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Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
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== History == [[File:Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel, DC.jpg|thumb|[[Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel (Washington, D.C.)|Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel]], designed by [[James Renwick Jr.]] in 1850, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].]] [[File:USA-Georgetown C&O Canal.jpg|thumb|The [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]]]] [[File:The Old Stone House.jpg|thumb|[[Old Stone House (Washington, D.C.)|Old Stone House]], built 1765, is the oldest building structure still standing in [[Washington, D.C.]]]] [[Image:Georgetown wa dc 1862.jpg|thumb|Georgetown, depicted in 1862, shows the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]] and [[Potomac Aqueduct Bridge|Aqueduct Bridge]] (on right) and an unfinished [[United States Capitol dome|Capitol dome]] in the distant background.]] [[File:Georgetown waterfront in 1865.jpg|thumb|[[Sailing ship|Sailing vessels]] docked at the Georgetown waterfront, c. 1865]] [[File:Poor children playing on sidewalk, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Digital ID- (digital file from original neg.) fsa 8a00156 http- hdl.loc.gov loc.pnp fsa.8a00156.jpg|thumb|Children playing on sidewalk in Georgetown during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], photographed by [[Carl Mydans]] in 1935]] [[File:Washington Harbour view.JPG|thumb|upright=1|[[Washington Harbour]] complex located on the [[Potomac River]] with [[Georgetown University]]'s [[Healy Hall]] visible in the background]] [[File:Dahlgren quad in winter.jpg|thumb|[[Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart|Dahlgren Chapel]] at [[Georgetown University]]]] Located on the [[Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line]], Georgetown was at the [[head of navigation]] on the [[Potomac River]], the farthest point upstream that boats coming from the [[Atlantic Ocean]] could navigate. ===17th century=== In 1632, English fur trader Henry Fleet documented an American Indian village of the [[Nacotchtank]] people called Tohoga on the site of present-day Georgetown and established trade there.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Walk Through Georgetown |author=Delany, Kevin |publisher=Kevin Delany Publications |year=1971}}</ref> The area was then part of the [[Province of Maryland]], an [[English overseas possessions|English colony]].{{citation needed|date = May 2023}} ===18th century=== In approximately 1745, [[George Gordon (merchant)|George Gordon]] constructed a tobacco inspection house along the [[Potomac River]] on a site that was already a tobacco trading post when the inspection house was built. Warehouses, wharves, and other buildings were then constructed around the inspection house, and it quickly became a small community. Georgetown grew as thriving port, facilitating trade and shipments of goods to and from the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial-era]] [[Province of Maryland]].{{sfn|Lesko|1991|p=1}} In 1751, the legislature of the Province of Maryland authorized the purchase of {{convert|60|acre|m2}} of land from Gordon and [[George Beall]] for Β£280.{{sfn|Ecker|1933|pp=1-6}} A survey of the town was completed in February 1752.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Richard Plummer |title=The Chronicles of Georgetown, D.C., from 1751-1878 |publisher=R. O. Polkinhorn |year=1878 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_VFUUAAAAYAAJ/page/n16 3]β4 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_VFUUAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> Georgetown was founded during the reign of [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]], and some speculate that the town was named after him. A second theory is that the town was named after its founders, George Gordon and George Beall.<ref>{{cite book |title=Establishment and Government of the District of Columbia |date=1 January 1901 |publisher=U.S. Senate reports of 1900, Congressional Edition, Volume 4043, US Gov't GPO |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhlHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA183 |access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> The [[Maryland General Assembly|Maryland Legislature]] issued a charter and incorporated the town in 1789.{{sfn|Lesko|1991|pp=1-2}} Although Georgetown was never officially made a city, it was later referred to as the "City of Georgetown" in several 19th-century [[Act of Congress|Acts of Congress]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Tindall |first=William |title=The Establishment and Government of the District of Columbia |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1901 |pages=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhlHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA171}}</ref>) [[Robert Peter]], an early area merchant in the tobacco trade, became the town's first mayor in 1790.{{sfn|Ecker|1933|p=8}} John Beatty established the first church in Georgetown, a [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] church on High Street. [[Stephen Bloomer Balch]] established a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] church in 1784. A [[Catholic Church]], Trinity Catholic Church, was built in 1795, along with a parish school-house. Construction of [[St. John's Episcopal Church, Georgetown|St. John's Episcopal Church]] began in 1797 but paused for financial reasons until 1803, and the church was finally consecrated in 1809. Banks in Georgetown included the [[Farmers and Mechanics Bank (Georgetown)|Farmers and Mechanics Bank]], which was established in 1814. Other banks included the Bank of Washington, Patriotic Bank, Bank of the Metropolis, and the Union and Central Banks of Georgetown.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite news |title=An Old City's History: The Simple Annals of Our Venerable Suburb |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 24, 1878}}</ref> Newspapers in Georgetown included the ''Republican Weekly Ledger'', which was the first paper, started in 1790. ''The Sentinel'' was first published in 1796 by Green, English & Co. Charles C. Fulton began publishing the ''Potomac Advocate'', which was started by Thomas Turner. Other newspapers in Georgetown included the ''Georgetown Courier'' and the ''Federal Republican''. William B. Magruder, the first postmaster, was appointed on February 16, 1790, and in 1795, a custom house was established on Water Street. General James M. Lingan served as the first collector of the port.<ref name="The Washington Post" /> In the 1790s, City Tavern, the Union Tavern, and the Columbian Inn opened and were popular throughout the 19th century.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Holmes, Oliver W. |title=The City Tavern: A Century of Georgetown History, 1797-1898 |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |volume=50 |pages=1β35}}</ref> Among these taverns, only the City Tavern remains today, serving as a private social club and known as [[City Tavern Club]], located near the corner of [[Wisconsin Avenue]] and [[M Street (Washington, D.C.)|M Street]].{{citation needed|date = May 2023}} [[George Washington]] frequented Georgetown, including [[Suter's Tavern]], where he negotiated many deals to acquire land for the new national capital.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Holmes, Oliver W. |title=Suter's Tavern: Birthplace of the Federal City |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |volume=73-74 |pages=1β34}}</ref> A key figure in the land deals was a local merchant named [[Benjamin Stoddert]], who arrived in Georgetown in 1783. He had previously served as Secretary to the Board of War under the [[Articles of Confederation]]. Stoddert partnered with General [[Uriah Forrest]] to become an original proprietor of the [[Potomac Company]].{{sfn|Ecker|1933|p=12}} Stoddert and other Potomac landowners agreed to a land transfer deal to the federal government at a dinner at Forrest's home in Georgetown on March 28, 1791. Stoddert bought land within the boundaries of the federal district, some of it at the request of Washington for the government, and some on speculation. He also purchased stock in the federal government under Hamilton's assumption-of-debt plan. The speculative purchases were not, however, profitable and caused Stoddert much difficulty before his appointment as [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] by [[John Adams]], the nation's second [[President of the United States|president]]. Stoddert was rescued from his debts with the help of [[William Marbury]], a Georgetown resident who later was a plaintiff in the landmark case ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]''. Stoddert ultimately purchased [[Halcyon House]] at the corner of 34th and Prospect Streets.{{sfn|Ecker|1933|p=12}} The [[Forrest-Marbury House]] on [[M Street (Washington, D.C.)|M Street]] is currently the embassy of Ukraine. ===19th century=== In 1800, the federal capital was moved from the [[American Revolution|revolutionary]] capital of [[Philadelphia]] to Washington, D.C., and Georgetown became an independent municipal government within the District of Columbia, of which there were three: Alexandria, D.C., Georgetown, D.C., and Washington, D.C. Georgetown, D.C., was in the new [[Washington County, D.C.]]; the District's other county was [[Alexandria County, D.C.]], now [[Arlington County, Virginia]], and the independent city of [[Alexandria, Virginia]]. By the 1820s, the [[Potomac River]] had become silted up and was not navigable up to Georgetown. Construction of the [[Chesapeake & Ohio Canal]] began in July 1828, to link Georgetown to [[Harper's Ferry]], Virginia in present-day [[West Virginia]]. But the canal was soon in a race with the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] and got to Cumberland eight years after the railroad, a faster mode of transport, and at the cost of $77,041,586. It was never profitable. From its beginning to December 1876, the canal earned $35,659,055 in revenue, while expending $35,746,301.<ref name="The Washington Post"/> The canal provided an economic boost for Georgetown. In the 1820s and 1830s, Georgetown was an sizable shipping center. Tobacco and other goods were transferred between the canal and shipping on the Potomac River; salt was imported from Europe, and sugar and molasses were imported from the [[West Indies]].<ref name="The Washington Post"/> These shipping industries were later superseded by coal and flour industries, which flourished with the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal|C & O Canal]] providing cheap power for [[flour mill|mills]] and other industry.{{sfn|Gutheim|Lee|2006|p=49}} In 1862, the [[Washington and Georgetown Railroad|Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company]] began a [[horsecar]] line running along M Street in Georgetown and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, easing travel between the two cities. The municipal governments of Georgetown and the City and County of Washington were formally revoked by Congress effective June 1, 1871, at which point its governmental powers were vested within the District of Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=016/llsl016.db&recNum=463|title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875|website=memory.LOC.gov|access-date=December 30, 2017}}</ref> The streets in Georgetown were [[Georgetown street renaming|renamed]] in 1895 to conform to the [[street name]]s in use in Washington.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chap. 79.-An Act Changing the name of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes |url=http://www.constitution.org/uslaw/sal/028_statutes_at_large.pdf |work=United States Statutes at Large from August 1893 to March 1895 |access-date=July 10, 2011 |page=679 }}</ref> In the 1850s, Georgetown had a large [[African American]] population, including both slaves and free blacks. Slave labor was widely used in construction of new buildings in Washington, in addition, to provide labor on tobacco plantations in Maryland and Virginia. Slave trading in Georgetown began in 1760 when John Beattie established his business on O Street and conducted business at other locations around Wisconsin Avenue. Other slave markets ("pens") were located in Georgetown, including one at McCandless' Tavern near M Street and Wisconsin Avenue.{{sfn|Gutheim|Lee|2006|p=51}} Slave trading continued until 1850, when it was banned in the District as one element of the [[Compromise of 1850#End of slave trade in District of Columbia|Compromise of 1850]].{{sfn|Lesko|1991|p=2}} Congress [[District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act|abolished ownership of slaves in the entire District]] on April 16, 1862, annually observed today as [[Emancipation Day]].<ref name="H-DC Discussion Network">{{cite web|url=http://www.h-net.org/~dclist/timeline1.html|title=H-DC - H-Net|website=H-Net.org|access-date=December 30, 2017}}</ref> Many African Americans moved to Georgetown following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], establishing a thriving community.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-20|title=Our Black History β¦ in Georgetown|url=https://georgetowner.com/articles/2019/02/20/black-history-georgetown-2/|access-date=2021-10-17|website=The Georgetowner|language=en-US}}</ref> By the late 19th century, flour milling and other industries in Georgetown were declining, in part due to the fact that the canals and other waterways continually silted up.{{sfn|Gutheim|Lee|2006|p=58}} Nathaniel Michler and S.T. Abert led efforts to dredge the channels and remove rocks around the Georgetown harbor, though these were temporary solutions and [[United States Congress|Congress]] showed little interest in the issue.{{sfn|Gutheim|Lee|2006|p=94}} An 1890 flood and expansion of the railroads brought destitution to the C&O Canal, and Georgetown's waterfront became more industrialized, with narrow alleys, warehouses, and apartment dwellings which lacked plumbing or electricity. Shipping trade vanished between the [[Civil war|Civil War]] and [[World War I]].<ref name="Smith, A. Robert and Sevareid, Eric 154, Library of Congress card number 65β24912">{{cite journal |author1=Smith, A. Robert |author2=Sevareid, Eric |title=Washington: Magnificent Capital |journal=Doubleday & Company, New York, 1965 |pages=154, Library of Congress card number 65β24912}}</ref> As a result, many older homes were preserved relatively unchanged. In the late 18th century and 19th century, African Americans comprised a substantial portion of Georgetown's population, with a large number centered around Herring Hill in the far eastern section near [[Rock Creek Park]]. The [[1800 United States census|1800 census]] reported the population in Georgetown at 5,120, which included 1,449 slaves and 227 free blacks.{{sfn|Lesko|1991|p=2}} A testament to the African-American history that remains today is the [[Mount Zion United Methodist Church (Washington, D.C.)|Mount Zion United Methodist Church]], which is the oldest African-American congregation in Washington. Prior to establishing the church, free blacks and slaves went to the Dumbarton Methodist Church where they were restricted to a hot, overcrowded balcony. The church was originally located in a small brick meetinghouse on 27th Street, but it was destroyed by fire in the 1880s. The church was rebuilt on the present site.{{sfn|Mitchell|1983|p=10}} [[Mount Zion Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)|Mount Zion Cemetery]] offered free burials for Washington's earlier African-American population.<ref name="Washington, DC-Mt. Zion Cemetery">{{cite web|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc10.htm|title=Washington, DC--Mt. Zion Cemetery|website=cr.NPS.gov|access-date=December 30, 2017|archive-date=August 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805022322/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc10.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> "From a pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] population of 6,798 whites, 1,358 free Negroes, and 577 slaves, Georgetown's population had grown to 17,300 but half these residents were poverty-stricken Negroes."<ref name="Smith, A. Robert and Sevareid, Eric 154, Library of Congress card number 65β24912"/> Other [[black church]]es in Georgetown included [[Alexander Memorial Baptist Church]], First Baptist Church, Jerusalem Baptist Church, and Epiphany Catholic Church.<ref name=remembered>{{cite book | title=Black Georgetown Remembered | publisher=Georgetown University Press | author=Lesko, Kathleen M.; Babb, Valerie Melissa; Gibbs, Carroll R. | year=2016 | pages=203 | isbn=9781626163263}}</ref> ===20th century=== [[File:M Street NW, Georgetown, Washington, DC (46556250902).jpg|thumb|Georgetown is Washington's main shopping district and a major tourist attraction.]] [[File:Wisconsin Avenue NW, Georgetown, Washington, DC (45694221865).jpg|thumb|Storefronts on [[Wisconsin Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Wisconsin Avenue]] decorated for Christmas.]] [[File:M Street and 31st Street N.W., Georgetown, Washington, DC.jpg|thumb|Storefronts on [[M Street (Washington, D.C.)|M Street]]]] [[File:The Shops at Georgetown Park.jpg|thumb|The shops at [[Georgetown Park]] is an indoor shopping area that has undergone substantial renovation in recent years. It's shown here in 2006.]] In 1915, the [[Buffalo Bridge]] on present-day Q Street opened and connected this part of Georgetown with the rest of the city east of [[Rock Creek Park]]. New construction of large apartment buildings began on the edge of Georgetown. In the early 1920s, John Ihlder led efforts to take advantage of new [[zoning]] laws to get restrictions enacted on construction in Georgetown.{{sfn|Mitchell|1983|p=2}} In 1933, a study by [[Horace Peaslee]] and Allied Architects laid out ideas for how Georgetown could be preserved.{{sfn|Gutheim|Lee|2006|p=199}} The [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]], then owned by the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]], formally ceased operations in March 1924. After severe flooding in 1936, [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] sold the canal to the [[National Park Service]] in October 1938.<ref name="H-DC Discussion Network"/> The waterfront area retained its industrial character in the first half of the 20th century. Georgetown was home to a lumber yard, a cement works, the Washington Flour mill, and a meat [[rendering (food processing)|rendering]] plant, with incinerator smokestacks and a power generating plant for the old [[Capital Traction]] streetcar system, located at the foot of Wisconsin Avenue, which closed in 1935, and was demolished in October 1968. In 1949, the city constructed the [[Whitehurst Freeway]], an elevated [[highway]] above K Street, to allow [[automobile|motorists]] entering the District over the [[Francis Scott Key Bridge (Washington)|Key Bridge]] to bypass Georgetown entirely on their way downtown. In 1950, Public Law 808 was passed, establishing the historic district of "Old Georgetown".{{sfn|Lesko|1991|p=95}} The law required that the [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]] be consulted on any alteration, demolition, or building construction within the historic district.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfa.gov/georgetown/pl808_81.html |title=Old Georgetown Act |publisher=National Commission of Fine Arts |access-date=December 9, 2008 |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114015711/http://cfa.gov/georgetown/pl808_81.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1967, the '''Georgetown Historic District''' was listed on the U.S. [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=67000025}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Georgetown Historic District |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=HL Boundary Review Project |date=February 1980 |access-date=September 22, 2016 }} with {{NRHP url|id=67000025|photos=y|title=11 historic images and photos}}</ref> ===21st century=== Georgetown is home to many politicians and [[lobbyists]]. Georgetown's landmark waterfront district was further revitalized in 2003, and includes a [[Ritz-Carlton]], [[Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts|Four Seasons]], and other hotels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/adaptivereuse/04_ritz/overview.asp |title=The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences, Georgetown |publisher=Architectural Record |access-date=July 24, 2010}}</ref> Georgetown's highly traveled commercial district is home to a variety of specialty retailers and fashionable boutiques.
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