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 35
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On February 13, 1840, this chain bridge was entirely carried away by a freshet, and its timbers floated down the river.
The Washington Bridge, mentioned above, was opened for traffic May 31, 1809. It had cost $100,000. It had a broad carriage way in the center and a footway on each side, set off by a double rail for the protection of pedestrians. It was a wooden structure, and nearly a mile long. The toll was twenty-five cents for a man and horse, and $1 for a four-wheeled horse-carriage and a pair of horses. But this toll never paid a reasonable profit to the company. Notwithstanding that this toll was enormous, it superseded the use of any adjacent ferry for twenty years, and furnished continuous communication between the two sides of the Potomac. Neither was there any serious accident to it until February 22, 1831, when a freshet swept away a considerable portion of it. For some time afterward its use was suspended.
The company asked Congress for assistance to rebuild the bridge, but during the discussion of the question a bill was introduced, and finally became a law, appropriating $20,000 to purchase the rights of the bridge company, and $60,000 to reconstruet the bridge, the plan to be approved by the President. The plan approved by the President was a most elaborate one, reported by George C. Gratiot and Colonel James Kearney. These engineers reported the plan of an iron bridge,
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which would cost probably about $1,293,250, while a wooden bridge would not cost more than about $706,110. President Jackson, in -a message to Congress, stated that he had adopted the wooden bridge in preference to the iron one. Congress soon afterward appropriated $200,000 toward the construction of any bridge that the President might approve, and on April 11, 1833, proposals were published by order of the President, through the Secretary of the Treasury, for the construction of a bridge with stone abutments and with piers and arches of stone, and by May 1 it was currently reported in the Dis- triet of Columbia that a contract had been entered into for the con- struction of a bridge, and that the bridge so contracted for would cost nearly $2,500,000. But a misunderstanding arising between the contractors and the Secretary of the Treasury, no contract was in reality completed, and consequently the commencement of the work was delayed. Soon afterward O. H. Dibble, who had been for some years a contractor on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, offered to construet the proposed bridge, substituting solid masonry for stone piers and abntments resting on piers, and to do all the work for $1,350,000. The proposition of Mr. Dibble was accepted December 6, 1833. Congress was then in session, but the question was not submitted to that body as to whether it approved the substitution of a bridge costing $1,350,000 for one for which it had appropriated $200,000.
Charles Fenton Merecer was a member of Congress, at that time, from Virginia. On the 20th of December, Mr. Mercer offered a res- olution in the House of Representatives couched in the following language: "That the President of the United States be requested to lay before this House a copy of any contract which may have been made for the construction of a bridge across the Potomac River at Washington, together with the authority under which the contract may have been made; the names of the contractors and their securi- ties, if any; and the plan and estimate of the cost of such bridge."
An answer was received to this resolution, January 7, 1834, and referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals. This committee promptly decided that it was incompetent to proceed with the con- struction of the stone bridge across the Potomac, which would cost, according to the estimates of the best engineers, anywhere from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000; and the chairman of the committee, Mr. Mereer, on the 10th of February, reported a bill to repeal all acts theretofore passed on the subject of the Washington Bridge, except so much of the first act-that of July 14, 1832,-as authorized the contract with the Washington Bridge Company and the reconstruc-
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tion of the bridge at a cost not exceeding $130,000, on the site and plan of the old bridge, provided that upon the shoals between the main channels a solid embankment might be made, not exceeding one thousand, six hundred and sixty feet in length, which was one- third of the space between the abutments of the old bridge.
According to surveys made in the winter of 1832-33, the width of the river at the point where the bridge was constructed was 4,984 feet, as follows: Middle channel, 575 feet; flats, 943 feet; swash chan- nel, 437 feet; flats, 1,716 feet; Virginia channel, 942 feet; to the shore, 371 feet. Of all this breadth there was not more than 450 feet of firm bottom, and in some places this firm bottom could not be reached at a less depth than 26 feet. It was thought that 42 feet in height would be sufficient to permit the passage of steamboats, without taking into account the height of chimneys, as they could be lowered. According to Lieutenant-Colonel Kearney, the bridge would be somewhat as fol- lows, if built in conformity to the act of Congress:
Proceeding from the Maryland abutment, for 3 arches and 3 piers, 292 feet; for the Washington draw and pier, 88 feet; for 33 arches and piers, to the opening of the Georgetown pier, 3,734 feet; . for the Georgetown draw and pier, 88 feet; for 4 arches and 6 piers, 452 feet; for 3 arches and 2 piers descending, 270 feet; total, 4,924 feet.
The plan decided on by the President for a bridge across the Potomac is interesting, as showing what he would have done had he not been prevented by the economical spirit of Congress. He had decided upon it previous to April 11, 1833, as he was required to do by Congress. That plan was as follows: The bridge was to have had 41 arches and 2 draws; 42 piers and 2 abutments with their half-piers. The arches were to have been of 96 feet span, and 25 feet rise above the springing line, and were to be enrves of several centers, all semi-elliptical. The piers and abutments were to have risen 7 feet above low water. The draws were to have been 66 feet wide, one to be placed at the Maryland channel, the other at the Virginia channel. The bridge was to have been 36 feet wide between the parapets, and the piers, arches, and abutments were to have been of granite. A full and particular description of this proposed bridge of. President Jackson, which the engineers estimated to cost from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000, was published by Hon. Louis MeLane, Seere- tary of the Treasury, commencing with April 12, 1833.
The bridge that was built in the place of this proposed one was opened for traffic October 29, 1835. George W. Hughes was the
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engineer of construction. According to his report the bridge cost $113,126, nearly $17,000 less than the sum appropriated for it by Congress. The engineer said that he considered the bridge very uncertain as to its existence. Under favorable circumstances it might last thirty years, and it might be destroyed within a year. But no one was to blame for the building of such a bridge but Congress, which should not have permitted the erection of anything but a substantial bridge.
The doleful predictions of the engineer as to the existence of this bridge began to be realized in May, 1836, in which month a freshet did considerable damage to it. On June 7, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury "to have all repairs made to the bridge across the Potomac River which have become necessary from the late flood; and that the expense of said repairs be paid out of the money heretofore appropriated for the erection of said bridge, and which is now in the treasury unexpended." December 7, 1836, IIon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, submitted a statement to Congress showing that in the aggregate there had been expended on the repairs to the bridge, to the causeway, to the draws, to the abutments, etc., $11,992.65, and that there was still left of the original appropriation $4,194.18, which was applicable to the grading, graveling, and planting of Maryland Avenue.
On March 3, 1839, the jurisdiction of the corporation of Wash- ington was extended over this bridge. In February, 1840, a freshet occurred, which carried away the chain bridge above the Little Falls and did great damage to the Long Bridge. This disaster caused inquiry into the propriety of the location of Long Bridge, and some were of the opinion that a better one could be found where the Alexandria Canal Company's aqueduct crossed the river. These peo- ple reasoned that the Alexandria and Falmouth Railroad Company would soon be seeking a passage across the Potomac, and it was thought that the railroad should cross the river in connection with the aqueduct. Others thought there was no insuperable obstacle to making Long Bridge a permanent structure, nothing being required to this end but stone piers at each of the draws, and ice-blockers above, strong enough to resist and check the mass of floating ice. What was necessary was to cause the ice to float, for then it would not dam up the stream and cause an immense pressure of water against the bridge. The difficulty in the way of getting a good bridge built was that committees of Congress were not in the habit of consulting with men who understood the work that was to be done.
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"Ignorance, even when opportunity has existed to remove it, assumes a humble degree of respectability when it candidly shows itself; when it seeks to disguise itself in the habit of knowledge it becomes ridiculous; but, unfortunately, the consequences of the deceit are sometimes too mischievous to be contemptible."
In the winter of 1856-57, an attempt was made on the part of certain persons to secure the discontinuance of the Long Bridge. Of course this movement was opposed by others. A meeting of the citizens of Alexandria was held February 20, 1857, for the purpose of expressing hostility to the proposed removal of the bridge. They considered that the aqueduct as a point of transit from one side of the river to the other would make their northern connection by ordinary means exceedingly inconvenient, and earnestly urged their Representatives and Senators in Congress to use their best efforts to avert the calamity. There was also a movement started in Alexandria to prevent the piers of the aqueduct over the Potomac from being used for the support of a railroad bridge. A committee of citizens waited on the committee of the House of Representatives, February 25, 1857, addressing them on the immediate reconstruction of the bridge, making the offer of the Washington and Alexandria Railroad Company to repair the bridge and keep it in repair if Congress would permit the construction of a railroad track over it. Georgetown was not asleep on this subject. Mayor Addison called a meeting of the citizens to formulate an expression of their sentiments, the meeting to be held on the 26th of the month. Citizens of Washington also assembled in mass meeting in the evening of the 26th, in the City Hall, for the same purpose. At this meeting the Mayor presided, and J. Carroll Brent acted as secretary. A series of resolutions was presented and adopted, expressing hearty sympathy with the people of Alexandria in their desire for the continuance of the Long Bridge, the site upon which it stood being best adapted for communication between the north and south sides of the river. A committee was appointed con- sisting of twenty persons, afterward enlarged to twenty-six, to lay the whole subject before Congress; this committee consisting in part of the Mayor, W. B Magruder, and Ex-Mayors W. W. Seaton, Peter Force, Walter Lenox, and John T. Towers.
Withont pursuing this subject into detail, it is sufficient to say that the movement of the citizens in the way above described, prevented the entire destruction of Long Bridge by Congressional authority, and in due time measures were taken to again repair the bridge, the Councils of the city of Washington appropriating $5,000 toward that
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object. This was on May 25, 1857. By November 1, 1858, the bridge was again repaired so as to be put in use.
In February, 1867, the Long Bridge was carried away by floating ice, rendering communication between the two sides of the river impossible, except by way of the chain bridge, involving an ordinary day's journey. In the emergency thus created, the lessees of the canal offered the Government the use of the piers of the aqueduet for the erection of a permanent bridge over the Potomac. This offer, however, was not accepted, and Long Bridge has been kept up until the present day.
The first movement looking toward the construction of a street railroad in Washington was made in 1854, a memorial of the citizens of Washington and Georgetown being presented to Congress about February 1, that year, praying that authority might be granted to George W. Yerby and others to construet a horse-power railroad through Pennsylvania Avenue and other public thoroughfares of the city of Washington. This memorial was signed by a great number of citizens. This project aroused considerable opposition, those opposed saying that such a railroad was uncalled for by either publie or private necessity; that it would be hurtful to the true interests of the city, most injurious to the convenience and beauty of the principal - thoroughfares of the city; that it would make the avenue totally unsuitable for the purposes for which it was originally designed.
But little, if anything, appears to have been accomplished in the direction of the construction of this road until May 25, 1858, on which day the House of Representatives passed a bill, authorizing Gilbert Vanderwerken, Bayard Clarke, Asa P. Robinson, and their assigns, to construct and lay down a double-track railroad on Penn- sylvania Avenue and Fifteenth Street, from the west gate of the Capitol grounds to the city line of Georgetown, the cars to be drawn by horse power, and the rate of fare not to exceed five cents. The charter of the road was for twenty-five years.
That the corporation was not opposed to this enterprise is shown by the action taken by the Councils, December 30, 1858, on which day they adopted the following resolutions:
"That the joint committee of the Councils to attend to the interests of the corporation before Congress be, and they are hereby, instrneted to request and urge upon Congress to pass such law or laws as will give to this corporation full power and authority to authorize the construction of railroads in the streets of the city of Washington, and to control, regulate, and tax the same.
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"That the Mayor be, and he is hereby, requested to have a copy of these resolutions transmitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to every member of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States."
A meeting was held November 10, 1859, to further the effort to construct a railroad from the Navy Yard in Washington to some point in Georgetown. Mr. George Mattingly submitted a report, accompanied by articles of agreement, and a bill to be submitted to Congress at its next session for enactment. The principal feature of the articles of compact was that not more than ten shares of stock should be taken by any one person, until after the public had had three days' opportunity to subscribe. The act also provided that there should be a president and nine directors to superintend the construction of the road, which should not be of less than four feet gauge, which must be commenced within six months from the passage of the act, and be completed within two years.
A third meeting of the citizens was held Tuesday, November 15, at which time a petition for a charter received forty-eight signatures, and $33,000 of stock was subscribed. A committee of five was appointed to solicit additional signatures, and a second committee of five to appoint a committee of thirty to secure the charter from Congress. At another meeting, held on the 25th, a little over $100,000 was subscribed, and by the 26th the subscription had reached $190,000. By December 1, the entire $200,000 was secured, taken by four hundred and fourteen subscribers.
In 1862, it began to be hoped that the city would enjoy the privileges of a street railroad. The war was concentrating in and around Washington a population of nearly 200,000, including the encampments. Officers and men complained of the inconveniences of moving about from one part of the city to another. There were but few hacks, and they could not be obtained except at a rate of $2 per hour, or for a visit to the camps, even within the city limits, without making a $10 job of it. An act incorporating this company was approved May 17, 1862, and books for the subscription of stock were opened May 23. The name of the company thus incorporated was the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. By this charter the capital stock was required to be not less than $300,000 nior more than $500,000, and the Bank of Washington was selected as the depository of its funds. E. Kingman was chosen president, and J. J Coombs secretary. Of the 6,000 shares of stock issned, 1,327 were taken in Washington, 42 in Georgetown, and the rest mainly in New
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York and Philadelphia. But in the apportionment of directors, four were given to the District of Columbia, two to Philadelphia, and one to New York. Work on the road was immediately commenced, and by August 13 it was completed to Georgetown, with the exception of a small piece across the aqueduct bridge over Rock Creek, and there were fifteen cars running as far as the Circle, in connection with omnibuses to Georgetown, at five cents from one end of the line to the other. October 2, 1862, the cars commenced running to the Navy Yard, and then the whole line was in operation from the Navy Yard to Georgetown. The line down Seventh Street to the river was com- pleted November 14, 1862.
In July, 1865, the statistics of this road were as follows: Number of cars per day, 60; number of trips, 941; average number of trips for each car, 16; whole number of trips during the year, 343,465; number of passengers carried during the year, 8,651,223; gross carn- ings of the road during the year, $450,000.
The officers of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Com- pany since its organization have been as follows: Presidents - II. D. Cooke, 1862-63; George S. Gideon, 1863-67; William Duning, a few months in 1867 and 1868; S. S. Riker, 1868-74; Samuel L. Phillips, six months in 1874; Henry Hurt, 1874 to the present time. Secretaries and Treasurers-H. C. Fahnestock for the first few months; William C. Greenleaf, 1862-67; A. W. Nichols, 1867-70; Henry Hurt, 1870-74; C. M. Koones, 1874 to the present time.
The Seventh Street road was changed to a cable road May 1, 1890. The plant by which the cable is propelled is situated on Square No. 504, between Water and Four and a Half streets, and fronting on the Arsenal. In this power house are two engines, each of two hundred and fifty horse-power, but capable of developing five hundred horse- power each. The legislation under which this cable road was built was permissive only, but in 1890 Congress passed a supplemental act requiring the entire system of the Washington and Georgetown Rail- road to be operated by cable or electricity, and the change to be completed in two years from the passage of the act. Under this legislation, which was really unnecessary, as the company intended to change from horse power to the cable system, the change to the cable system is now in progress, and will be completed within the time required by law, which expires August 6, 1892. The power house in which the machinery will be located is being erected on Square No. 255, between Thirteen and a Half and Fourteenth streets, and D and E streets Northwest. The estimated cost of the machinery to be
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erected in this building is $150,000. There will be two seven hundred and fifty horse-power engines, and eight one hundred and eighty-four horse-power boilers. The total length of the cable road belonging to this company will, when completed, be eleven miles of double track, and the entire cost of the change is estimated at $3,500,000.
The Metropolitan Railroad Company was organized under an act of Congress approved July 1, 1864, with the following-named incorporators: A. R. Shepherd, Richard Wallach, Lewis Clephane, S. P. Brown, Nathaniel Wilson, Franklin Tenney, M. G. Emery, Samuel Fowler, John Little, J. C. MeKelden, S. J. Bowen, J. II. Semmes, D. C. Forney, W. W. Rapley, W. G. Moore, Thomas Lewis, J. B. Keasby, and Charles H. Nichols. This company has about ten miles of double track. Its east and west line runs from Thirty-fifth and O streets to Twenty-fifth Street, to P Street, to Connecticut Avenue, to Seventeenth and HI streets, to Fourteenth Street, to F Street, to Fifth Street, to Louisiana Avenue, to East Capitol Street, to Lincoln Park.
Its north and south line begins on Brightwood Avenue, above Florida Avenue, and runs south on Ninth Street to the Market House, to Missouri Avenue, to Four and a Half Street, to O Street, to the steamboat wharves; also, a line on Brightwood Avenue, past the Soldiers' Home to Brightwood.
The first president was S. P. Brown, M. G. Emery being treas- urer, both of whom served until March, 1865. From March, 1865, to July, 1884, J. W. Thompson was president. George W. Pearson has been president since July, 1884. William W. Moore was secretary and treasurer from January, 1865, to January, 1887, and since then William J. Wilson has been secretary and treasurer.
The present board of directors is composed of George W. Pear- son, A. A. Wilson, A. A. Thomas, Dr. Daniel B. Clarke, Robert Bell, John Cammack, and Robert Weaver. The company is about to change its motive power from horses to electricity, and expects to complete the change during the summer of 1892.
The Columbia Street Railroad Company was organized under a charter granted May 24, 1871, with the following board of directors and officers: J. G. McKelden, president; William HI. Clagett, secretary; George H. B. White, cashier of the National Metropolitan Bank, treasurer, and Alexander R. Shepherd, Hon. A. M. Clapp, N. B. Fugitt, Colonel S. S. Smoot, and M. M. Rohrer. The route of this company commences at Fifteenth Street and New York Avenue; thence along this avenue to K Street; then past the old Northern
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Liberties Market on the south side; then down Massachusetts Avenue to HI Street, and then on H Street to the tollgate, a distance of nearly three miles. Originally a single track was laid, with turn-outs, but in October, 1871, it was decided to construct a double track, which was completed in March, 1872. The cost of the road, as a double- track road, together with nine ears, forty horses, land, and stables, was $99,971.19. The present equipment of the road consists of one hun- dred and forty-four horses, sixteen two-horse summer cars, and sixteen two-horse winter cars. It is designed to change to an exclusively mechanical equipment as soon as practicable.
The officers of the company have been as follows: Presidents - J. C. MeKelden, 1871 to 1874; H. A. Willard, 1874 to 1889; W. H. Clagett, May, 1889, to March, 1890; W. J. Stephenson, March, 1890, to the present time. Vice-Presidents -- So far as the records show, Henry Diekson, to 1885; E. G. Davis, 1885 to the present time. Secretaries and Treasurers- William II. Clagett, 1871 to May 30, 1889; R. F. Baker, 1889 to the present time.
The Anacostia and Potomac Railroad Company was incorporated March 9, 1872, the original incorporators being L. W. Guinand, John Hitz, Thomas R. Riley, Alfred Richards, Thomas A. Richards, Zadok Williams, John Grinder, John A. Ruff, George B. Smith, and Madison Davis. Nothing was done until 1875, when a new charter was granted, under which a reorganization was effected, the board of directors being Dr. Noble Young, Edward Temple, R. B. Clarke, L. W. Guinand, II. A. Griswold, John Webster, Alfred Richards, Zadok Williams, and George A. Rohrer. The first officers were L. W. Guinand, president; Madison Davis, secretary; Thomas A. Richards, treasurer. By this second charter Congress prescribed the route of this road, as follows: From the Treasury by way of Fourteenth Street to Water Street; then along M Street to Eleventh Street; then across the Navy Yard bridge and along the Good Hope road to the District line, an entire distance of about seven miles. In 1876, the charter was so amended as to require the road to be built by way of Ohio Avenue to the Center Market. In 1888, the right was given to build the road from Eleventh and M streets Southeast, along Elev- enth, G, E, Canal, and Third streets, Missouri Avenue, and B Street, to the Center Market; and also along G, Seventeenth, and E streets to the Congressional Cemetery. This portion of the road was constructed in 1889 and 1890, and was completed in January, 1891. Additional franchises were granted, allowing the construction of the road, by way of Second and M streets, to connect with the main or G Street
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