Los Angeles herald., 1891-05-07
ITS FIRST 100 YEARS.
WASHINGTON WAS FOUNDED JUST
A CENTURY AGO.

Robert Grayes Makes the Centennial Of
the Capital the Text of an Interesting
Ietter-The One Time Place of ''streets
and No Houses" Now a Magnificent City.
WASHINGTON, April 2O-The CapitaF
City Of the American republic is 100 years
old this month. 1t was in April, 1891, that
the corner stone of the District of Colum-
bia, created under the law which located
the capital ON the banks of the Potomac,
was laid amid imposing ceremonies. The
corner stone was set at a place known as
Jones' point, near the old town of Aexan-
dria, which was George Washington's
county town. Poor old Alexandria now
has little but age to recommend it. 1t Is
not even in the federal district. Grass
grows luxuriantly in its quaint old streets,
and its travellers are chiefly those who
come to see the church in which George
Washington had his pew, and the hotel in
which brave young Ellsworth was shot.
It's sleepy suburb of the capital itself
the capital which was planted in the mud
and built in century to be one of the finest
cities in the world. want to tell you
something about this Capital City of ours,
In which we all take the interest of joint
proprietorship; but before writing of the
capital as it is after 100 years of growth, let
us, for the sake of contrast, go back an
even century to that April in 1891 when the
masons and the capital commissioners and
prominent citizens of Virginia and Mary
land picked their way amid the rank grass
and underbrush to Jones' point. They
were in the midst of country which mar
rowly escaped deserving the name wilder
ness. But for nearby Alexandria, mere
hamlet, the village of Georgetown, whose
chimneys could be seen two or three miles
mp the Potomac, and half dozen houses
ON the Maryland side of the river, there
would have been few if any signs of civili-
zation within the range of vision.
But the scene on the opposite side of the
river must have reused the love of nature
and stirred the prophetic souls of that par
ty. There lay the site of the future capi-
tai of the new republic. First, next the
waters edge, low plain, partly titled by
Davy Burns and two or three other set
tiers. Back of this a succession of pla-
teaus, one rising gently from another. At
the extreme right a noble height, spacious,
level, commanding, surrounded on three
sides by running water. To the south, at
q little distance, the broad Potomac. To
the east the Anacostia branch. To the
west a rivulet of clear water, running its
way through meadows and pasture lands
Tiber creek. now no more. On the west
ern brow of this Roman hill prophetic eyes
saw great white Capitol rearing its airy
head toward the skies, supporting at its
greatest height the Goddess of Liberty.
Bending from the Roman hill, far to the
north and west, was to be seen a wooded
height, forming vast semicircle, and in
closing, as in an amphitheater, the plains
and plateau already spoken of, and joining
the Potomac again at Georgetown. There
another silvery stream-Rock creek-came
pouring forth from its rocky glens. This
was the scene which George Washington's
eyes had beheld as he rode his horse along
the old road from Alexandria to George
town. on the opposite side of the rivera
road, still travelled, which now skirts his
toric Arlington estate. 1t was the site
which his practical, comprehensive eye saw
was by nature meant for a city's seat.
How Washington's choice became that
of congress and the city's foundations
were laid is history, and l cannot stop to
recite history. 1t will suffice to make
passing reference to the rivalries of the
times, to the hopes that were borne only
to perish. There are in this country a
dozen towns and hamlets which once
dreamed of being the federal city. Havre
de Grace, Trenton, Germantown, Williams
port, Md; Kingston, N. Y; Wrightsville,
Pa, are among them. To this day, no
doubt their oldest inhabitants will tell you
how rich they would have been had their
fathers dreams been realized. To quote
history again, probably not more than one
half the readers of this letter know that
the contest for the capital finally narrowed
down to New York and some indefinite
place on the Potomac, and that even
Washington's influence might have been
unable to wrest the prize from the me-
tropolis had Hamilton not thrown his
weight on Washington's side in exchange
for southern support for his treasury
policy.
The state of Virginia, then the mos. pop
ulous in the Union-and all Virginia had
less than one-haff as many Inhabitants as
the city of New York has-was a great
power in favor of the Potomac. So the
capital came to this beautiful amphithea-
ter, environed by the wooded heights that
stretched four miles from Capitol hill
to old Georgetown. Thus was found
ed the only capital of first class power in
the world that was the thought, the per-
formance of the government itself. We
might except st. Petersburg, but St.
Petersburg was the thought and the per-
formance of the emperor; and even he
built less for capital than for ''a window
looking out into Europe"
George Washington himself came down
here to start the federal city in its career.
He picked his way among the underbrush
and waded through the mire of cultivated
fields; wrangled two days with obstinate
Davy Burns, who did not want his farm
spoiled to make a city, and finally con-
cluded an arrangement with the land own
ers by which they were to cede about 5000
acres to the government, retaining every
alternate lot.
The government also took for it's own
uses as a federal reservation about $40
acres. and made great mistake IN not re-
serving more; for it is this very week buy
ing in this city the site for a new post
Office, originally a part of Davy Burns
farm, and paying forit at the rate of about
five dollars per square foot, or more than
500 600 an acre. For it's $40 acres it paid
just a century ago only $66.66 per acre.
Still the government did very well. AS
federal real estate speculation the new
capital site turned out success. The 10,-
O00 lots which fell tO IFS share taking every