USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 20
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GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY. 191
report, the inhabitants had had to bear much more than their pro- portionate share of the burden.
At the beginning of the occupation of this city as the seat of government, that Government did not expect that the inhabitants of the city should bear the burden that was then thrown upon them. This was shown, first, by the consideration that the contract between the Government and the owners of the lands gave to the Government a large extent of the public lots, sufficient for all the edifices and improvements which its convenience would require, and, in addition to this, one-half of all the building lots within the limits of the city. In the second place, the Government assumed exclusive control over all the streets of the city, so that neither the corporate authorities nor the people had any right to enlarge or diminish them, to open or to close them. It could not, therefore, be held either reasonable or just that the city itself should bear the expense of the improvement of the streets, the property and control of which were absolutely in the Gov- ernment.
There had been appropriated for the streets and paid out of the public treasury $429,971, and in addition to this the inhabitants had paid fully $200,000 for the improvement of the streets in vari- ous directions. Previous to that year there had been made 106,371 feet of running pavement, besides curbstones and paved gutters, which were paid for by a special tax upon the lots, and to which the lots owned by the Government had contributed nothing, although equally benefitted with the private lots. During all this time the Government had expended upon its own streets only $208,905, all of which, except $10,000, had been devoted to Pennsylvania Avenue and the streets immediately in the vicinity of the Capitol and the presidential mansion. The committee thought that Congress ought to refund to the city one-half of the amount it had expended upon the streets, namely, $214,985, to say nothing about the interest.
Another cause of embarrassment under which the city was then laboring was the attempt to erect a City Hall, which so far as then com- pleted had cost $50,000. To assist in the erection of this City Hall a grant was made of the right to draw lotteries until the profits should amount to $100,000. The drawing of these lotteries was intrusted to men who failed in the discharge of their duties, and the result was that the city was involved in a debt of $197,184.84, upon which it had already paid $70,000 in interest. The number of build- ing lots that were acquired by the Government was 10,136, a large proportion of which had then been sold, and the account of the
13
192
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Government with relation to these lots was as follows: It had received from the sale of building lots $741,024.45; it had given away to charitable institutions lots to the value of $70,000; it had remaining lots unsold valued at $109,221.84; it had received in grants from Maryland and Virginia, $192,000; making a total of $1,112,246.29, to which must be added the value of the public reservations, $1,500,000, making a grand total of $2,612,246.29.
The total appropriation for the benefit of the city made by the Government was $150,000, to enable it to complete the canal uniting the waters of the Potomac with those of the Eastern Branch.
In 1848, a committee, consisting of W. W. Seaton, Mayor of the city, John W. Maury, B. B. French, Ignatius Mudd, Lewis Johnson, Silas Hill, George E. Abbott, and G. H. Fulmer, was appointed to attend to the interests of the city of Washington before Congress. These gentlemen, who were the most prominent in the city at the time, and most thoroughly acquainted with its affairs, presented their views at length in the following statement:
When the present site was adopted by Congress for the Capital of the Nation, it consisted of a number of farms owned by eighteen or twenty different proprietors. These proprietors of the land conveyed the whole of it to the Government, for the purpose of establishing thereon a public city, according to such plan as the President might adopt. A plan was accordingly laid out, and adopted by President Washington, upon a magnificent scale, suited to the dignity of the Republic, and with a view to its resplendent future, with vast streets and avenues from 100 to 160 feet wide, and embracing an area of 7,134 aeres. Of this great space, only 3,016 acres were appropriated in the plan to the building lots, the remainder (4,118 acres) being taken up with reservations for the Government edifices and other purposes, streets, avenues, and parks. Of the whole 7,134 acres, the Government paid the proprietors for but 512 aeres, at the rate of £25, or $66.66, per acre, and returning to them one moiety of the building lots (1,508 acres ), retaining as a free gift the entire residue of 5,114 acres, includ- ing one-half of the building lots. The proceeds of the sales of the building lots so retained by the Government, it was understood by the proprietors, were to be applied toward the improvement of the place, in grading and making streets, erecting bridges, and in provid- ing such other conveniences as the residence of the Government might require. This promised improvement naturally devolved upon the Government, in whom was vested the right to the soil and the right of jurisdiction over the inhabitants. Yet for many years the Govern-
193
GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY.
ment failed in its performance, leaving everything to be done by private individuals. These improvements, so made by the city itself, and paid for by levying taxes upon the people, up to January 1, 1848, had cost the following sums: There had been made about 35 miles of streets, and there had been expended on streets, avenues, and parks, $625,000; there had been made 2,200,000 feet of paved footways, paid for by special tax upon the property, costing $110,000; there had been expended on the support of the poor and insane, $175,000; there had been expended in educating the children of the poor, $100,000; there had been expended on the police force, $32,000; and the city was burdened with a debt arising from various sources of $820,000, and it had paid in interest on this debt $850,000.
While the city of Washington had been doing all this, Congress or the Government had done comparatively nothing. Had the prop- erty of the Government been taxed as that of private citizens had been, it would have yielded about $60,000 per year; but the Govern- ment had paid nothing in the shape of taxes, nor anything out of the fund derived from the sale of lots granted to it by the proprietors. The most the Government had done for the corporation of Washington was to relieve it from the burden of the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, from which, however, it had a debt on its hands of about $700,000 on account of interest and expenses connected therewith. The Government had received about $800,000 from the sale of its lots, $72,000 from Maryland, and $120,000 from Virginia, and the value of its property in the city at that time was about $7,625,000.
From the time of the close of the labors of John Sessford, in 1853, down to the organization of the permanent form of govern- ment, as explained in the Municipal chapter, there are no statistics accessible showing in detail the growth of the city as to the number of houses or other buildings erected from year to year, except those on the assessors' books, which are scattered through numerous volumes. To collect these statistics would involve very great labor with comparatively little result, and hence no attempt is made to make such a collection. Commencing, however, with the report of the inspectors of buildings for the year closing November 1, 1877, it is practicable to present in brief space this particular feature of the growth of the city from that time down to the present. From November, 1876, to November, 1877, there were erected, in the aggre- gate, buildings to the number of 1,508; to June 30, 1878, 1,001; to June 30, 1879, 1,981; to June 30, 1880, 1,921; to June 30, 1881. 1,792;
194
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
to June 30, 1882, 1,730; to June 30, 1883, 2,215; to June 30, 1884, 2,915; to June 30, 1885, 3,691; to June 30, 1886, 5,451; to June 30, 1887, 4,746; to June 30, 1888, 3,694; to June 30, 1889, 4,048; to June 30, 1890, 4,523.
In this connection the census of Washington, Georgetown, and the county outside, from 1850 to 1890, may here be introduced.
1850.
1860.
1870.
1880.
1890.
Washington
40,001
61,121
109,199
147,293
1SS,932
Georgetown.
8,366
8,733
11,384
12,578
14,046
County
3,320
5,226
11,117
17,753
27,414
Total
51,687
75,080
131,700
177,624
230,392
On January 4, 1885, the debt of the District of Columbia and of the then late corporation of Washington was, according to the pub- lished statement of Treasurer Wyman, ex officio commissioner of the sinking fund of the District, as follows:
BONDS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Registered.
Amount of
Total Amount.
Permanent Improvement Bonds of 1871
$3,484,600
$3,484,600
Market Stock of 1871.
360,000
360,000
Market Stock of 1871-72.
$100,000
46,450
146,450
Permanent Improvement, 1873
642,300
642,300
Water Stock, 1873.
15,000
Fifty Year Funding, 1874-75
11,016,000
15,000 3,017,150
14,033,150
Twenty Year Funding, 1879-80.
318,000
630,400
948,400
Washington Corporation-
Three Year, 1870.
100
100
Twenty Year Funding, 1872
1,020,350
1,020,350
Thirty Year Funding, 1872
628,800
628,800
Total
11,434,000
$9,845,150
$21,279,150
Coupons.
195
GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY.
The foregoing reports made to Congress and the statements of the citizens, of all of which we have given abstracts, serve to show not only that the city had made little or no progress down to the date to which we have last referred, but that all its attempts at progress had been obstructed by the want of interest taken in its affairs by the Congress of the United States, to which it had a right to look for at least a certain measure of support. The history of the years that succeeded is only a repetition of that of the years that had preceded. Little or nothing was done either by Congress or the peo- ple themselves toward putting the city into respectable condition or toward the development of its plan. The Government erected several elegant public buildings; the Capitol was extended, and the dome erected; the Patent Office, Treasury extension, Lafayette Square, and several other effective improvements were carried to completion. But in a general way matters remained in the unsatisfactory condition we have described, until the beginning of the War of the Rebellion, an account of which will be found in another part of this work. The effect of this war was to demonstrate more clearly than it had ever been shown before, the vast importance to the Nation of the preserva- tion of the Capital City. Indeed this city was the great central point in the history of that war. The troops that were organized and sent to the field, to a great extent were first brought to this city, and their organization, their supplies, everything that conduced to their efficiency as troops, had origin and control within this city as a center of operations. The effect of all this was to bring to the city of Washington people from all parts of the country, and it is not too much to say that the sentiment of all American citizens with respect to the Capital City was one of disappointment at its condition, and surprise that so little progress had been made in its development in all the years that had succeeded its establishment. This feeling con- tinued through years after the war. Some of the citizens fell back upon the old notion that the only remedy for this condition of things was the removal of the Capital from its present situation to a portion of the country where more respect would be shown for its progress and development.
This matter, though for some time publicly discussed in the news- papers, received little or no attention from Congress. But the feeling was so intense that it became manifest to the people of Washington that something must be done to make the city worthy of its name and its importance. There is no need to dwell upon this, an account of which would, of itself, fill a volume. Before leaving this subject,
196
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
however, it seems proper to refer to the fact that an effort was made, under the old municipal form of government, to improve the streets by paving them with wooden blocks, which was then a very popular kind of pavement. The right to these pavements was the property of several patentees. The general contract was given in 1870 to Lewis Clephane, as president of the Metropolitan Paving Company, to pave Pennsylvania Avenue, and possibly other streets. Work began on this avenue October 31, and was continued until the paving of the avenue from the gates of the Capitol to Fifteenth Street was completed, an event which was celebrated in an appropriate manner.
But this was only a beginning. The wooden pavements, as might have been expected, rotted away, became a dreadful nuisance, and had to be removed. But they had the effect of presenting to the people the advantages of smooth, durable surfaces on the public streets, and of the benefits that would arise from the cleanliness derived from good drainage, not only to the public health, but to the general appearance of the city in every way. It is safe to say that from this time the era of improvement that was so soon to transform the city takes its beginning. A people that had once enjoyed the blessing of smooth, clean thoroughfares were not willing to return to the mud and discomfort of the olden times without an effort, at least, to save themselves from that disaster. It was evident that the difficulty was in the very nature of the affairs of the District, and that nothing could be effected without first making a change in the methods of government then existing. The result was that legislation was secured that in the first place changed the nature of the government of the city into a Territorial government for the entire District of Columbia, which was under the control of a Governor and civil council; next, to a temporary or experimental government by commissioners, appointed by the President of the United States, and clothed with executive powers over the affairs of the District; and lastly, into the present or permanent form of government, consisting also of commissioners appointed by the President and clothed with executive powers. In the debates preceding the legislation out of which this form of government grew, the question of its duty to the city as the Capital of the Nation was presented to Congress. After considerable debate, in which projects were offered and considered, it was finally determined that the revenues of the District of Columbia collected from taxes imposed upon its citizens should be paid into the treasury of the United States, and disbursed under acts of appropriation passed by Congress, in every
197
GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY.
respect as other public moneys of the United States are disbursed; and that it should be the duty of the Government of the United States, to the extent that the estimates made for the expenses of the Govern- ment should be appropriated by Congress, to appropriate the amount of fifty per centum thereof out of the public moneys of the United States. The act is as follows, on this point:
"To the extent to which Congress shall approve aforesaid esti- mates" (that is, the amount estimated for the support of the District Government), "Congress shall appropriate the amount of fifty per centum thereof, and the remaining fifty per centum of such approved estimates shall be levied and assessed upon the taxable property and privileges of said District Government."
This legislation, as a matter of course, changed the condition of things in the District of Columbia almost entirely. It may be well to mention what was done in the matter of this legislation more in detail, as an introduction to the history of the improvements which preceded and followed this final act of Congress.
The Territorial government, of which we have already spoken, went into operation June 1, 1871. On June 20, the board of public works, consisting of Henry D. Cooke, Governor, Alexander R. Shep- herd, S. P. Brown, A. B. Mullett, and James A. Magruder, members, submitted to the Legislative Assembly of the District estimates for improvements amounting in the aggregate to $6,578,397, and recom- mended that the District should provide for the payment thereof by a loan of $4,000,000, and an assessment of $2,000,000. July 10, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill making an appropriation of $4,000,- 000 for improvements in the District of Columbia, and authorizing an issue of twenty-year seven per cent. bonds in payment for the same. Application was made to the Equity Court for an injunction against the issue of the bonds, which being granted by Judge Wylic, the Legislative Assembly, on August 11, 1871, passed a supplemental appropriation bill of $500,000 for the purpose of avoiding the technical difficulties raised by the injunctionists, and work was immediately commenced. The injunction was subsequently dissolved, and by a later act the Legislative Assembly reduced the appropriations made by $500,000, thus putting the amount at $4,000,000, the original appro- priation. The Legislative Assembly at the same time referred the $4,000,000 loan to the people at an election held November 21, 1871, and the proposition was almost unanimously sustained.
Thus sustained and fortified by the popular voice, the board of public works felt safe in inaugurating a system of improvements, par-
198
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
ticularly on the streets, which astonished the people of the District of Columbia by its magnitude and extent, and which caused much harsh and ungenerons criticism by people all over the country, and especially by those who were immediately concerned in the District itself, whose taxes were greatly increased, and whose convenience was seriously interfered with. Up to the time of the establishment of this board of public works, no system of grades had been established, and the inauguration of a system of sewers required numerous changes in the grades as they then existed, and some of these changes were of a very radical nature. This was the first great difficulty encountered by the board. The next difficulty was with the streets themselves, comprising, as they did and do, a greater percentage of the entire area of the city than those of any other city in the world.
The sewerage of the city had received almost no attention previ- ons to the establishment of the board of public works. A large proportion of the drainage emptied into an open ditch, called the canal, and the current of water, depending as it did upon the ebb and flow of the tides, was wholly insufficient to carry off the deposits made at the outlets of the sewers emptying into it. The canal thus became an exceedingly offensive and disgusting object and a most prolific source of pestilence. How to abate this nuisance had been a great problem among scientific and practical men for twenty-five years, and it had not yet been solved. It soon became clear to this practical board of public works that an intersecting sewer at this point was a necessity, as all of the great sewers from the northern portion of the city had been let into the canal. At length it was determined to build an intersecting sewer from Seventh to Seventeenth Street, following a course parallel to the canal, and emptying into the river at the foot of Seventeenth Street; and another intersecting sewer from Sixth to Third Street, emptying into the Tiber arch on Third Street. These sewers vary in diameter from five to twelve feet. After their construction it was soon seen that the problem unsolved for a quarter of a century had found a solution.
The Tiber Creek sewer, which receives all the sewage of the city east of Sixth Street West, and which drains an extent of country northward of more than three thousand acres, is one of the largest in the world, varying in diameter from twenty-four to thirty feet, and is of abundant capacity for all future time. Other sewers were con- structed in different parts of the city as needed, but it is not deemed necessary to particularize further on this subject.
Previous to November 1, 1872, there had been laid 116.36 miles
199
GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY.
of street pavements of various kinds, including 34.26 miles of wood pavements, embracing those of Pennsylvania Avenue and several other of the city streets. These wood pavements were of several kinds- the Ballard, Miller, Stowe, Moree, Keystone, Ingersoll, and De Golyer, Nos. 1 and 2. There were also 39.22 miles of gravel pavements, this kind of roads being made mostly in the country. Of asphalt pave- ments, the following kinds had been laid: The Scharf, the Evans, the Scrimshaw or Abbott, and the Parisian.
The improvement of the streets was by no means a small matter. It was necessary to equalize the grades; for while the city of Washington is situated on what is sometimes called a plain, yet it presents numer- ous and great inequalities. The White House grounds are but fifteen feet above mean low water; Capitol Hill is ninety feet above low water; Pennsylvania Avenue is, in some places, below high water mark; Ob- servatory Hill is ninety-six feet above tide water; and in 1876 there were between Capitol Hill and Observatory Hill elevations of one hundred and three feet, which had to be cut down and the ravines and hollows filled up and made as nearly level as practicable when the necessary drainage was taken into account.
In addition to all the work done upon the streets, a great work was done by the parking commission, consisting of William HI. Smith, William Saunders, and John Saul. Beginning in the spring of 1872 and continuing down to the present time, this commission has been steadily at work improving the streets and parks by the planting of trees, shrubs, and flowers, until the result is that all over the city the streets and parks are most beautifully shaded and the pleasantness and healthfulness thereof greatly enhanced, the city now being in this regard one of the most charming cities of the world. The transformation from an unhealthy, unsightly city to a city of fine, graded, graveled and paved, and shaded streets, well lighted at night, an extended system of sewerage, an efficient water supply, miles upon miles of shade, and acres upon acres of beautiful parks, includ- ing the Mall, the Smithsonian grounds, the Washington Monument grounds, the President's Square, Lafayette Square, and numerous others, was the most surprising and complete.
It is not improper in this connection to observe and to record for the benefit of future generations, that the presiding genius of this great transformation and improvement was Alexander R. Shepherd.'
1 Alexander R. Shepherd was born in Washington City, January 31, 1835. At the age of ten he was apprenticed to a carpenter, and when seventeen, to the trade of a plumber; he became some years afterward a partner in the firm of John W. Thomp-
200
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
While the first Governor of the District of Columbia was Henry D. Cooke, a most estimable gentleman, Mr. Shepherd, in his position of vice-president of the board of public works, and afterwards when he became himself Governor, exercised superintendence over all the work that was done. Under Mr. Shepherd the rapidity and extent of the work performed was most extraordinary-so great, indeed, as far to exceed the authority of law under which he was working, and also so great as to call for the expenditure of money far in excess of the appropriations. The work was performed by Governor Shepherd with an honest purpose for the benefit of the city. His ambition was to make it the pride instead of the reproach of the Nation, and to render it, so far as anything could or can render it, the permanent Capital of the great American Government. As to the amount expended exceeding the appropriations, Governor Shepherd boldly told the committee of investigation appointed in February, 1874, to inquire into the proceedings of the board of public works, that inasmuch as the public buildings of the Government, which paid no taxes to the city, were greatly benefitted by the improvements made by the excess of expenditures complained of, the Government should in duty to itself assume that excess of liabilities; and there are now living those who believe that had Governor Shepherd retained his position and been permitted to complete the work begun by him, this result, so much to be desired, would have been accomplished. However this
son & Company, plumbers and gas fitters in the city of Washington, and finally succeeded to the business in his own name. When the Rebellion commenced he was one of the first to volunteer his services in the cause of the Union. In 1861, he was elected a member of the Common Council of the city of Washington and was chosen president of that body; he was a member of the Levy Court of the District of Columbia in 1867, and in 1869 was one of a committee of citizens selected to draft a bill for the better government of the District of Columbia, in which work he took a lead- ing part. In 1870, he became president of the Citizens' Reform Association and was also elected an alderman of the city. In 1871, he was appointed a member of the Board of Public Works of the District of Columbia under the act of Congress of that year, abolishing the then existing government and creating a Territorial government for the District ; he was elected vice-president of the board, the Governor under the law being er officio president. He was, in 1873, appointed the second Governor of the District and remained in that office until June 20, 1874, when the form of the government of the District of Columbia was again changed by an act of Congress approved that day. Mr. Shepherd showed himself at all times, and in every position held by him, a man of distinguished ability, strong in his conviction of what was right, and always loyal to his convictions. He was ahead of his times in his opinion of what was best for the interests of the city of Washington, and to his boldness as a leader and his fearless adoption of the means in his hands is due, more than to all things else beside, the wonderful development of the beauties and advantages of the city of his birth. Mr. Shepherd has, for several years past, been a resident of Mexico, where he owns valuable mining interests, to which he is devoting his energies.
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