By 1800, the new capital city had begun to develop near the Potomac in the view down the river from the port of Georgetown. Rolling hills, prolific vegetation, and the powerful Potomac river promised a beautiful Capitol city and vibrant commercial…

This early aquatint shows the landscape surrounding Washington. Looking east from the land of the federal city, it shows views of the Potomac River.

Three-quarters of a century of a century after the founding of the city of Washington, Dr. Joseph Toner, an amateur historian of the District of Columbia, decided to find out who had owned the land of the nation's capital before the city was…

The Smithsonian Metro station opened on July 1, 1977 giving visitors and residents a new option for taking public transportation to the Mall. At the official opening, the Metro's General Manager presented the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian…

In 1902 the Senate Park Commission announced a plan to renovate the National Mall. Named after the committee chair, Senator James McMillan, the McMillan Plan redesigned the layout of the Mall from a system of informal gardens to today's streamlined,…

In 1850 President Millard Fillmore asked Andrew Jackson Downing, the nation's preeminent landscape gardener and advocate of a rural American style, to design the landscaping for the largely undeveloped National Mall and Smithsonian grounds. Downing’s…

By 1871, the Washington Canal was little more than an open sewer. Although many people proposed ways to make the canal functional, no solution was ever put into practice. In February 1871 Congress revoked the charters that made Washington and…

In July 1790, when Congress approved the establishment of a federal capital on the Potomac River, the area they chose was already owned by people who lived and farmed there. President George Washington and other government officials negotiated with…

In 1848 the Freemason Society laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument during an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony commemorating George Washington. Thousands attended, including the President and Vice-President, Congressmen, representatives…

In 1862 the Washington & Georgetown Railroad Company opened Washington, DC's first streetcar line running nine horse-drawn cars on tracks extending from the US Capitol to the State Department. The growth of public transportation was fed by the…