Evening star., 1948-05-16
By Johr cIooett Proctor

BY john Cto9eff Proctor
A LII houses in Washington are
~ not old houses, although
~ some may think they are
l. \ AS q matter of fact, few Of
the houses removed only q
few years ago for the Municipal
Center were as much as 100 years
old. It was by an act Of Congress
passed only l26 years ago that the
city corporation was authorized to
sell the three reservations on the
north side of Pennsylvania avenue
from Third to Sixth streets. and
extending north to G street. The
same act provided that the city
corporation was authorized to sell
the property on the, south side Of
Pennsylvania avenue from Third to
Sixth street. extending south to
Maryland avenue, with the excep-
ton of the central portion to which
the water Of the canal was to be
directed.
The squares on the north side Of
the avenue, between Third street
and John Marshall place originally
were intended as site for the Fed
eral Mint, and the two to the east
were spoken Of by the early Com
missioners as "the Bank and Ex-
change Squares" Turning this
property over to the city authorities
naturally prevented the carrying
out of the original plans Of the city
fathers.
The lots donated by 'Uncle Gam"
to the city did not sell SO readily,
and the improvement Of the avenue
from the Capitol to Georgetown with
sidewalk, which the District was
to undertake as It's part Of the bar
gain, was some time in materializ-
ing. And the houses also were slow
in being erected, for the deeds to
the purchasers carried a provision
as to the style and character Of the
building to be erected, and q limit
of 10 years was put on the purchas-
ers In which to comply with this
provision. In this connection 1t Is
probable that the provisions were
carried out, but unfortunately, II so,
no record seems to have been pre-
served, for some 20 years ago 1t was
found necessary, In order to clear
title, at least to a part Of the prop
erty, where compliance with this
clause could not be proven.
Canal on Third Street
Speaking Of the condition of Penn
sylvania avenue from the Capitol to
sixth street, west, Lambert Tree
tells us when he arrived in Wash
ington in 1920 that: ION the north
side Of Pennsylvania avenue, from
First to Sixth street, was a gravel
foot-walk. Tiber Greek was crossed
by a small bridge, protected by a
hand rail to keep pedestrians from
falling in.
"The south side of the Avenue,
from Sixth to Third streets. now
covered with hotels and business
houses, was then occupied by the
canal, which at Third street emp
tied into Tiber Greek. The side
walks on the north side Of the Ave-
nue. from Sixth to Seventh streets
were paved with brick; from Sew
enth to Ninth street, on the north
side, a gravel walk, and from Ninth
to Tenth street q brick pavement;
from Tenth to Fourteenth street q
gravel walk, and from Fourteenth to
Fifteenth a pavement; from there
to Georgetown gravel walk"
Suffers Death
There were many interesting
buildings and sites in the Pennsyl-
vania avenue area referred to. AT
the southwest corner of Third street
and Pennsylvania avenue, there
stood until recent years, an old land
mark known as Mades' Hotel, which,
incidentally. was for years the only
frame building on the Avenue be-
tween the, Capitol and Twenty -first
street, going west. For many years
1t was conducted by Charles Mades,
and 1t was here. on June l8, 1880.
that Gen. John Augustus Sutter
died. He was one Of the earliest and
foremost California pioneers apd 1t
was in his millrace, In 1848, that
gold was discovered by one OF his
employees, John w. Marshall. 1t
led to the great scramble for wealth,
particularly in 1849. and also con-
tributed greatly in encouraging en-
igration to California and the Far
West, ultimately resulting in the ad-
mission of that State to the Union
on September 8, 1850.
At this time Washington went
gold crazy, along with the rest Of
the country, and the glowing reports
published in the National Intelli-
gencer resulted in the formation OF
party for the purpose Of going to
the gold fields. 1t was agreed At
the meeting, held in q hall on E
street, that the party should organ
ize on the principle Of q military
corps, fully uniformed and equipped,
and drilled as light infantry. The
armament of each was rifle. a pair
of pistols, bowie knife and belt
hatchet, a bag Of stockings and
pair of blankets. Each member paid
in $500, and with stock cash capi-
tai of about $4,000, the expedition
was most completely fitted out.
Those who formed the party were:
~. Goldsborough Bruff. president
and captain; Gideon Brooke, vice
Those Were the