The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-12-26
OLD GEORGETOWN
A Century Ago Il Was q Most
Prosperous Little City.
Now It Is Merely sn insignificant Suburb
az the National Capital and 81 No
Commercial Importance
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The poet scarcely guessed all the wis
dom he expressed when he wrote the
"One-Hoss Shay" and penned the lines:
sIAttle OF air we value here
Wakes on the morn Of Its hundredth year
Without both looking and feeling queer.
Oldthingspass away and all things be-
some new, for the progress of the eter-
nal plan of the universe involves in its
maximum procedure the principle Of
decay. individuals, clans, tribes and
whole nations pass away in orderly pro-
cession in order that the new may have
the room of the old. Every man is the
intelligent artifcer of q work that is
not his own. We do u blasting, NOR
tar-making, stone dressing or spire
building, but u of us understands
the fullness of the design Of the archi-
tect who planned the whole.
Ninian Beall, the Scotsman who
came across the trackless Atlantic
wastes and settled upon the rock of
Dumbsrton in this new world. founded
the city of Georgetown; and the new
national capital has grown up and abb
sorbed the old village and corporation
of Georgetown, SO that it is now called
West Washington. But the landmarks
of the ancient and honorable municipal
ity have remained untouched, and will
SO continue as long as they may last.
But the government is about to invade
one of the most sacred precincts of an
Gent Georgetown.
The customs port of Georgetown is
about to be abolished. There is no
longer any necessity for the continu-
ance of the Office, but it is a relic of
the days when Georgetown had a large
place on the map, when her people
were prosperous, and when the minds
of her business men were filled with
visions of the development of a new
Liverpool, a city greater than any in
the old world. Nobody in those days
feared rivalry with New York, Phila-
delphia, Boston or any other city in
The new republic. Cincinnati, Cleve-
land, Chicago, st. Paul, and the magnifi-
cence and wealth of and beyond the
great American desert. were all un-
known. just as the Chicago man OF
to-day talks of nothing but his thriv-
ing city, so the ancient inhabitants of
Georgetown talked Of their growing
trade center. But the glory Of George
town has departed, and her venerable
citizens sadly see the decadence.
The steamboats,, railroads, telegraph
and telephone lines have brought all
sections nearer together and all nations
closer ia trade relations, The process
sion has passed BY Georgetown, and she
is no longer a requirement in the BUSH
ness world, 1t is easier to transact
business with New York, Baltimore or
Philadelphia than to sail or steam up
the Potomac with traffic and passen-
gers.
When the revolutionary war began
the hills and dales now covered with
the residences and public buildings IN
the national capital were as denseiy
wooded as the hills of Arlington.
Georgetown was then an established
town and doing q thriving business.
But all the land east of Rock creek
was occupied by the children Of the
forest. the noble red men.
Georgetown grew and waxed strong
long after the seat of government was
located here, and many a statesman
lived in the quaint and a~ristocratic old
town, although their daily duties were
in the new city. In 1870 the federal
government established offices in
Georgetown, and that was before the
capital had been located. On Febru-
airy 16, 1890, William B. Magruder was
appointed postmaster, and on October
J. 1890, James McCubbin Lingan was