National Republican., 1885-05-23
THE CITY OF JACKSON.
AN IMAGINARY METROPOLIS NOW REPRE-
sENTED BY A FRAME BEER SHOP.
The Foundation OF the Town to Commemorate
the Hero Of the Battle OF New Orleans
Georgetown Excited Over Prospective
Rival That Died a.Borning.

Standing al the base OF tho Washing
ton monument one gets very pretty
view across the now greatly improved
flats, the onco malaria producing Kid
we'll bottoms, to tho mile distant Vir-
ginia shore. Nearly directly west am ong
tho low, undulsting hills is Arlington
mansion embowered in trees, mollowed
by age, and having, one can we'll imagine
sad look, ns bcfts it now with It's thou
sands Of soldier graves among its groves.
Down toward the river, nearly in front Of
tho mansion, is tho high. white, quaint,
gateway, and off from that Analostan ISL
and with it's dilapidated stone house, and
great stretch Of marsh, where flags and yell
low lilies and the pretty pondoteria grow
In rank profusion. Further to the right are
the heights Of Georgetown, with inter
mediate olumps of trees, tho Naval OBJ
Bervntory. tho State Department, the
White House, and the Treasury building
To tho left, Long bridge, and tho low
uneven, shrub-coverod shore toward
Alexandria, the broad, white water of the
Potomac lying between. Still further to
tho loft can be seen tho tall masts Of
sloops and schooners, and the smoke Of
steamers lying nt the Seventh street
wharf, while here and there in the chan
mel, opposite tho monument, is an oc-
casional tug-bost, typical of pluck and
vigor, towing vessel up to Georgetown.
And hero the great mud-heaving cranes
of dredging machines, and the clank and
ratio of their ponderous machinery, can
be seen and heard, converting the pesti-
lent flats into artistic green swards and
beautiful flower gardens.
one of the most conspicuous features
on the south side of this view 10 the his.
torical Long bridge, which is, in fact,
two bridges and a causeway, spanning
the Potomac from the foot Of Maryland
avenue TO the further shore, distance of
something over mile. At the west end
of the bridge is a low frame house, where
high tide has often invaded the premises,
where thin beer is dispensed to thirsty
cutters. where, in the waters near, fisher
men, with soines and trapnets, have piled
their vocation for many years. and where
the small boy with cheap tackle still cap
lures his favorite eel and catfish. This
one lone house is all there is left, and
about all there ever was, of the now al
most forgotten Jackson City, an imagin-
ary metropolis, which, as intended by
seheming spectators, was to rival Wash
ington, and, like the latter, perpetuate a
name.
But tho enterprise did not work. It
had brilliant, high-toned, musical,
noisy start; there were fireworks, can
non, brass bands, and parade, made up
of societies, organizations, and corpora
tions, civic and military, in the midst of
which was a President the United States,
whose high office contributed to the occa-
sion, with members of his Cabinet, dis-'
tinguished officers Of tho army and navy,
aud enthusiastic citizens from the sur
rounding country, even rs far away as
New York. 1t was grand, wild, hula
baloo, a Fourth of July in January, with
the twenty-second Of February, and
some jackson anniversaries thrown in,
the whole ornamented by an oraton
from one Of the first Of the first families
Of Virginia.
To be accurate and faithful in this mar.
rative, it is proper to say that, in 1885,
while tho huge bubble of speculation
that broke the following year was still
beautiful and attractive, and alluring
many thousands into financial ruin, some
New York spectators conceived the idea
VI building jackson City, which should
Oe tho real head of navigation on the
Potomac; where there should be ample
wharf room, which Washington didn't
have; great cotton warehouses, shipyards,
and other concomitants of trade and COM
merce. 1t would also be the eastern
terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal, which was then being completed
TO the Alleghenies, and therefore one of
the principal depots for the products of
the rapidly developing west. All sorts Of
calculations and prophecies were made in
its favor; the prospect was as beautifully
tinted as summer sunset over the Vir-
ginia hills, until at last even Andrew
Jackson, President of tho United States,
celebrated author of by the eternal"
the sturdy hero of the cotton bale fight at
New Orleans, and the successful defyer Of
the Bank of the United States, fell into
the trap, and gave the scheme the august
sanction of his name and his presence.
Still it didn't work. The cells and cat
fish that inhabited the sloughs there.
abouts were only temporarily disturbed,
and the bobolinks sung ON the fag-tips
each succeeding spring whore the great
stone wharves were to be and where
corner lots were to sell for fabulous
prices. But the schemers did not admit
of possible failure, though paper here
and there made light of the undertaking,
and the people Of Georgetown pitched
into the so-called enterprise through jeal-
ousy or on account of the apparently
formidable invasion OF their rights and
privileges.
The proposed city had a cornerstone !;
it was laid with much pomp and cere-
mony, as here indicated, President Jack
son himself doing the honors, assisted by
the Masonic order, the occasion winding
up with really fine Grafton by George
Washington Parke Gusts, the "good old
man of Arlington House." as he was af-
fectionately called, who had been in
duced TO aid the scheme with his literary
ability and oratorical power.
1t was intended to have the ceremony
performed on the Sth of January, which
was deemed to be an auspicious date--the
anniversary of Jackson's success at New
Orleans-but the weather intsrfered. In
the Daily Globe of that date was the fol-
lowing short editorial notice:
We are requested to say that in consequence
of the bad weather the ceremony of laying
the cornerstone OF Jackson City will not take
place until Monday next at IL o'clock. The
order of procession will be published to-mor-
row.
The National Iateliigencer of Jan. II had
the following, signed by the marshals of
the day
NoTICE--Ths officers OF the army and navy
and the militia of the District of Columbia are
respectfully requested TO assemble in full uni
form at Browns Hotel this day at 10 o'clock,
aud join the processionto TO move from thence to
the site OF the new city Of Jackson.
The same paper published the order of
procession ana other arrangements made
for the momentous occasion, and the Ddily
Globe and United States Daily Telegraph had
similar information. The Intelligencer of
Jan. 20 said:
Upon platform erected near the stone was
placed the President Of the United States the
heads of departments, the orator, several
members Of Congress, citizens and strangers of
distinction. The wind was high and the surf
of the Potomac beat violently on the shore, yet
the voice OF the orator was heard above The
storm and reached to the extreme disk Of a
circle supposed to contain seven thousand
people.
And so, after much management and
many disappointmentE, the great city of
Jackson cot a brilliant Rend off Rut n