1073 



WASHINGTON. 



WASHINGTON. 



1074 



into the Pacific Ocean, which appears likely to become a place of gome 

 trade. 



Washington was separated from Oregon, and received a territorial 

 constitution, by Act of Congress, March 2, 1853. By this act the right 

 of voting is vested in every free white male 21 years old then resident 

 iu the territory. The Legislative Assembly consists of a council of 

 9 members, chosen for three years, but one-third to vacate their seats 

 each year; and a House of Representatives of 18 members, elected 

 annually. The governor is appointed by the president and senate for 

 four years. All laws passed by the legislature must be submitted for 

 confirmation to Congress. No law can be passed interfering with the 

 primary disposal of the soil ; or taxing the property of non-residents 

 higher than that of residents. Sections 16 and 36 in every township 

 are to be reserved for schools. 



(Vancouver ; Wilkes ; Lewis and Clarke ; Fremont, to. ; Gazetteer* 

 of United States; United Statei Cenna ; American Almanac, Ac.) 



WASHINGTON, a city in the district of Columbia,and the capital 

 of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac, and 

 on the right bank of the Anacoetia, or Eastern Branch. The capitol, 

 which occupies the central site of the city, is in 38 53' 20* N. lat., 

 77 0' 15" W. long. The population of the city in 1840 was 23,364, 

 and 40,001 in 1850. By an act of Congress, passed in 1790, it was 

 decreed that the seat of government should be established at some 

 placu on the Potomac, and the district around Georgetown was ceded 

 to the United States by Virginia and Maryland for this purpose. The 

 city was founded by laying the corner-stone of the capitol, Sept. 18, 

 The name of Washington waa ultimately bestowed upon ' the 

 federal city,' and the seat of government was transferred to it from 

 Philadelphia in 1800. The president and other chief executive officers 

 of the federal government have since resided at Washington : Congress 

 meets there every year on the first Monday of December, and the 

 Supreme Court of the United States holds its annual sittings, beginning 

 on the second Monday of January. 



Washington is separated from Georgetown [COLUMBIA, DISTRICT or] 

 by Hock Creek, over which there are several bridges, and from Alex- 

 andria [VIRGINIA] by the Potomac, over which is a bridge upward* 

 of a mile in length. There are also several bridges over the Anacostia. 

 Frigates ascend the Anacostia above the navy-yard. Vessels drawing 

 1 4 fe-t water can ascend to Potomac Bridge, whence to the mouth of 

 the Tiber, a small stream which flows through the middle of the city, 

 there are 9 feet of water at ordinary high tides. A spacious canal unites 

 the Anacostia with the Potomac. Washington is situated near the 

 head of the tide-water navigation, and is connected with the interior 

 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, as well a* by excellent coach-roads 

 and railways. The city is well supplied with water, and has in front 

 (south) the Potomac, nearly a mile in width, and a range of heights 

 in the rear (north), affording many fine sites for villa reiid-ncen. 



The city was regularly laid out, according to the design of Major 

 I.'l.nf.mt It extends from N.E. to 3. W. about 44 miles, and from 

 E. to S. about 2J miles, but only a comparatively small part of the 

 ground embraced within the plan is built upon. The capitol is the 

 central site: 15 avenue* from 120 to 160 feet wide, named after so 

 many states of the Union, extend from it towards the states after 

 which they are named. These avenues intersect diagonally square 

 blocks formed by streets crossing each other at right angles. The 

 streets north and south of the capitol are designated by the letters of 

 the alphabet, A north, A south, Ac. : those east and west of it are 

 numbered, 1st street east, 1st street west, Ac. The streets are from 

 70 to 100 feet wide. The effect of the at present very partial filling 

 up of the magnificent plan of the city is generally felt to be cheerless 

 ami unimpressive : but every year is doing something towards remov- 

 ing the unfinished and somewhat desolate aspect of this ' city of 

 magnificent distances,' as it has been not inaptly designated. 



The most striking and important of the public buildings of Wash- 

 ington is the Capitol It stands within an inclosed area of 30 acres, 

 on a ruing ground at the eastern termination of Pennsylvania avenue, 

 which is 4 miles in length, spacious, and planted with trees. The 

 ig is constructed of freestone, and composed of a centre, from 

 which rises a lofty dome to a height of 145 feet, and two wings. The 

 length of the whole is 352 feet, the depth of the wings is 1 2 1 feet, but it 

 is to be extended by two new wings, each 238 feet by 140 feet : when 

 these are completed the Capitol will occupy an area of more than four 

 acres. A Corinthian portico extends the length of the centre, which 

 is occupied by the rotunda, 96 feet in diameter and 96 feet in height. 

 The rotunda is ornamented with rilievos, bust*, and statues, and 

 contains seven painting* representing subjects connected with Ame- 

 rican history. Adjoining to this, on the west, is the library of Congress, 

 hall 92 feet in length by 34 feet in width, and 36 feet high, contain- 

 ing about 50,000 volume*. The Senate Chamber is in the north 

 wing : it is a semicircle of 75 feet long and 45 feet high. Over the 

 president's chair is a portrait of Washington. The Hall of Representa- 

 tive* iu the south wing, is also a semicircle : it is 96 feet long and 60 

 feet higiy The dome is supported by twenty-fix columns and pilasters 

 of variegated Potomac marble. A colossal statue of Liberty, a statue 

 of Hi tory, and portraits of Washington and Lafayette, are the prin- 

 cipal ornaments of the hall. Immediately below the senate chamber, 

 and nearly nf the same form and dimensions, is the hall in which the 

 isssions of the Supreme Court are held. Belnw the Hall of Rejiresenta- 



ocoo. DIT. vol. iv. 



tives are committee-rooms and other places of business. Apartments 

 for the vice-president and other state officers are also included in the 

 building. The grounds of the Capitol command some very fine 

 prospects : they are well laid out, are adorned with statues, and afford 

 a favourite promenade. 



The Executive Mansion, or official residence of the president of the 

 United States, occupies the centre of a plot of 20 acres, at the opposite 

 extremity of Pennsylvania avenue from the capitol. It ia a handsome 

 building two stories high, with a lofty basement, -170 feet long by 85 

 feet wide. In convenient proximity to the mansion are four spacious 

 and commodious edifices, known as the State, the Treasury, the Navy, 

 and the War Departments ; a fifth building, the Department of the 

 Interior, is as yet unfinished : these, as their uarnes imply, contain 

 the offices of the principal executive departments. The General Post- 

 Office is built of white marble, in the Corinthiau order ; it is 204 feet 

 long, 102 feet deep, and three stories high. The building is sur- 

 rounded by an ample lawn. At the home office are shown the auto- 

 graphs of all potentates who are or have been in alliance with the 

 Union, and the presents made by foreign courts to American ambas- 

 sadors, with several relics of General Washington ; Franklin's printing 

 press ; various object* of interest obtained by Wilkes in the United 

 States Exploring Expedition, kc. At the office for Indian affairs are 

 the portraits of all chiefs who have from time to time come to negotiate 

 with the president. This quarter of the city contains many elegant 

 private dwellings, most of which are occupied by the foreign ministers. 



The Navy Yard, and the Arsenal immediately to tne north of it, 

 are situated on the Anacostia, just below the long bridge which spans 

 the Potomac and connects the Columbian and the Virginian shore of 

 the river. To the navy yard are attached the marine barracks, and 

 to the arsenal very extensive public manufactories of arms and milit.iry 

 stores. The works at the navy yard are on a very important scale, 

 and in the anchor and chain cable manufactories, machine shops, Ac., 

 every approved contrivance for assisting human labour has been intro- 

 duced. The slips and ship houses are very spacious and well arranged. 

 The river, on arriving at Washington, makes a beautiful sweep, forming 

 a bay, on which the city stand*. The navy yard and arsenal follow 

 the curve. 



The National Observatory occupies an elevated site ou the Potomac, 

 between the president's house and Georgetown. Its exact site is 

 38" 53' 39-3" N. lat, 77 2' 48" W. long., and from it is measured the 

 first meridian of American geographers. It contains a very extensive 

 and valuable collection of instruments, and ranks among the first 

 institutions of the kind in existence : it is now under the direction of 

 Lieut. M. F. Maury, U.S.N., so well known by his investigations of 

 oceanic wind* and currents. As at Greenwich the observatory 

 announce* mean time daily by the fall of a large ball. 



One of the most striking of the public buildings of the city is the 

 Washington Monument, which stands on the Mall, between the presi- 

 dent's house and the Potomac. It is a vast circular structure 250 feet 

 in diameter, and 100 feet high, surmounted with an obelisk 70 feet at 

 the base, and 500 feet high. The building is surrounded by a colon- 

 nade of 30 pillar*, each 12 feet in diameter and 45 feet high, and is 

 elevated upon a base 20 feet high, and 300 feet square. The peilimrnt 

 of the front portico has a triumphal car, with a statue of Washington ; 

 another statue of Washington stands opposite the principal entrance ; 

 and around the building are statues of the ' Fathers of the Revo- 

 lution,' and of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; with. 

 sculptured representations of some of the principal events in Wash- 

 ington's career, emblematical designs, Ac. The centre is to bo occu- 

 pied by the tomb of Washington, a sculptural structure of unusual 

 magnitude and very ambitious design, which has been for several 

 years in process of execution, and which will comprise n large number 

 of statues of heroic size. Statues of Jefferson, Jackson, c., and one 

 or two monumental erections are the only other specimens of the 

 sculptor's art which adorn the public places of the city. 



The remaining public buildings in Washington are a city-hall, 

 several market-houses, a penitentiary, nearly 40 churches, some of thorn 

 very costly edifices ; an orphan asylum, almshouses, &c. Columbian 

 College, which was incorporated by Congress in 1821, is a spacious brick 

 building situated a little to the north of the city ; it has 10 instructors, 

 55 students, and a library of 6000 volumes. The National Medical 

 College, previous to 1840, formed the medical department of this 

 college. The public and private schools and academies are very 

 numerous, and bear a high character. Among literary institutions 

 the first place is due to tho Smithsonian Institution, which was 

 founded under the will of an Englishman named Smithsou, who 

 bequeathed above half a million dollars for the purpose. The build- 

 ing stands on the Mall, in the midst of extensive grounds. It is 

 Romanesque in design, is 450 feet long, 140 feet wide, an 1 has 9 

 towers, ranging from 75 to 150 feet in height. It contains a spacious 

 library, museum, pallery for works of art, a lecture room, capable of 

 accommodating 1200 persons, a chemical laboratory, Ac. The National 

 Institute holds its meetings at the patent-office. There are several 

 other literary and numerous benevolent institutions. 



Washington is neither a commercial nor a manufacturing city, and 

 the legislative sessions and the residence of the executive have failed 

 to attract the wealthy to it as a place of permanent abode. The 

 population of Washington consists of members of the leyixlature and 



ll 



