CITIES, AMERICAN. (WILMINGTON, WOBUBN, WOONSOCKET.) 



135 



the National College of Pharmacy, and the Law 

 Department of the National University. The 

 last is the only department organized of a pro- 

 posed university incorporated in 1870. The 

 Louise Home was established and endowed by 

 AV. W. Corcoran, in memory of his wile and 

 daughter; only gentlewomen in reduced cir- 

 cumstances are eligible for admission. The 

 permanent seat of the Federal Government 

 was fixed on the Potomac by an act of Con- 

 gress, passed July 16, 1790; in 1791 the site 

 was selected by Washington, and commission- 

 ers were appointed to lay out the city. The 

 Government was established here in 1800, 

 Congress assembling on November 17. On 

 Aug. 24, 1814, the British took possession of 

 the city, and burned the public buildings. In 

 July, 1864, when it was defended by a circle 

 of forts, it was for a few days threatened by 

 the Confederates. Washington was undt-r 

 municipal government from 1802 to 1871, 

 when its corporate existence was merged in 

 the government organized for the entire Dis- 

 trict; but the territory formerly within the 

 corporate limits continues to be known as the 

 city of Washington. 



Wilmington, a city of Hanover County, N. C., 

 on Cape Fear river, twenty miles from the sea. 

 The population in 1850 was 7,264; in 1860, 

 9,552; in 1870, 13.446 ; in 1887, estimated at 

 nearly 25,000. There are 2 banks, and a sav- 

 ings-bank just established ; 2 successful build- 

 ing and loan associations; a real-estate and 

 investment company ; 39 churches, 28 be- 

 nevolent societies, a large number of acad- 

 emies and schools, and a library association. 

 There are 4 daily and 7 weekly newspapers, 

 rice-mills, 4 steam saw- and planing mills, tur- 

 pentine distilleries, flouring- mills, an iron foun- 

 dry, and sash and blind factories. There are 

 2 marine rail vvays, with dry-docks 70 feet 

 wide, with a keel support of 139 feet, which 

 accommodate vessels of 1,000 tons. The capa- 

 city of the cotton-mills has been greatly in- 

 creased during the past year The Hanover 

 Knitting-Mill, anew venture, turns out hosiery, 

 plain and in colors. The Carolina Oil and Cre- 

 osote Company have a plant valued at $120,000, 

 where annually from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 

 feet of lumber are treated by a patent process. 

 This is a method of extracting the sap and 

 wood acids from lumber, and by a pressure of 

 125 pounds to the square inch forcing the hot 

 creosoting oil into the open pores of the wood. 

 This preserves the lumber from either the rav- 

 ages of salt-water, insects, or from dry rot. 

 The output of creosoting oil (extracted from 

 the "fat" pine or "light wood" of the old tur- 

 pentine plantations) is 3,000 gallons daily. A 

 new railroad 39J miles long opens up a large 

 territory to the trade of Wilmington. It runs 

 from Chadbourn, N. C., to Conway, S. C. The 

 town of Crowly, N. C., near Wilmington, laid 

 out and owned by a Wilmington firm, is the 

 site of the Acme Fertilizer Factory and the 

 Acme Pine- Fiber Factory, the latter manufact- 



uring fiber from the hair or leaves of the pine- 

 *tree by a patent process, and from the fiber, 

 carpets. The factories are in the center of 

 a pine forest. The Navassa Guano Com- 

 pany's factory is just above the city. The 

 United States Government has recently pur- 

 chased a valuable site, and made an appropria- 

 tion for a public building. The United States 

 has also a Marine Hospital in Wilmington. 

 Carolina Beach, a new watering-place, opened 

 in 1887, is 15 miles below the city. It was 

 patronized by 25,000 visitors the first season. 

 The city is lighted by electricity, and supplied 

 with water-works. It has 3 steam fire-engines, 

 and 1 hcok and ladder company, and a fire- 

 alarm system. The value of exports was $2,- 

 250,000 more for the fiscal year of 1886-'87 

 than for the previous year. The principal ex- 

 ports are cotton, naval stores, and lumber and 

 shingles. Over 70,000 bushels of peanuts are 

 handled annually. 



Wobnrn, the most populous town in Middle- 

 sex County, Mass., near the upper end of Mys- 

 tic valley, ten miles northwest of Boston, in 

 the midst of rural surroundings as picturesque 

 as any in New England. It is on the Boston 

 and Lowell Railroad. In point of freight and 

 passenger business this is the most important 

 station between Boston and Lowell. There 

 are two recently built and admirably equipped 

 street-railway lines in the town. The popula- 

 tion of Woburn in 1870 was 8,560 ; in 1880, 

 10,991 ; on May 1, 1887, 12,750. It is now 

 growing faster than ever, and an application 

 for a city charter will soon be made. In the 

 past ten years it has grown to be the largest 

 leather-manufacturing town or city in New 

 England. In capital invested, men employed, 

 and value of products, it leads all other places 

 engaged in the same business. There are 

 over thirty leather-making establishments here 

 which give employment to more than 2,000 

 workmen, to whom is annually paid in wages 

 over $700,000. The capital invested in this in- 

 dustry is nearly $4,000,000 ; value of annual 

 products, $6,000,000; cost of stock used, $4,- 

 000,000. Besides leather-making, glue, chemi- 

 cals, incandescent electric lamps, dynamos, tan- 

 ners' machinery, steam-engines, and shoe-stock 

 are manufactured on an extensive scale. There 

 are foundries, machine-shops, and other me- 

 chanical establishments in town, while the 

 mercantile business is large, prosperous, and 

 steadily increasing. 



Woonsocket, a town of Providence County, 

 R. I., bordering on Massachusetts, 16 miles 

 north of Providence and 26 miles south of 

 Worcester. The town is the commercial and 

 business center of the Blackstone valley ; was 

 incorporated in 1867 ; in 1880 it had a popu- 

 lation of 16,052, and in January, 1886, of 

 18,852. Three railroads touch the town, and 

 street-cars traverse the principal thorough- 

 fare*. Twenty-nine manufacturing establish- 

 ments, with $6,633,482 invested, including 

 $3,358,766 in machinery and tools, give em- 



