# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/16th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 104

Chap. CIV.—An Act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, and to repeal all acts heretofore passed for that purpose.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act, entitled ​Former acts of incorporation &c. inconsistent with this act repealed. Act of May 3, 1802, ch. 53. Act of Feb. 24, 1804, ch. 14. May 4, 1812, ch. 75. Proviso. Mayor and aldermen to continue. And their acts, not inconsistent with this act, to be valid.“An act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia,” and the act supplementary to the same, passed on the twenty-fourth of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four, and the act, entitled “An act further to amend the charter of the city of Washington,” and all other acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed: Provided, however, That the mayor, the members of the board of aldermen, and the members of the board of common council, of the corporation of the said city, shall and may remain and continue as such, for and during the terms for which they have been respectively appointed, subject to the terms and conditions in such cases legally made and provided; and all acts or things done, or which may be done, by them in pursuance of the pursuance of the provisions, or by virtue of the authority, of the said acts, or either of them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, shall be valid, and of as full force and effect as if the said acts had not been repealed.
Inhabitants of Washington to continue to be a body politic and corporate.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the city of Washington shall continue to be a body politic and corporate, by the name of the “Mayor, board of aldermen, and board of common council, of the city of Washington,” to be elected by ballot, as hereinafter directed, and, by their corporate name, may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, grant, receive, and do all other acts, as natural persons; and may purchase and hold real, personal, and mixed, property, or dispose of the same, for the benefit of the city;A city seal, &c. and may have and use a city seal, and break and alter the same at pleasure.
Election of mayor, on the first Monday of June every second year, after June, 1820. Certificates of the result of the election, &c. In case of an equal number of votes for mayor, the boards to determine. Mayor to take an oath, before a justice of the peace.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the mayor of the said city shall be elected on the first Monday in June next, and on the same day in every second year thereafter, at the same time and place, in the same manner, and by the persons qualified to vote for members of the board of aldermen and the board of common council. That the commissioners hereinafter mentioned shall make out duplicate certificates of the result of the election of mayor; and shall return one to the board of aldermen and the other to the board of common council, on the Monday next ensuing the election; and the person having the greatest number of votes shall be the mayor: but in case two or more persons, highest in vote, shall have an equal number of votes, then it shall be lawful for the board of aldermen and the board of common council to proceed forthwith, by ballot, in joint meeting, to determine the choice between such persons. The mayor shall, on the Monday next ensuing his election, before he enters on the duties of his office, in the presence of the boards of aldermen and common council, in joint meeting, take an oath, to be administered by a justice of the peace, “lawfully to execute the duties of his office, to the best of his skill and judgment, without favour or partiality.” He shall, ex officio, have and exercise all the powers,Powers and duties of the mayor. authority, and jurisdiction, of a justice of the peace for the county of Washington, within the said county. He shall nominate, and with the consent of the board of aldermen, appoint to all offices under the corporation, (except commissioners of election,) and may remove any such officer from office at his will and pleasure. He shall appoint persons to fill up all vacancies which may occur during the recess of the board of aldermen, to hold such appointments until the end of the then ensuing session. He may convene the two boards when, in his opinion, the public good may require it; and he shall lay before them, from time to time, in writing, such alterations in the laws of the corporation as he may deem necessary and proper; and he shall receive, for his services, annually,Compensation of the mayor to be fixed. Qualifications necessary for mayor. a just and reasonable compensation, to be allowed and fixed by the two boards, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during his continuance in office. Any person shall be eligible to the office of mayor who is a free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have attained to the age of thirty years, who shall have resided in the said city for two years immediately ​preceding his election, and who shall be the bona fide owner of a freehold estate in the said city; and no other person shall be eligible to the said office. In case of the refusal of any personIn case of refusal, death, &c. the boards to elect another mayor. to accept the office of mayor, upon his election thereto, or of his death, resignation, inability, or removal from the city, the said boards shall assemble and elect another in his place, to serve for the remainder of the term, or during such inability.
Board of aldermen to consist of two members from each ward, to be elected for two years, &c. and board of common council of three members from each ward, for one year, &c. Meetings of the boards. Organization proceedings, and compensation of the boards.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the board of aldermen shall consist of two members to be resident in, and chosen from, each ward, by the qualified voters therein, and to be elected for two years, from the Monday next ensuing their election: and the board of common council shall consist of three members, to be residents in, and chosen from, each ward, by the qualified voters therein, and to be elected for one year, from the Monday next ensuing their election; and each board shall meet at the council chamber, on the second Monday in June next, for the despatch of business, at ten o’clock in the morning, and at the same hour on the second Monday in June, in every year thereafter; and at such other times as the two boards may, by law, direct. A majority of each board shall be necessary to form a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from day to day; they may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, and allow such compensation for the attendance of the members, as they may, by law, provide; each board shall appoint its own President, who shall preside during its sessions, and who shall be entitled to vote on all questions; they shall settle their rules of proceedings, appoint their own officers, regulate their respective compensations, and remove them at pleasure; and may, with the concurrence of three-fourths of the whole, expel any member for disorderly behaviour or malconduct in office, but not a second time for the same offence; each board shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and the yeas and nays shall be entered thereon, at the request of any member; and their deliberations shall be public. All ordinancesOrdinances, &c. to be sent to the mayor for approbation. or acts, passed by the two boards, shall be sent to the mayor for his approbation, and, when approved by him, shall be obligatory as such. But, if the mayor shall not approve of any ordinance or act, so sent to him,If he does not approve, &c. he shall return the same, within five days, with his reasons in writing therefor; and if two thirds of both boards, on reconsideration thereof, agree to pass the same, it shall be in force, in like manner as if he had approved it; but, if the two boards shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return, the same shall not be obligatory.
Qualifications of the members of the board of aldermen and board of common council.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That no person shall be eligible to a seat in the board of aldermen, or board of common council, unless he shall be more than twenty-five years of age, a free white male citizen of the United States, and shall have been a resident of the city of Washington for one year next preceding the day of election, and shall, at the time of his election, be a resident of the ward for which he shall be elected, and be then the bona fide owner of a freehold estate in the said city, and shall have been assessed on the books of the corporation, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of election. And every free whiteQualifications for voters. male citizen of the United States, of lawful age, who shall have resided in the city of Washington for one year next preceding the day of election, and shall be a resident of the ward in which he shall offer to vote, and who shall have been assessed on the books of the corporation, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of election, and shall be a resident of the ward in which he shall offer to vote, and who shall have been assessed on the books of the corporation, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of election, and who shall have paid all taxes legally assessed and due on personal property, when legally required to pay the same, and no other person shall be entitled to vote at any election for members of the two boards.City register to furnish commissioners of election with a list of persons having a right to vote. And it shall be the duty of the register of the city, or such officer as the corporation may hereafter direct, to furnish the commissioners of election in each ward, previous to ​opening the polls at every election, a list of the persons having a right to vote, agreeably to the provisions of this section.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That an election for members of the board of aldermen and board of common council shall be held on the first Monday of June next, and on the first Monday in June annually thereafter; and all elections shall be held by three commissioners to be appointed in each ward by the two boardsElections for members of the two boards. Notice of elections. Commissioners to take an oath. Opening and closing the polls. Counting the ballots. Return of members. in joint meeting, which appointment shall be at least ten days previous to the day of each election. And it shall be the duty of the commissioners so appointed, to give at least five days’ previous notice of the place in each ward where such elections are to be held. The said commissioners shall, before they receive any ballot, severally take an oath or affirmation, to be administered by some justice of the peace for the county of Washington, “truly and faithfully to receive and return the votes of such persons as are by law entitled to vote for members of the board of aldermen and board of common council, in their respective wards, according to the best of their judgment and understanding; and not knowingly to receive or return the vote of any person who is not legally entitled to the same.” The polls shall be opened at ten o’clock in the morning, and be closed at seven o’clock in the evening of the same day. Immediately on closing the polls, the said commissioners for each ward, or a majority of them, shall count the ballots, and make out, under their hands and seals, a correct return of the persons having the greatest numbers of legal votes for members of the board of aldermen and for members of the board of common council, respectively, together with the number of votes given to each person voted for; and the persons having the greatest number of votes for the two boards, respectively, shall be duly elected; and, in all cases of an equality of votes,In case of equality of votes, commissioners to decide by lot. Result of the election to be published. Duplicate return to the city register. Members elect to be notified. Each board to judge of the legality of elections, and to supply vacancies by new elections. Each member of the board to take an oath. the commissioners shall decide the choice by lot. The said returns shall be delivered to the mayor, on the day succeeding the election, who shall cause the result of the election to be published in some newspaper in the city of Washington; a duplicate return shall, together with a list of the persons who voted at such election, also to be made, on the day succeeding the election, to the register of the city, who shall preserve and record the same; and shall, within two days thereafter, notify the several persons, so returned, of their election. And each board shall judge of the legality of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and shall supply vacancies in its own body, by causing elections to be held to fill the same, and appoint commissioners to hold the same, and such commissioners shall give at least five days’ public notice of the time and place of holding such elections; each of the members of either board, shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation, “faithfully to execute the duties of hid office, to the best of his knowledge and ability;” which oath or affirmation shall be administered by the mayor or some justice of the peace for the county of Washington.
Specific powers of the corporation.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the corporation aforesaid shall have full power and authority to lay and collect taxes upon the real and personal property within the said city; provided that no tax shall be laid upon real property, at a higher rate than three quarters of one per centum on the assessment valuation thereof, except for the special purposes hereinafter provided; and that no tax shall be laid upon the wearing apparel, or necessary tools and implements used in carrying on the trade or occupation, of any person; nor shall the same be subject to distress and sale for any tax; and, after providing for all objects of a general nature, the taxes raised on the assessable property in each ward shall be expended therein, and in no other; to establish a board of health, with competent authority to enforce its regulations, and to establish such other regulations as may be necessary to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases, and for the preservation of the health of the city; to prevent and remove ​Specific powers of the corporation.nuisances; to establish night watches or patrols, and erect lamps in the streets; to preserve the navigation of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers adjoining the city; to erect, repair, and regulate, public wharves, and to deepen creeks, docks, and basins; to regulate the manner of erecting, and the rates of wharfage, at private wharves; to regulate the stationing, anchorage, and mooring of vessels; to provide for licensing, taxing, and regulating, auctions, retailers, ordinaries, and taverns, hackney carriages, wagons, carts, and drays, pawn-brokers, venders of lottery tickets, money-changers, and hawkers and pedlars; to provide for licensing, taxing, regulating, or restraining, theatrical or public shows and amusements; to restrain or prohibit tippling houses, lotteries, and all kinds of gaming: to regulate and establish markets; to erect and repair bridges; to open and keep in repair streets, avenues, lanes, alleys, drains, and sewers, agreeably to the plan of the city, to supply the city with water; to provide for the safe-keeping of the standard weights and measures as fixed by Congress, and for the regulation of all weights and measures used in the city; to regulate the sweeping of chimneys, and fix the rates or fees therefor; to provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to regulate the size of bricks to be made or used; and provide for the inspection of lumber and other building materials to be sold in the city; to regulate, with the approbation of the President of the United States, the manner of erecting, and the materials to be used in the erection, of houses; to regulate the inspection of tobacco, flour, butter, and lard, in casks or boxes, and salted provisions; to regulate the gauging of casks and liquors; the storeage of gunpowder, and all naval and military stores, not the property of the United States; and the weight and quality of bread; to impose and appropriate fines, penalties, and forfeitures, for the breach of their laws or ordinances; and to provide for the appointment of inspectors, constables, and such other officers, as may be necessary to execute the laws of the corporation.
Further specific powers of the corporation.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall have full power and authority to lay taxes on particular wards, parts, or sections, of the city, for their particular local improvements; and, upon application of the owners of more than one half of the property upon any portion of a street, to cause the curb-stones to be set, and the footways to be paved, on such portion of a street, and to lay a tax on such property, to the amount of the expense thereof: Provided, That such tax shall not exceed three dollars per front foot; and, upon a like application to cause the carriage-way of any portion of a street to be paved, or lamps to be erected therein, and light the same, and lay a tax, not exceeding the whole expense thereof, in due proportion, on the lots fronting on such portion of a street; and, also, to impose an addition or interest on the amounts of any such taxes, not exceeding ten per centum per annum, when the same shall not have been paid within thirty days after the same shall have become due. The said corporation shall also have power and authority to provide for the establishment and superintendence of public schools, and to endow the same; to establish and erect hospitals or pest-houses, watch and work-houses, houses of correction, penitentiary, and other public buildings, and to lay and collect taxes for the expenses thereof; to regulate party or other walls and fences, and to determine by whom the same shall be kept in repair; to cause new alleys to be opened through the squares, and to extend those already laid out, upon the application of the owners of more than one half the property in such squares: Provided, That the damages which mayProviso. Marshal to summon a jury to ascertain damages. Further specific powers of corporation. accrue thereby, to any individual or individuals, shall be first ascertained by a jury, to be summoned and impannelled by the marshal or the District of Columbia, (and it is hereby made his duty to summon and impannel the same, in all such cases, upon application to him in writing by the mayor of the city,) and such ​damages to be paid by the corporation; the amount thereof, and the expenses accruing, shall be levied, in due proportion, upon the individuals whose property on such squares shall be benefited thereby, and collected as other taxes are; to occupy and improve, for public purposes, by and with the consent of the President of the United States, any part of the public and open squares in said city, not interfering with any private rights; to regulate the admeasurement and weight by which all articles brought into the city for sale shall be disposed of; to provide for the apportionment of appraisers and measures of builders’ work and materials, and also of wood, coal, grain, and lumber; to restrain and prohibit the nightly and other disorderly meetings of slaves, free negroes, and mulattoes, and to punish such slaves by whipping, not exceeding forty stripes, or by imprisonment, not exceeding six months, for any one offence; and to punish such free negroes and mulattoes, by penalties, not exceeding twenty dollars for any one offence; and in case of the inability of any such free negro or mulatto to pay any such penalty and cost thereon, to cause him or her to be confined to labour for any time not exceeding six calendar months; to cause all vagrants, idle or disorderly persons, all persons of evil life or ill-fame, and all such as have no visible means of support, or are likely to become chargeable to the corporation as paupers, or are found begging or drunk in or about the streets, or loitering in or about tipping houses, or who can show no reasonable cause of business or employment in the city, and all suspicious persons who have no fixed place of residence, or who cannot give a good account of themselves; all evesdroppers and nightwalkers; all who shall be guilty of open profanity, or grossly indecent language or behaviour publicly in the streets; all public prostitutes, and such as lead a notoriously lewd or lascivious course of life, and all such as keep public gaming tables, or gaming houses, to give security for their good behaviour for a reasonable time, and to indemnify the city against any charge for their support; and, in case of their refusal or inability to give such security, to cause them to be confined to labour until such security shall be given, not exceeding, however, one year at a time; but if they shall be found again offending, the like proceedings may be again had, and from time to time, as often as may be necessary to enforce the departure of such vagrants and paupers as may come into the city to reside, unless they shall give ample security that they will not become chargeable on the corporation for their support; to provide for the binding out as apprentices of poor orphan children, and the children of drunkards, vagrants, and paupers; to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which free negroes and mulattoes may reside in the city;Limitation of the sum to be raised by lottery annually. Proviso. to authorize, with the approbation of the President of the United States, the drawing of lotteries for the erection of bridges and effecting any important improvements in the city, which the ordinary revenue thereof will not accomplish, for the term of ten years: Provided, that the amount so authorized to be raised in each year shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars, clear of expenses; to take care of and regulate burial grounds; to provide for the registering of births, deaths, and marriages; to punish corporeally any coloured servant or slave for a breach of any of their laws or ordinances, unless the owner or holder of such servant or slave shall pay the fine in such cases provided; and to pass all laws which shall be deemedGeneral power to pass all necessary laws. necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by this act in the said corporation or its officers.
Marshal to keep persons in jail committed under the act, &c. Execution for city fines.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the marshal of the District of Columbia shall receive and safely keep within the jail for the county of Washington, at the expense of the said corporation, all persons committed thereto under or by authority of the provisions of this act. And in all cases where suit shall be brought before a justice of the peace, for ​the recovery of any fine or penalty arising or incurred for a breach of any law or ordinance of the corporation, execution shall and may be issued, as in all other cases of small debts.
Real property, the taxes on which have remained unpaid for two years, may be sold.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That real property, whether improved or unimproved, in the city of Washington, on which two or more years’ taxes shall have remained due and unpaid, or on which any special tax, imposed by virtue of authority of the provisions of this act, shall have remained unpaid for two or more years after the same shall have become due, or so much thereof, not less than a lot, (when the property upon which the tax has accrued is not less than that quantity,) as may be necessary to pay any such taxes, with all legal costs and charges arising thereon, may be sold at public sale to satisfy the corporation therefor: Provided,Proviso. Roukendorf v. Taylor, 4 Peters’ Reports, 340. That public notice be given of the time and place of sale, by advertising once a week in some newspaper printed in the city of Washington, for at least six months, where the property is assessed to persons residing out of the United States; for three months where the property is assessed to persons residing in the United States, but without the District of Columbia; and for six weeks where the property is assessed to persons residing within the District of Columbia; in which advertisement shall be states the number of the lot or lots, (if the square has been divided into lots,) the number of the square or squares, or other sufficient or definite description of the property selected for sale, the name of the person or persons to whom the same may have been assessed, for the respective years’ taxes due thereon, as also the name of the person to whom the same is assessed, and the aggregatePurchaser to pay the amount of taxes, &c. at the time of sale: And the residue in ten days after two years, &c. Amount of residue to be deposited in the city treasury subject to the order of the proprietor, &c. Title in fee to the purchaser. Proviso. amount of taxes due. The purchaser or purchasers of any such property shall pay, at the time of such sale, the amount of the taxes due on the property so purchased by him, her, or them, respectively, with the amount of the expenses of sale; and he, she, or they, shall pay the residue of the purchase money within ten days after the expiration of two years from the day of sale, to the collector of taxes, or other officer of the corporation authorized to receive the same; and the amount of such residue shall be placed in the city treasury, where it shall remain, subject to the order of the original proprietor or proprietors, his, her, or their, legal representatives; and the purchaser or purchasers shall receive a title in fee simple, in and to the lot or lots so sold and purchased, under the hand of the mayor and seal of the corporation, which shall be deemed good and valid in law and equity: Provided nevertheless, That if, within two years from the day of any such sale, or before such purchaser or purchasers shall have paid the residue of the purchase money as aforesaid, the proprietor or proprietors of any property which shall have been sold as aforesaid, his, her, or their, heirs, agents, or legal representatives, shall repay to such purchaser or purchasers the moneys paid for the taxes, and expenses as aforesaid, together with ten per centum per annum, as interest thereon, or make a tender thereof, or shall deposit the same in the hands of the mayor of the city, or other officer of the corporation appointed to receive the same, for the use of such purchaser or purchasers, and subject to his, her, or their, heirs, or legal representatives’ order,Notice to purchaser in case of redemption. Purchaser failing to pay residue, to pay ten per cent. per annum, &c. of which such purchaser, his heirs or legal representatives, shall be immediately informed, by notice in some newspaper printed in the city of Washington, or otherwise; he, she, or they, shall be reinstated in his, her, or their, original right and title, as if no such sale had been made. And if any such purchaser shall fail to pay the residue of the purchase money as aforesaid, within the time required by this section, for any property so purchased by him, he shall pay ten per centum per annum, as interest thereon, and in addition to such residue, to be computed from the expiration of the two years as aforesaid, until the actual payment of such residue, and the receiving of a conveyance ​from the corporation; and the said interest shall alike be subject to the order of the original proprietor or proprietors, as the residue of the purchase money as aforesaid:Proviso. A year allowed to minors and mortgagees and other with equitable interest to redeem. Provided, also, That no sale shall be made, in pursuance of this section, of any improved property whereon there is personal property of sufficient value to pay the said taxes: and that minors, mortgagees, or others having equitable interest in real property, which property shall be sold for taxes as aforesaid, shall be allowed one year after such minors’ coming to, or being of full age, or after such mortgagees, and others having equitable interests, obtaining possession of, or a decree for the sale of, such property, or redeem the property so sold from the purchaser or purchasers, his, her, or their, assigns, on paying the amount of purchase money so paid therefor, with ten per cent. interest thereon as aforesaid, and all the taxes that have been paid thereon by the purchaser, or his assigns, between the day of sale and the period of such redemption, with ten per cent. interest on the amount of such taxes, and also the full value of the improvements which may have been made or erected on such property, by the purchaser, or his assigns, while the same was in his or their possession. And provided, moreover,Proviso. That where the estate of the tenant in default, as for years, or for life or lives, shall be sufficient to defray the taxes chargeable thereupon, such estate only shall be liable to be sold under the provisions of this act.
The collector may postpone sale for want of bidders, &c.Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the collector or other officer (duly authorized) to postpone, after such advertisement, the sale of any property advertised according to the provisions of the foregoing section, to any future day, for the want of bidders, he giving public notice of such postponement, and the same made at such postponed time shall be equally valid as if made on the day stated in the advertisement.
Collector may proceed by distress and sale, on ten days’ notice, &c. Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the person or persons appointed to collect any tax imposed by virtue of the powers granted by this act, shall have authority to collect the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person chargeable therewith; but no such sale shall be made unless ten days’ previous notice thereof be given in some newspaper printed in the city of Washington. And the provisions of the acts of Assembly of Maryland, not in force within the county of Washington, relating to the right of replevying personal property taken in execution for public taxes, shall apply to all cases of personal property taken by distress to satisfy taxes imposed by virtue of this act.
Levy court of Washington county. Expenditures by levy court, to which the corporation must contribute.Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the levy court of the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, shall not possess the power of assessing any tax on property in the city of Washington; nor shall the corporation of the said city be obliged to contribute, in any manner, towards the expenses or expenditures of said court, except for the one-half part of the expenses incurred on account of the orphans’ court, the office of coroner, the jail of said county, and the opening and repairing of roads in the county of Washington, east of Rock creek, leading directly to the city of Washington, but the said corporation shall have the sole control and management of the bridge across or over Rock creek, at the termination of K street north; and shall be chargeable with the expense of keeping the same in repair, and rebuilding it when necessary.
The clerk of the circuit court and register of wills to furnish the city register with lists of the transfers of real property semi-annually.Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the clerk of the circuit court, and the register of wills for the county of Washington, respectively, shall furnish the register of the city, or other officer of the corporation, appointed to receive the same, on or about the first Monday in January and July, in every year, correct lists of the transfers of real property in the city, during the next preceding half year, so far as can be ascertained by the records in their respective offices; and the said ​corporation shall make to the said clerk and register of wills such compensation therefor as shall be agreed on between the respective parties, not exceeding six cents for each transfer on such lists.
Commissioner of public buildings, &c. to reimburse to the corporation a just proportion of expense in opening and improving streets, passing through or between public squares, &c. Proportion to be determined by comparison, &c. Expenses to be defrayed by commissioner out of money from sale of public lots.Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner of the public buildings, or other person appointed to superintend the United States’ disbursements in the city of Washington, shall reimburse to the said corporation a just proportion of any expense which may hereafter be incurred, in laying open, paving, or otherwise improving any of the streets or avenues in front of, or adjoining to, or which may pass through or between any of the public squares or reservations, which proportion shall be determined by a comparison of the length of the front, or fronts, of the said squares or reservations of the United States, on any such street or avenue, with the whole extent of the two sides thereof; and he shall cause the curb stones to be set, and foot ways to be paved, on the side or sides of any such street or avenue, whenever the said corporation shall, by law, direct such improvements to be made by the proprietors of the lots on the opposite side of any such street or avenue, or adjacent to any such square or reservation; and he shall cause the footways to be paved, and the curb stones to be set, in front of any lot or lots belonging to the United States, when the like improvements shall be ordered by the corporation in front of the lots adjoining, or squares adjacent thereto; and he shall defray the expenses directed by this section, out of any moneys arising from the sale of lots in the city of Washington, belonging to the United States, and from no other fund.
The boards may divide the city into wards, &c. Proviso. Proviso.Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That the present boards of aldermen and common council shall, before the last Monday in May next, divide the said city into as many wards as in their opinion shall be most conducive to the interests of the city; and the boards of aldermen and common council, may, from time to time, as the interests of the city shall require, alter the number and boundaries of the said wards: Provided, That the said wards shall, at all times, be so laid off, altered, and bounded, that each ward shall comprise, as near as may be, an equal number of the inhabitants of the said city: And provided, however, That if such division shall not be made prior to the said last Monday in May, then the said city shall be divided into six wards, in manner following to wit: All that part of said city to theFirst ward. Second ward. Third ward. Fourth ward. Fifth ward. Sixth ward. Expenses of improving streets bounding wards, to be defrayed out taxes raised in the wards adjoining, &c. Board of aldermen to be divided into two classes. westward of Sixteenth street west, shall constitute the first: that part to the eastward of Sixteenth street west, and to the westward of Tenth street west, shall constitute the second; that part to the eastward of Tenth street west, to the westward of First street west, and to the northward of E street south, shall constitute the third; that part to the eastward of First street west, to the westward of Eighth street east, and to the northward of E street south, shall constitute the fourth; that part to the eastward of Tenth street west, to the westward of Fourth street east, and to the southward of E street south, shall constitute the fifth; and the residue of the city shall constitute the sixth ward. The expenses which may be incurred in improving and repairing the streets which form the boundaries of the several wards, shall be defrayed out of the taxes raised in the wards which adjoin the same, respectively, in equal proportions; and the present boards of aldermen and common council shall, before the first Monday in June next, apportion, by law, such portions of the debt of the city, as have been heretofore chargeable to the existing wards, amongst the wards established by this section, upon just and equitable principles. And the board of aldermen shall, so soon as the same shall have been organized, on the second ​Monday in June next, divide the members into two classes, in manner following, to wit: Those members who are now in office, and, by virtue of their election in June last, shall be entitled to take their seats in the new board, as members from the wards in which they shall, respectively, reside, shall be placed in the first class;First class. Second class. Others by lot. Vacation of aldermen’s seats. Aldermen are, ex officio, justices of the peace unless holding military or naval commissions. and those members who shall be elected from the same wards in June next, shall be placed in the second class; and the other members shall be placed in their respective classes by lot; and the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of the first year, and the seats of the second class shall be vacated at the end of the second year; so that one member shall be elected in each ward every year thereafter. And the members of the board of aldermen shall be hereafter, ex officio, justices of the peace for the county of Washington, unless holding commissions in the army or navy of the United States.
Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue in force for and during the term of twenty years, and until Congress shall, by law, determine otherwise.
Approved, May 15, 1820.
* ↑ Parts of this act are repealed by the act of May 26, 1824, ch. 195.
* ↑ By an act supplementary to the act, entitled “An act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, and to repeal all acts heretofore passed for that purpose,” passed 15th May, 1820; May 20, 1826, ch. 130; this section “shall not be construed as to extend the provisions of said section as well to public open spaces as to public squares or reservations.”