Evening star., 1951-08-26
By Harold H. Boetier

August 25, 1885, was a typically
hot and sticky day in the Nations
Capital-quite unlike it's anniversary
yesterday. Dust from the unpaved
streets of the town made breathing
difficult, not to say unpleasant. And
yet, despite the enervating humidity
of the weather, there was great ex-
citement in the air. The people of
Washington, Georgetown and Alex
andria were gathering at the railroad
track in the shadow of the domeless
Capitol to witness the long-awaited
opening of the first railroad into
Washington.
Washington, in the summer of
1885. was not the beautiful city with
spacious parks that it is today. The
city then had less than $4,000 in
habitants. Its appearance was that
OF number of scattered villages. It
could be reached only by steamer or
stage, and boat fires and armed hold
ups were the order of the day. Too
small for Slave-rearing. it still served
as one of the leading markets for
traders in the Maryland and North
ern Virginia area.
News items and social notes were
brief in the four-page Daily National
1ntelligencer. More space was de-
voted to our relations with France
ana runaway slaves than anything
else. Box seats at the newly opened
National Theater could be purchased
Tor rs cents, and gingerale was being
introduced to the gourmetS of Wash
ngton. The drink could be purchased
only at the Confectionery Establish
ment." few doors above Mr.. Browns
Indian Queen Hotel on PENNSYLVANIA
avenue. The papers of the day said
that this new wine" was saturated
with aromaticS :. emitS the salutif-
erouS qualities of alleviating thirst,
perpetuating health, and of produc-
ing an equilibrium of the system"
Anthracite coal was just coming to
diSplace wood fires, and the Treasury
Department was ordering change
IN its heating arrangements. The
Washington Monument had not been
erected.
The White House was called the
Presidents Palace, and railroad was
written as two words. Tiber Greek
Qong since rechanneled and covered
over to form part of today's sewerage
SYSTEM quietly ran in the shadow of
the Capitol. 1t was here-on the
banks of this stagnating stream
where it crossed Pennsylvania ave-
nue. at Second Street-that the
Washington Branch Rail Road of the
Baltimore & Ohio had its first sta
ton.
A VitoI Link
From the very earliest days of the
B. & o. there had been group of
railway officials which argued that it
was senseless to project a railroad
westward through the wilderness and
into Ohio, especially when line into
the City of Washington would be
profitable from the start. Propo-
nentS of this view held that such a
road would form vital and impor-
tant link in the chain of railroads
between New York and the South.
Further. from their tracks at Elk
ridge, Md, only 80 miles of
road would have to be laid to COM
plete the line into Washington. Such
reasoning fell upon interested ears,
and in the spring of 1888 bill was
passed settling the legal and finan-
cial details for the proposed line
Jonathan Knight, chief engineer
for the Baltimore g. Ohio, immedi-
ately began survey of the suggested
route. At the Patapsco River, where
the new line (the Washington
Branch) would diverge from the old
line (thereafter called the Main
Stem, Knights plan called for
bridge. Benjamin H. Latrobe was
assigned the task of designing suit
able structure over the turbulent
waters. The job of construction was
awarded to John Mccartney, an
1rishman from Ohio.
The local townspeople watched
the building of the bridge with keen
interest and delight, They called it
"Latrobe'S Folly" for they expected it
to fall of its own weight even before