Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-20
THE AVENUE AND ITS PAVEMENT.
Over Three Quarters Of q Million Spent
on il in the Past.

A HISTORY OF THE GREAT NATIONAL THOROUGH
FARE FROM THE DAY IT WAS AN INDIAN TRAIL
THE DIFFERENT PAYMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN
LAID-THE COST OF REPAIRS.
For the fifth time Pennsylvania avenue il re-
ceiving a new. surface. When the stately me-
gatherium trod the earth and the pterodactyl
few or wsddled there was no asphalt pavement
on Pennsylvania avenues in fact there was no
Pennsylvania avenue. The entire surface of
the District Of Columbia was unvexed by sur
| veyors or car tracks, and for the time. was
In use the bed of the larger Atlantic ocean
Of those days By and by the land and
water made q compromise, and while the
| former built itself up, the latter receded. Still
| the hollow sounding and mysterious main"
rolled furiously or otherwise over the thousands
Of town lors yet 10 be, and when the weary
plesiosaurus hooked ripper on some rocky
1 projection OF what Ii now the Virginia shore
| and stuck his long neck in the upper atmos-
phere to renew his supply Of ozone the air was
| untainted by the malodorous scents which now
are waited in all directions from the fetid bed
OF the wrecked Chesapeake and Ohio canal.
| rev million years later, 80 the geologists say,
the salt wat ers receded and gave place in part
TO few fresh competitor Then the territory
on which this city Is built was. in the greater
| part, high and dry. As soon az the place had
been sowed with grass seed and the sod had set
| nrmly the aboriginal inhsbitant put in an
appearance and claimed it for his own. The
Indian OF those days, like his more modern
descendant, knew good thing when he saw it,
and although he might not be able to hold
perpetual title to the region, he held on as long
as he could.
AN INDIAN TRAIL.
Here the evolution Of Pennsylvania avenue
began. few redskins had their frail resi-
dences on the eastern bank of Rock creek and
the place at which their lodge met was on the
top Of that elevation which is now crowned by
the Capitol There were sewers then to
choke with sand and to back up on the avenue,
but 1t Is generally agreed that on the south
side the walking was little moist. The main
trall was therefore on the north side and
little nearer the pole than the present highway.
Sometimes when the Manahoacs we're en-
gagged in discussing the affairs of state
In their lodge room q large and influential
party or the Powhatans, whose home was in
virginia, would cross the river, sneak silently
along the sidewalk to the place of meeting and
then inject themselves into the debate with
such energy that in fifteen seconds the meeting
could properly be styled mixed assembly"
These neighborly Visits became more frequent
after the yeare16Os. when Capt. John Smith
sailed up the Potomac, bearing with him the
precept Peace on earth, good will 70 men,"
and several large barrels of rum hundred
years afterward the settlement Of what is now
part Of the District of Columbia was made by
a colony OF Scotch and Irish immigrants the
Scotch evidently being in the majority, for the
new center was called New Scotland"
FOLLOWING THE OLD PATH.
They followed the example of their heather
predecessors and made central highway of
the old trail, and, when in 1884, Maj Pierre
Charles L Enfant made the plan of the great
federal city he changed the course of the cow
path and denominated it PENNSYLVANIA ave-
nue." The high-sounding name did not bring
any immediate change in the appearance of
the street and while the Capitol. the White
House and other public and private buildings
were going up 1T was in pretty bad condition.
PRESIDENT JEFFERsoS's RIDE.
On March f. 1901, Thomas Jefferson rode
down the avenue on his blooded horse wildair.
and they had muddy time before the Capitol
was reached, and equally dsagreeable was the
trip to the White House after Jefferson had
taken the oath and been inaugurated President
OF the United States. There had been no at
tempt at improving the streets, but numerous
specimens of the camphilus imperialis were
serial family, pecking way at trees which, in
after years, we're chopped up for De Golyer
pavement
THE FIRST PAVEMENT.
In August, 1882, somebody awoke to the con-
dition Of the avenue and then the United
States entered into a contract with Hugh
Stewart to macadanize from the Capitol to
18th street; for this Mr. Stewart received
Sl45, 1929. Sixteen years later Peter Bargy
did the same thing from 18th to Nth and was
paid SO, 52704. Then the Congressman began
to look out for themselves, and in 1851 they
macadamized all around the Capitol at cost of
Sl7,5oO. year afterward S43,70o we're spent
IN cobblestoning the avenue from 17th street to
Rock creek. In the meantime macadamizing
commenced at of
the Capitol grounds, and was continued
towards the navy yard and the Con-
gressional cemetery-nobody knows how
Ia al 1t was probably as far
The records state that up to the second session
OF the Forty-ffth Congress total of S42l, 283 68
had been expended on Pennsylvania avenue
There was no more paving done until after the
war, as many soldier can testify. The troops
and the quartermasters' wagons and the heavy
guns cut the street up until it was mud hole
of the worst possible description 1t was not
uncommon for a six or eight-horse team to fail
entirely to draw the load out of some Of the ex-
tremely bad depressions.
THE WOODEN PAVEMENT.
Up to 1870 the avenue was repaired here and
there SO as to keep it in sem-passable condition,
but In that year the first paving commission
was formed under authority of the act Of July
3, 1871 and better era opened up. The com
mission consisted Of the then Secretary of the
Interior, Columbus Delano; Major Michler,
U.S.A., in charge of public buildings and
grounds, and Mayor Matthew &. Emery. 1t
decided on wood pavement and in a little
while the surface of the avenue from the Capt.
tol to 18th street was the end grain of millions
OF blocks, which cost just "a per square yard
land IN place. What rejoicing there was when
| the work was done. People seemed to 20 wild
All day and very nearly all the following night
there was Q carnival ON the avenue One of
the most grotesque parades of modern times
frightened it during the day time and at night
| there was music and dancing and fireworks
Horse races and games of all kinds filed in the
interval and there was a great and, for twenty
four hours, continuous uproar. The cost of
this pavement was paid from assessments levied
upon property on the street and upon the
| railroad company.
On December Is, 1871, John o. Evans was
Pald god. 4o4. 40 or $500 per square yard, for
laying Scharh pavement from 18th to 18th
streets. Then Evans got another contract. this
| time from 18th street to Rock creek which was
| competed on November l. 1872; he got s. so
| per square yard, or Sl34, 372, for Ballard wood
| pavement. De Golyer & McCleliand came in on
July IL, 1873, with bill for 43, ll2 square yards
| OF wood pavement from lst to 9Th ON Pennsyl-
vania avenue east and got Just $3.50. 1872 for
| their work. The authorities changed the grade
OF the Capitol grounds in the latter part of
1873 and this gave the Ballard paving company
| employment and recompense, the latter footing
| up to Sl7,556 for that species OF wood pave