounding the house are seventy-five acres in
extent.
To the west of the White House is the huge building of the State, War,
and Navy Departments, enclosing two courts and measuring five hundred
and sixty-seven feet in length by three hundred and forty-two feet in
breadth. It is a granite building, in Renaissance style, the largest
public edifice in Washington, covering four and one-half acres, has five
hundred and sixty-six rooms, and cost eleven million dollars. The north
and west wings are occupied by the War Department. The Navy Department
is in the eastern part of the building.
The Department of State occupies the southern part of the building.
Among the finest rooms are the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, containing
portraits of the Secretaries of State from 1789 to the present day, and
the Library, with Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of
Independence and other relics.
In Seventeenth Street, to the southwest of the State Building, between
New York Avenue and E Street, is the Corcoran Gallery of Art, built and
endowed by the late W. W. Corcoran. The present building, erected in
1894-1897, is a handsome white marble structure in a Neo-Grecian style,
by Ernest Flagg. The semicircular hall at the north end is used for
occasional exhibitions, while the rest of this part of the building is
occupied by a School of Art. The steps to the main entrance are flanked
by colossal bronze lions, modeled after those by Canova at the tomb of
Pope Clement XIII. The Gallery contains more than two hundred paintings,
the finest collection of Barye bronzes, Power’s Greek Slave, and Vela’s
Dying Napoleon in marble.
Also in Seventeenth Street, south of the Corcoran Gallery, are the new
Continental Hall, built by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and
the new building of the International Bureau of the American Republics,
erected at a cost of one million dollars by Andrew Carnegie.
The Interior Department occupies an entire square in the heart of the
city, and is constructed of white marble in pure Doric, costing three
million dollars. The General Land Office opposite is a Corinthian marble
edifice.
In Judiciary Square on the north side stands the Pension Office, an
enormous structure of brick, four hundred feet long and two hundred feet
wide. It is surrounded by a terra cotta frieze illustrating military and
naval operations. The interior, with its mammoth columns (seventy-five
feet high), can accommodate about twenty thousand people at an
inauguration ball, or other occasions.
[Illustration: =ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, WASHINGTON=]
Nearby, in B Street, is the large Census Bureau, in which a large staff
is constantly at work. The enumerating machines are especially
interesting.
To the northeast of this point, at the corner of North Capitol and H
Streets, is the Government Printing Office, a twelve-story building
erected at a cost of two million dollars.
Ford Theater, in which President Lincoln was assassinated by Booth on
April 14, 1865, is in Tenth Street. A house opposite bears a tablet
stating that Lincoln died there, and contains a collection of Lincoln
relics.
On the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth
Streets, is the Post Office Department, with a tower three hundred feet
high. At the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fourteenth Streets is the
new District or Municipal Building, a fine marble structure completed in
1908, and occupied by the District Commissioners and other officials of
the local government.
At the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and New York Avenue is Mt.
Vernon Square, containing the Public Library, a white marble building,
presented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie.
Beyond the Capitol to the southeast are the Washington Barracks, at the
junction of the Potomac and its Eastern Branch, an artillery post, and
the War College, a fine brick building, erected 1903-1908. In front of
the latter is a statue of Frederick the Great by T. Uphues, presented to
the United States by Emperor William II.
About one mile to the northeast, on the Anacostia River, is the
Washington Navy Yard, with a museum, an important gun foundry, and
manufactories of naval stores.
There are more than two hundred and fifty churches in Washington, of
which the more important are St. John’s (the “President’s Church”), and
St. Thomas’ Episcopal; the New York Avenue, and Church of the Covenant,
Presbyterian; the Metropolitan and Foundry, Methodist; St. Matthew’s and
St. Aloysius’, Roman Catholic; Calvary, Baptist; Garfield Memorial,
Christian; and Mount St. Sepulchre, with its reproduction of the sacred
places of the Holy Land.
The National Soldiers’ Home, two miles above the city, founded in 1851,
has six hundred acres of park and forest, which serve as a public
driving park and rural resort. To the north lies the National Military
Cemetery, with the graves of General Logan, General Kearney, and seven
thousand soldiers. On the west this is adjoined by Rock Creek Cemetery,
containing Saint-Gauden’s beautiful monument to Mrs. Henry Adams. To the
east of the Soldiers’ Home Park is the important Catholic University of
America, around which has grown up a somewhat remarkable group of
ecclesiastical establishments, including a Franciscan Convent, houses of
the Dominicans, Paulists and Marists, and Trinity College for young
women. The university has a number of fine stone buildings of striking
architectural effect. The other colleges of note are: George Washington
University, with academic, scientific, graduate, medical, and
technological departments, and a famous law school; Georgetown
University, a Jesuit institution with academic and professional schools;
American University, for graduate instruction only; and the National
Deaf-Mute College, founded in 1864, a government institution for the
education of deaf and dumb pupils from the army, the navy, and the
District of Columbia. Its fine stone buildings lie just north of the
city.
Among the more important private buildings may be mentioned those of the
Washington Post and Evening Star, and the Munsey buildings, all on
Pennsylvania Avenue; the Riggs National Bank, American Security and
Trust Company, Washington Loan and Trust, Union Trust and Storage
Company, and the National Metropolitan Bank. The larger office buildings
are the Bond, the Colorado, the Ouray, the Southern, and Woodward
buildings. The Masonic Temple, the Scottish Rite Temple, and the Y. M.
C. A. buildings, are important structures.
More and more Washington is becoming the home of a class of wealthy
Americans, many of whom have erected beautiful residences, and among
those of conspicuous architectural value are the Leiter, Townsend,
Walsh, McLean, Belmont, Hale, Anderson, Boardman, Patterson, Thomas
Nelson Page, Wayne McVeagh, Henderson, and Gale houses. Of similar
interest are the embassy buildings of the British, Chinese, French,
Russian, and other nations. The Metropolitan, the Cosmos, the Army and
Navy, University, National Press, and the Washington (for women) are the
principal clubs, and have homes of their own.
An elaborate park system is in course of development, which will
ultimately surround the city with parks and connecting boulevards. The
principal park is Rock Creek Park, to the north of the city, containing
two thousand acres extending along both sides of Rock Creek. Its natural
beauties are very great. On Mt. St. Alban, near Woodley, to the
northwest of Georgetown, is the Peace Cross, a large Celtic cross
erected at the close of the war with Spain (1898) on the grounds of the
new Episcopal Cathedral, of which the cornerstone was laid in 1907. It
affords a fine view of Washington. On the Chevy Chase Road, to the
northwest of the Zoölogical Park, are the National Bureau of Standards
and the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, the
administration building of which latter is in Sixteenth Street.
South of Rock Creek Park, on Rock Creek, lies the National Zoölogical
Park of one hundred and seventy acres, reached from Washington in a half
hour.
On a commanding site overlooking Rock Creek, north of Georgetown, in
handsome grounds, is the United States Naval Observatory, of white
marble, with its twenty-six-inch equatorial telescope.
Scattered throughout the city are numerous squares, circles, and small
parks, nearly all of which contain statues.
Of bronze statues erected in honor of famous men, Washington has an
abundance--mainly to military characters. Equestrian statues of
Washington, Jackson, Greene, Scott, Thomas, and McPherson are erected,
besides full-length statues of Lafayette, Luther, Franklin, Chief
Justice Marshall, Lincoln, Garfield, Professor Henry Farragut, General
Rawlins, and Admiral Dupont.
[Illustration: =ARLINGTON HOUSE, HOME OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE=]
At Arlington, across the river from Washington, on commanding heights,
is the National Cemetery containing the graves of about sixteen thousand
soldiers. Arlington House, in the middle of the grounds, two hundred
feet above the river, was once the residence of George Washington Parke
Custis (step-grandson of Washington) and afterwards of General Robert
Lee, who married Miss Custis. Near the house are the graves of General
Sheridan, Admiral Porter, General Lawton, General Wheeler, and other
distinguished officers.
To the south is a tomb containing the remains of two thousand one
hundred and eleven unknown soldiers. The sailors destroyed by the
blowing up of the “Maine” in 1898 and other victims of the war with
Spain are buried in the southern part of the cemetery.
The cornerstone of a splendid military memorial or Hall of Fame was laid
here in 1916, to be erected in classic style, of marble, and to cost
several millions of dollars.
[Illustration: =MOUNT VERNON=]
[Illustration: =WASHINGTON’S TOMB, MT. VERNON=]
MOUNT VERNON, Washington’s home and burial place, is in Fairfax County,
Va., about fifteen miles below the city. It is in full view, standing
among the trees on the top of a bluff rising about two hundred feet
above the river. As the steamboat approaches, its bell is tolled, this
being the universal custom on nearing or passing Washington’s tomb. The
estate was originally a domain of about eight thousand acres, and
Augustine Washington, dying in 1743, bequeathed it to Lawrence
Washington, who, having served in the Spanish wars under Admiral Vernon,
named it Mount Vernon in his honor. General Washington, in 1752,
inherited Mount Vernon from Lawrence. After his death the estate passed
to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, subsequently descending to other
members of the family.
Congress repeatedly endeavored to have Washington’s remains removed to
the crypt under the rotunda of the Capitol, originally constructed for
their reception, but the family always refused, knowing it was his
desire to rest at Mount Vernon.
In 1856 the mansion and surrounding property were saved from the
auctioneer’s hammer, and secured as a national possession by the Ladies’
Mount Vernon Association, assisted principally by Edward Everett, at a
cost of two hundred thousand dollars.
Washington, originally called Federal City, was named after Washington
in 1791, and became the capital in 1800. In 1814 the Capitol, White
House, and other public buildings, were burned by the British.
LEADING EVENTS IN THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FORM
OF PARALLEL OUTLINES