FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1889-1891. 1335 
Accordingly, on April 15, a circular letter was prepared and sent to each of the 
various landowners, and a copy of the same is appended herewith, marked Exhibit 
A. The commission also caused an advertisement to be inserted in various news- 
papers published in the city of Washington, likewise calling upon the owners of 
land in the Rock Creek region, between the crossing of Massachusetts avenue 
extended and the military road, to state their lowest prices for the same. The replies 
received in answer to this circular letter and advertisement were generally unsatis- 
factory, in nearly every case the price asked being believed by the commission to be 
in excess of the actual market value of the land, and in several instances being many 
times what seemed to it to be likely to be asked of a private purchaser. 
Finding it impracticable to secure any cooperation from the property owners in its 
efforts to ascertain the value of land before locating the park, the commission sought 
in various directions data for reliable information as to these values; and, among 
other inquiries, asked the advice of prominent and disinterested citizens of Wash-’ 
ington, whom it had reason to suppose possessed special ability in the determination 
of the value of real estate, these gentlemen giving much time and pains to enable 
them to answer the commission’s questions, without compensation or reward. 
When the commission felt that it had from these various sources acquired a pre- 
liminary knowledge of the prices which might reasonably be expected to result from 
the condemnation, it proceeded to locate the park. After a full consideration of the 
relative merits of the different available sites, it was decided that the location pro- 
posed to Congress during the consideration of the Zoological Park bill was the best 
to be found, and indeed so well adapted to the purpose in view that, apart from the 
question of cost, it stood almost without a rival.  * 
Greatly to the satisfaction of the commission, it was finally able to acquire a site 
in the region indicated to Congress by the maps and models submitted at the time 
of the final debate,! at a cost within the estimates submitted to Congress by the Sec- 
retary of the Smithsonian Institution, it being in fact able to purchase here at prices 
lower than were demanded in situations more remote from the city. In accordance 
with its best judgment, the commission, finding itself thus able to secure more land 
than it had originally contemplated the possibility of doing, included in the area of 
‘the site about 167 acres, commencing at a point within less than 2 miles of the 
Executive Mansion. 
On May 17, 1889, the general location and area was determined upon, and immedi- 
ately thereafter the Director of the Geological Survey was requested to survey the 
same and prepare a map in accordance with the requirements of the act for the 
establishment of the park. 
Although many expressed the opinion that it would be found impossible for the 
Government to acquire any of the land by agreement at prices which would be given 
by a private purchaser, the commission is able to report that of the entire 166.48 
acres included in the park, it has finally succeeded in securing 131.14 acres by agree- 
ment with the several owners thereof at prices satisfactory to all concerned. The 
commission desires to place on record the fact that in its negotiations for the pur- 
chase of this land for the United States Government it was finally met by land- 
holders who owned nearly four-fifths of the park site in a spirit of fairness, and even 
liberality in some cases, which is certainly unusual in such transactions when the 
Government is the purchaser. The names of these holders will appear elsewhere 
in this report in the schedule of property and property owners. 
‘(Congressional Record, March 1, 1889, p. 2663.) Mr. Dissite. * * * Inthe 
first place, Mr. Speaker, the project as set forth in the bill is for the purchase of not 
less than 100 acres of land, as Members will see from the design and plan in front of 
the Reporter’s desk. I am speaking to the Zoological Park bill, a bill reported by 
the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, in accordance with the design and 
plan now in front of the Reporter’s desk. 
