Editing Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) (section)

===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  These shipping industries were later superseded by coal and flour industries, which flourished with the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal|C & O Canal]] providing cheap power for [[flour mill|mills]] and other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 … 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 65–24912">{{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 65–24912}}</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 65–24912"/> 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>