WASHINGTON, 1840-1859
In 1840 Washington had a population of 23,364. The city was still
in a very much undeveloped state, though the fact that it was the
National Capital was not lost sight of. In 1846 the construction of the
Smithsonian Institution Building was begun, and on July 4, 1848, the
corner stone of the Washington Monument was laid. On July 4, 1851, the
corner stone for the enlargement of the Capitol according to plans as
we see it to-day, was laid.
[Illustration: THE CAPITOL, 1840]
However, so far as city development was concerned, little was done
during this period. The L’Enfant plan seemed either forgotten or
entirely too large for the National Capital. In the city of Washington
not a street was lighted up to 1860 excepting Pennsylvania Avenue. Pigs
roamed the principal thoroughfares. Pavements, save for a few patches
here and there, were altogether lacking. An open sewer carried off
common refuse, and the police and fire departments might have sufficed
for a small village rather than for a nation’s capital.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON, 1852]
In 1846 the part of the District of Columbia on the west bank of the
Potomac, including Alexandria, was re-ceded to Virginia. This was
done pursuant to an act of Congress of July 9 of that year, and with
the assent of the people of the county and town of Alexandria, at an
election on the first and second days of September, 1846, by a vote
of 763 for retrocession and 222 against it. On September 7, 1846,
President Polk issued a proclamation giving notice that the portion
derived from the State of Virginia, about 36 square miles, was re-ceded
to that State. The action of Congress and the President was based upon
petitions of the people of the town and county of Alexandria. The
chief reasons were two: First, that the United States did not need
Alexandria County for the purpose of the seat of government; the public
buildings were all erected on the north side of the river, as required
by law--none on the south side--and it was declared that so far as
it could be foreseen the United States would never need that part of
the District of Columbia for the purpose of the seat of government.
Secondly, the petitioners said that the people of Alexandria had failed
to derive or share in the benefits which had been enjoyed by the
residents of the Maryland portion of the District of Columbia in the
disbursements for public improvements, etc., while on the other hand
they were deprived of those political rights incident to citizenship in
a State.
Since then the United States has acquired something over 2 square miles
of this territory for use as a military post, a national cemetery, a
Signal Corps station, and the Department of Agriculture Experiment Farm.
The constitutionality of the retrocession has often been questioned.
But Congress had expressed itself clearly on the subject, and the
majority of the voters had their way in the matter. In a test case
before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1875 (Phillips v.
Payne), the court, while not directly ruling on the question, held that
an individual is estopped from raising the question. According to an
opinion rendered by an attorney general about 1900, it would now take
the consent of the State of Virginia to reinclude the Virginia portion
as part of the District of Columbia.
In the development of the National Capital the portion in Virginia is
properly included in the metropolitan area of Washington. The National
Capital Park and Planning Commission is, by authority of Congress,
cooperating with similar commissions of the States of Maryland and
Virginia. The great object is to secure for the remote regions of the
National Capital area the same harmonious development as there is in
the heart of the city. Both the States of Maryland and Virginia are
cooperating to the fullest extent in this matter.
On December 16, 1852, the first issue of the Washington Evening Star,
which has grown into one of the great national dailies, appeared.
[Illustration: DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUILDING, 1855]