240 SPOFFORD 



CITY OF WASHINGTON. 



The Gazette printed June 25th, 1796, a proclamation by 

 President Washington, setting forth that the requirement of 

 building all houses in Washington of brick or stone, and not 

 less than thirty-live feet in height, had impeded the settlement 

 of the city by mechanics and others, and would therefore be 

 suspended until A. D. 1800. The Commissioners of the Dis- 

 trict made frequent advertisements of public auction sales of 

 Washington lots, at one-third cash, and one and two years credit 

 for the remainder ; sales to be continued until they had raised 

 a sum sufficient to complete the public buildings. 



The paper contained many advertisements of hotels. The 

 Capitol Hill tavern announced — "A shuffle-board and nine- 

 pin alley are ready for those inclined to amuse themselves." 

 William Tunnecliff, whose tavern was located on Capitol Hill, 

 in square 925, corner of Pennsylvania Avenue southeast and 

 Ninth Street, announced ''stabling for horses, and lodging for 

 gentlemen or ladies," at his Eastern Branch hotel. 



The first dramatic performances in Washington of which I 

 find record were held in 1801, in Blodget's unfinished hotel, near 

 the site of the former Post-Office Department, Seventh and 

 F Streets. Rough boards were put in as temporary seats for 

 the audience at the play. 



In 1805, there were seven hundred houses and three market 

 houses in Washington ; while in 1800, five years earlier, there 

 were only forty-seven brick, and one hundred and nineteen 

 frame houses completed in the city, after eight years possession 

 by the government. 



One of the most notable characters in the life and history of 

 early Washington was Thomas Law. He was of a distinguished 

 English family, being a son of the Bishop of Carlisle, and one 

 of his brothers being Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough, who 

 became Lord Chief Justice of England. Thomas Law went 

 early in life to India, where he amassed a large fortune, and, 

 being a liberal in politics, he came to America to spend it. 

 This he succeeded in doing in the embryo Washington, where 

 he invested most of his estate, buying some five hundred lots, 



