Evening star., 1897-03-20
1.-THE GREAT NORTHWEST"
Reoollections of the Slashes and Fine
Avenues Once Unknown.
The Old Social Section in the West
Fashionable Northwest.

Fashionable Northwest.
1.-The fashionable northwest quarter of
the capital" said one who has spent his
entire life here. to Star reporter, was in
the olden time about as unpromising a
portion Of the District as could be found.
There are some who remember when North
of * street and west of 18th there Was
excellent sport with dog and gun, and
but few of our sportSmen found it neces-
sary to so outside the corporate limits
for rabbit or bird, for what is now the
choice section was the favorite hun ing
ground for a number of crack sho,s.
among them the fathers and grandfathers
of IL few of the present leaders of society
who live in the palatial homes of that
section. This was in the forties and prior
thereto, when the West End was no; looked
upon as the society section. The term
| locally was applied to that section south
of Pennsylvania avenue and west of 18th
street. but more generally West End in
cluded the vicinity of the White House
and belt of. say, two squares north of
the avenue from 18th street to Rock
creek. In this section many Of the lead
ing men of the day, including the foreign
minister's lived Among them were Sec
son of President Polks cabinet and num-
ber of government officials, with the rep
resentatives Of Great Britain, France.
Spain, Prussia, Austria and other coun-
| tries.
Ihere were number of naval officers
living In this section before that period
ard the location Of the United States naval
observatory on University Square ,toot of
2fth StreeD brought some twenty more in.o
that section, among them Lieuts. NJ F.
Maury. Sands, Worden. Amy, and others
VINO subsequently attained hign rank.
| Gen. Scott's Home.
|. The army officers were more scattered
and were mostly located downtown (east-
ward). Gen. Scott, who had succeeded
Gen. Macomb on his death In IS41, lived On
10Th street between F and G streets: Gen.
Jesup and Gen. Gibson on F street, and
Gen. Roger Jones on 9th street The
peighborhood of F. and l4th streets was
'ne Iavorlte rooming quarter for the bach
eior officers of the army, the boarding house
OF William Smith. the present site of
t9e tbbitt House, being a favori.e stopping
place for them.
"on Capitol Hill and Sd, c., 9th and F
streets there were some society peopie 1iy-
ing al that period, but not counting afay-
et'e Square, the neighborhood of L. + ard
u streets from 18th to 22l was looked rno,
as the social center.
In what is now the tony northwest,
'"esl oi ioth street and north of H there
were in the forties scarcely a dozen build
lngs, aud the general public other tb,n
those of hunting proclivities. ana the hnxs
OIL that day, were about as ignorant of that
portion of the municipal domain as thfv
we're OF the Great American Desert 1t is
rlueu. rue Ina. @ there was one popular place of
resort, faV1erS s gardens, on NJ street he
tween lith and 18th Streets within the
bounds, with Holmead's burial ground at
TIE mead OF 10th street. and Kaloranla, the
favorite picnic ground Just over Ro,;ndar:v
dens, but the country had not been opened
I'd, ana not the least ATTEMPT had been
made toward street Improvement if We
except the partial grading of Goth street
made necessary by the frequency of
funerals going to Holmead's That now
nne tnoroughfare and promenade, Connec-
tlcut avenue, was then marked by a single
wagon track, which meandered along the
general lines toward Bomford's tkalo-
rama) the Paper mill bridge or the Gem
etery. Massachusetts avenue was then
seription of the now popular Connecticut
avenue at that time is applicable to it. >--s
Unknown Avenues.
Rhode Island and New Hampshire ave-
nues were even less known than they, for
seldom were their names used by others
than those who owned adjoining property
Nearly the whole section now the mcst
beautiful portion of the city, had been al
lowed to lie idle for years, and much of the
land had no attention whatever paid TO it.
1t is matter of history that more than
one piece OF property in that region was
allowed to be sold repeatedly for taxes and
finally get out of the reach of the owners
who then thought that the amount of taxes
was all 1t was worth Not over twenty
years ago, through business transaction
over funeral expenses, an old man was
brought into contact with lawyer and
mentioning that his father once owned
square of ground in that locality an ex-
animation or the records f0lnwed wit
result that the old man was made wealthy
through compromises with those who had
assumed possession. There were perhaps
elsht or ten settlements, few saugnIer
houses and less than dozen gardens ard
In some instances a square was set in grass
IN the section Bryantown was the name
gwen Two or three chief dwellings at the
corner of Massachusetts avenue and nth
street and Paddy Mageetown to some
houses OF the same character near where
Heurich brewery now stands. Slash run
"hlch twenty years ago or more was con-
Verted INTO sewer. carried off much of tie
drainage those days, running as 1t did
from near the head of 18th street south
ware Wara nearly TO ID, thence west and north
west INTO ROCK creek. not far from o street.
"A number of smaller streams flowed i,11o
Slash run, and aside from the rudest of
wooden bridges over 1t at Connecticut ave-
nue. and 10th street, the crossings were hy
fords or stepping stones. -
l., II is possible that many will be slow to
believe that. such was the appearance of
.ne northwest n1ty years ago; but the few
who followed Slash run or wandered
through the wilds of what was to them i'm
their boyhood The Great Northwest know
mat the picture is not overdrawn. Just
Low Low 10 account for the great-one may
say phenomenal-change is difficult. For
some reason We Americans believe that II
Is a rule of municipal growth that when
.ne topography Of the ground will permit
our cities and towns develope on their
westward and northward sides. Conform
ing probably to this rule our northwes,
mas oustrippcd all other sections of tie
VIII Employ Union Musicians.
Capt. E. s. Randall, proprietor Of the
River View excursion resort, says that the
statement made at the meeting of the