Evening star., 1939-10-29
Area Became
Notable for
Its Beauty
World War Housing
Destroyed Much
OF Glamour
By John CIaeeft Proctor.

April 6, 1917, when President Wilson
signed the declaration Of war with
Germany, but one thing we shall
never forget is the transformation
of a part of the then beautiful Mall
into an unsightly area Of roughly
built frame buildings, on ground
covered, until then, by some Of the
most beautiful trees in Washington,
some being Of rare species.
Nor can any one who passed
through these grounds daily for
years, as did the writer, ever forget
the apparent abandon of many OF
the young men and women brought
here as temporary employees OF the
Government, who were housed in
these makeshift quarters. But per-
haps the Government did the best
1t could under the circumstances.
Indeed, it may be forced to do like
wise again. But let us hope not.
There always have been, and al
ways will be, man seeking soft jobs
In the military service Of the Gov
eminent, particularly in time Of
war. and many will recall seeing at
least some who might be accused
of this "discretion' drilling in Sc
cluded places behind these build
ings, as much out Of sight as pos
sible. They were nearly all officers
employed in the temporary build
ings. The privates were usually
brave, and did their drilling more in
the open and in larger squads.
However, these events are rather
recent to one who has lived here
long while. and some reference to
this area when the Federal Govern
ment took title to Washington in
1891, and to the Malls early and
subsequent history. will no doubt
prove interesting to those who are
newcomers to the city, as well as to
those Washingtonians who are nat
ural antiquarians or who are just
historically inclined.
Government Removal.
When the Government moved
here in 1900 Tiber Greek flowed al
most on a direct line from Second
street NV. westward to the Po-
tomac River, along the northern
part of the Mall, now approximately
Constitution avenue. The portion
of this stream east Of Twelfth street
and nearest to the Capitol, appears
to have been more or less heavily
wooded, while from Twelfth street
westward to the river was largely
marsh and farm land, titled, where
tillable. by the so-called obstinate"
Davis Barnes.
Squatter sovereignty seems to
have prevailed, for in 1902 or 1904,
Christian Hines says, a colored man
called Old Jack had his house on
the south side Of the Tiber, not more
than 200 or 300 feet from where he.
Hines. and his brother were catch
ing driftwood, which was in the vi
cinity of Seventh street. He also says
that Old Jack was buried on the
south side of the Tiber between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets,
now a part Of the Department OF
Agriculture grounds.
About this same period, Hines also
says, what Is now the Smithsonian
grounds was the scene Of a fair for
the amusement of the country folks
and to draw custom to the city.
Tree Cutting Craze.
AS soon as the early inhabitants
began to arrive to take up their
residence in the new Capital, a
mania seems to have seized them
to cut down all the trees in sight,
and the Mall in this respect suffered
with the other parts of the embryo
city. So thoroughly was this de-
struction carried on that, in 1850,
scarcely any timber at all was left
standing upon the Mall as will be
seen by the following article pub
lished in the early 70s:
"Old inhabitants may remember
the condition of this part of the
Mall prior to 1850 as large COM
mon stretching from Seventh to
Twelfth streets, and from the canal
to B street. south. presenting sur
face of yellow or white clay, cut into
by deep gullies, and without trees
except one or two scraggy and dying
sycamores The streets named were
mud roads. along which an omnibus
scrambled once day. to the steam
boat wharf, and foot travel paced its
muddy or dusty way over the bleak,
unhospitable common in zigzag
meanderings."
The first real awakening in caring
for these grounds did not come until
after Congress had conveyed to the
Smithsonian Institution the south
half of so much of the Mall in the
city Of Washington as now lies be-
tween Ninth and Twelfth streets,
said to contain about 10 acres.
Smithsonian Setting.
The corner stone of the Smithso-
nian Building was laid May l, l847,
and, naturally. improvements to the
grounds followed. Prior to this
event, however, on March rs of the
same year, the Board of Regents, in
anticipation of the necessary setting
which the building would require,
adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, That among the trees
to be planted within the grounds Of
the institution there be included the
following: Elm, birch, oak, osage-
orange, pecan, sugar maple, silver
leafed maple, weeping willow, silver
leafed willow, magnolia grandiflora,
pride of China, c. elmon laurel, tulip
tree. dogwood, molly. hawthorn,
horse chestnut, Spanish chestnut,
walnut, hickory, mountain ash. lime
tree, evergreens Gncluding the sew
eral varieties of pines, aspen and
sycamore"
In the report of the Smithsonian
Institution for >3848, 1t is said:
During the past year the commit
tee have entered into contract,
amounting to $l,050, with Mr.. John
Douglass of Washington for inclos-
ing the grounds of the institution
with hedge. and for planting trees