Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-08

AN northwest was taken over by
=. " " the Government and the build
ing razed it neces Gt2ted that
company's looking for office quarters elsewhere.
which it did by erecting on the site OF the OLD
Medical Building. at Tenth and streets
centrally located building for it's business head
quarters. The giving up of the old building also
made it necessary to build a new power plant TO
augment the Benning station and to take care of
its present requirements as well as to proVlde
for the growing needs of the city, and this 1t Is
soon going to do by erecting at Buzzard Point
a plant that will be equal to the requirements
for some years to come.
Somehow the power company selects for its
plants historic sites CT the District. The OF
fee building at Tenth and streets occupies
the corner where stood for many years the
Medical Department Building of Columbian
University, erected there in 1926. However it
was not owned by the university, for we find
the title to the property at that time to be In
Drs. Thomas Sewell James M Staughton,
Thomas Henderson Nicholas Worthington,
Frederick May and Richard Randall, as tenants
in common.
The building was also known as the Masonic
Hall, since the MasonS used it for some years
as meeting place, and further interest is at
tached to the site because William C. Langdon,
Thomas Duncan and William j. Rhees called
a meeting there in 1852 for the purpose OF or
ganizing the local branch of the Young Mems
Christian Association for many years. and
ever since then, one of the established inst1tu-
lions of Washington After the Medical Build
ing was removed, gasoline station occupied
the corner for awhile.
D UzZARD POINT, where "Pepco' intends 10
- eating in the near future it's $5,O00,OOO
power plant is one of the oldest historic sites
in the City of Washington. Hugh T. Taggart,
a well known Washington lawyer prior to his
death some years ago, in describing a map
prepared by Moll, London geographer, in his
story of Old Georgetown, has this to say:
There are other features of this map worthy
Of note: Upon it the Anacostia River or East
ern Branch is indicated, but it is not named;
the main river above the mouth of the Anacos-
tia is shown upon 1t as a long but otherwise in
significant stream, to which is given the unro-
mantle but suggestive name of Turkey Buzzard
Run; to the point at the Arsenal is given the
name of Turkey Buzzard Point; that point
continued to be known as Turkey Buzzard
Point down to the time when the Federal Cap
ital was laid out; it then became known as
'Young's Point taking the name from Motley
Young, the owner of the land; it was later
called 'Greenleaf's Point, after James Green
leaf large purchaser of lots in the new city,
many Of which were located in its vicinity;
finally it took the name it now bears, Arsenal
Folnt, from the military uses to which 1t was
put by the Government"
Unfortunately, the map here referred to,
which Mr. Taggart tells was in his posses
sion in 1907 undated, though he believed
that it made its appearance early in the first
half of the eighteenth century"
JUST who named this locality Buzzard Point
~ no one seems to know but the reason for
so naming it may have been the enormous
quantity of fish which once inhabited the Po-
tomac and its tributaries Some of the early
explorers give what might seem, ofhand, ex-
aggerated statements. One says: I'm divers
places that abundance of fish, lying SO thick
with their heads above the water as for want
OF nets (our barge driving amongst them we
attempted to catch them with frying pan;
but we found it bad instrument to catch fish
with. Neither better fish, more plenty,
more variety for small fish had any of us ever
scene in any place so swimming the water; but
they were not to be caught with frying pans"
1t Is almost impossible for us at this period
to believe the Potomac fishery statistics and
stories handed down to us, and yet they are
undoubtedly true. We are told around 1880
shad and herring were so abundant that they
were often used on nearby farms as fertilizer,
and frequently heavy four and six horse teams