Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-03-23
DARK AND BLOODY.
The Dead Town Where Congress
men Used to Fight their. Dusls.

The Dead Town Where Congress
men Used to Fight their, Dusls.
Especial Correspondence of the Chronicle
r. gYWAsHINcaToE DC, March 10.
MR.. EDITOR: Having just paid a
visit to Bladensburgh, an old Mary
land town six miles east aof this city,
Twill give yotf~a brief sketch of the
place: Blsdensburgh was founded be-
fore this city, and ia almost the oldest
town in Maryland. Itis low, dingy
vilIsge, wrinkled from age, the foot
prints of a hundred years appearing
plainly on.zits messy house-tops an
ragged streets. ThepHIy hotel in fhe
place has the portrsftof Georee Wssh-
ington On it's ssigusboartAas kind OF
explanation of the hotel, which is
THE WASHINGTON HOUSE.
Casting my ey 9 aroo nd IN spIace, /
failed to q iscoyer any evidence OF very
great business enterprise. The people
all seemed to be waiting for funeral
to move. A good many old houses
had already tumbled TO time, while
others were marked "for rent or sale. "
The "rent" and Assle" cards had been
d rst tackled ON the doors. and walls, but
having failed to attract any buyers,
other cards had been nailed on the
trees in the yards and ON the
front yard fences and hung
on the front gates. 1t seemed
a puzzle to me why the festive auc-
tioneer was not called in to knock off
the whole town in lump TO the high
est bidder, but on reflection ii occurred
to me that the process Of such q sale
would likely fail below actual ex-
penses. saw no factofiss, no etores.
srhe hum of Industry, II such a. thing
had ever existed, seemed to have long
since past away. A half dozen liquor
shops stood along the dingy streets.
What is the principal INDUSTRY Of
this tuwn9p Masked of sgray old
darkey hanging on all ashhnpper.
81 dunno, sab, ceptin it il sellin'
whisky to one annudder."
what do they do with the
whisky RI. 9 ~
Drinks it, sab, and den plays poker
fur de drinks" a- Hs. h4asal No
How such an old sleepy town could
have sprung up would bra mystery
any one unscqusinted with the COM
munity. Its story is very romantic
Its birth dates back before that of
Washington. Itspraug up ON the Ana.
costo river, an eastern bran ch Of the
Potomac. All this country at that
early day was a fertile tobacco-grow.
log section and the adjacent counties
Of Maryland and Virginia brought
here their tobacco to ship it on vessels
to be thus carried away to market. AS
time passed away Washington and |
Baltimore were built and attracted |
much of the tobacco trade. The lands |
wore out and,year by year, the crops |
were less abundant. Then came the |
final blow. The river, from various |
causes, lost its Manageable dignity. As |
Its banks were gradually shorn of /
their tim Der, the sandy fields
absorbed the rain water instead of
it into the channel of the
stream. The fields also contributed
quantities of sand which was washed
into the bed Of the stream by the
heavy rains and gradually it's
channel became choked up
AT this time only small skiffs and
canoes ply on the stream where once
noated the prond vessels OF commerce.
NOW the.towq Of Bladensbugh has a
population, counting men, women and