waterways key to our nation's capital

Original design of the White House. Library of Congress.

Since I recently mentioned how water is often essential to where people settle, I thought I might share something that was presented today on Writer's Almanac, my favorite radio show. Apparently George Washington, this country's first President, selected an area beside the Potomac as the site for the nation's capital because of the many rivers there. He did as much in 1790 when he signed the Residence Act.  Philadelphia was the capital when he signed the act and continued to be over the next ten years while the city, which was to be no more than 100 square miles, was designed. It was also to be located on the Potomac in a mosquito-filled, marshy area between the Anacostia River and the Conococheague, a creek flowing into the Potomac. Some may have had doubts about the merits of this area, but Washington did not.

In 1800, the federal government relocated to district. Having died in 1799, Washington never occupied the White House. John Adams held that honor, becoming the  first president to do as much. Designed in a Palladian style which reflects both order and classical inspiration, the house burned in 1814 after a British invasion, but was restored.

How much did this city, which was named after Washington, adhere to trends seen in other cities as the nineteenth century matured? For sure, as Gunther Barth tells us, it was a deliberately planned space. And further, as Barth writes, like the cities of  Savannah and even Salt Lake City, Washington D.C. stood out. Such deliberate planning seemed to run contrary to the promises of freedom that "doomed most of attempts to order public space" elsewhere.