DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



289 



Washington City. 



of the District, upon the north bank of 

 the Potomac, between the rivei and one 

 of its tributaries, called the East Branch. 

 The actual city occupies a spot about a 

 mile and a half above the junction of 

 the two streams, although the original 

 plafi embraces the whole extent below. 

 The plan of the city combines regulari- 

 ty with variety, and is adapted to the 

 vai-iations of the surface, so that the 

 spaces allotted to public buildings, oc- 

 cupy commanding positions, and the 

 monotonous sameness of a rectangular 

 design is avoided, while all its advanta- 

 ges are secured. The minor streets run 

 at right angles, but the larger avenues 

 diverge from several centres, intersect- 

 ing the streets with various degrees of 

 obliquity, and opening spaces for exten 

 sive squares. The smaller streets run 

 north and south or east and west, and 

 are from 90 to 110 feet wide. The 

 grand avenues are from 130 to 160 feet 

 in width, and are planted with trees. 

 Several of the largest unite at the hill 

 on which the capitol is situated. These 

 bear the names of the several States of 

 the Union. Such is the outline of the 

 city of Washington, according to its 

 original plan, although its tardy growth 

 has yet filled up but a small portion of 

 this great skeleton of a national metro- 

 polis. The buildings which it contains 

 are in three distinct parts, one portion 

 Demg in the neighborhood of the navy-yard, another in that of the capitol, and another in the 

 Pennsylvania Avenue, which extends from the capitol to the President's house. The city pre- 

 sents the appearance of a group of villages, the spaces between the inhabited parts not being 

 occupied or marked out. 



The Capitol is a large and magnificent building of freestone, painted white, 352 feet long, 

 m the shape of a cross, with the Representatives Hall and the Senate Chamber in the two 

 wings, and a spacious rotunda in the centre. The Representatives Hall is semicircular, 95 



feet in length, and 60 in height, 

 lighted from the top, and adorned 

 with a colonnade of pillars of 

 breccia, beautifully polished ; it 

 is one of the most elegant halls in 

 the world. The Senate Cham- 

 ber is of the same shape, and 74 

 feet long. The Rotunda is 96 

 feet in diameter, and 96 feet high, 

 to the top of the dome within. 

 It is all of marble, and the floor 

 is beautifully paved ; the whole 

 has a most grand and imposing 

 effect. Several pieces of sculp- 

 ture and a series of national 

 paintings by Trumbull, are placed 

 Representatives Ball the niches in the walls, repre- 



senting events in American histo- 



37 



The Cavitol. 



