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

===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>