Evening star., 1922-12-05

i a EE" udy6 dBos asa S"A-
| n with some remarks about the
| ~ Key Memorial bridge. connect
q ing Virginia with what was
once GEORGETOWN, but is now part
! OF Washington, l had occasion 70 re-
, fer to the origin Of the name 'Ieors
town." I credited 1t to the nonor
! Of George III. King OF Ensiand' III
contradiction Of a learned congressman
| who had stated that the name had oeeh
riven in honor OF George Washington.
IL argued that the public resented
| changing the name of the Key Memo
! rial bridge. named in honor OF tne
! patriot who wrote THE Star Spansieo
Banner" to a monument IN memory oi
the king whose rule had brought ABOUT
| the American revolution.
A Constant Reader writes:
According to the authentic puohce-
ton entitled Certain Place Names IN
the United States by Henry Gannett'
formerly OF the United States Geolos,-
cal Survey, Georgetown tnow Washing
! ton. %. c. was named after George
! Boone. an Englishman. who @ purcnsTshso Tha
several tracts Of land In that place. Lne
oniy .;eorgetowns' in the United states
named after Kings George ! and III are
! in Maine and South Carolina, but not
Georgetown, d. c. .h.
.1;eorRetown was established by the
i Scottish in 1885. forty-three years prior
| TO the birth OF George III. who was
born in 1913: laid out as town IN 1904.
chartered as a city in 1883. merged IN
the District Of Columbia in 1871 ana
! annexed to the city OF washington !"
1878" u,,.,
! Further research in the Congressional
! Library shows that we were both soIne I.s.
wha. inaccurate. but thai my Critic
has nothing on me +,
i II was undoubtedly King George ii
, (anG not George I'D for whom George
town was named: certainly II was no,
for one George Boone A ca'elui
search fails to disclose who George
Boone was, for his name % ss,mr;es rs no. se nf
;eoree.own; .i author Of one history
tells me that he has never heard OF
George Boone.
NY critic says that Georgetown
was established by the Scottish Let
me state that long before the Scotch
came il had been an Indian village
and port.
! In 1908 Capt. John Smith explored
the Chesapeake bay. and was amazed
! to find the mouth of great river.
seven miles wide. He did not ascend
the river. but in 1921 Capt. Henry
/ Fleete went up to the head OF nari-
cation and anchored at the indian
village OF Tohogae. which was upon
the later site of Georgetown-"two
leagues below the falls.
Lord Baltimore. the virtual owner
and lord OF that part of Virginia and
Maryland. gave liberal grants. and in
1895 he established Prince Georges
county. in which was included' the
/ prince George" What Prince
George That was in 1898. at a time
| when the son of George / Qater
known as George III was heir ap-
! parent to the British throne. and his
! father. George I. sat on the throne:
He was then the only prince George"
! in the world. AS he was then twelve.
years old. there is no question as to
! the origin of the name OF Prince
! Georges county.
i In 1927 Prince George became king
under the title of George II. and the
! outstanding fact of his reign is that
! it developed the colonies of Great
Britain to their highest standard. and
that his majesty. George II. was very
! popular in all his possessions. 1t was
. 4.
! had ruined the loyalty of the Ameri-
can colonies that separation was
dreamed.
In 1851 an act was passed by the
Maryland assembly appointing COM
missionerS to purchase or condemn
| sixty acres and survey a town to be
! called Georgetown. located at the
mouth of Rock creek and the Potomac
/ river. The land was owned by George
; Gordon and George Beall.
1~4e
F; after giving two to the original own
+, ers Of the land. the rest were sold
| under building restriction that with
| in two years the buyer must erect a
/ hahitahle house covering not less than
| 400 feet, with a brick or stone CHM
| ney.
| What a stretch Of imagination IS
| required to attribute to anv other
; origin than loyalty to the king the
| selection of the name Georgetown
! ating act OF the assembly. AS If to
Let George do it," we note the CO.
| incidence that both of the owners of
the sixty acres constituting the orig
inal site were also named George-but
not George Boone"
| OF course all talk OF the origin
! having anything to do with a GER
| tain young surveyor named George
! Washington is mere nonsense. Wash
| ington was only nineteen years old
ia farm boy-at that time: all his
military fame came years later.
/! Nevertheless. Gen. Washington is
| closely tied to the development of
| Georgetown in the decades following.
His vision grasped the strategic i'm
portance Of the head of navigation
| OF the tidewater Potomac. and he
led the great struggle to make his