Description

David Burnes, one of the original nineteen proprietors of land that created the District of Columbia, lived in this humble cottage overlooking today's Constitution Avenue. Burnes owned 700 acres encompassing the heart of downtown, including the future sites of the White House and Ellipse. Contemporaries characterized Burnes as an argumentative, controversial Scotsman. Despite great wealth (reportedly the equivalent of $14 million today), he never replaced his original home. His daughter, Marcia, married New York Congressman John Van Ness, later mayor of Washington. A close friend of Dolly Madison, she built a magnificent home behind Burnes's cottage which became a center of social life in the capital.

Date

1894

Coverage

Pre-1800s

Source

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. View original.