1. Wednesday, April 4, 2018
DC History

2. Warm-Up
While waiting for the bus after school at the corner of 5th and Oglethorpe Streets NW, you are approached by a tourist who asks for directions to 1st and Webster Streets NE.
Assuming you are inclined to give the tourist accurate directions, what would you tell her?

3. “The City Beautiful”
HW Discussion

4. Physical Growth of the National Capital

5. Population Growth
1870: 131,000
1890: 230,000
1910: 331,000
1930: 487,000
1950: 802,000
What is the population of DC today?

6. Housing and Streets
Overcrowding remained a problem throughout this period
The worst conditions were among DC’s “alley dwellers”
Street paving continued, but was concentrated in wealthy areas of Northwest
: The Commissioners initiated the street-naming system of “second and third alphabets” outside of the original lettered streets
1899: Height of Buildings Act restricted the height of buildings to preserve the sightlines of monuments and other structures, preventing the construction of skyscrapers

7. City Planning
In the 1890s, the “City Beautiful Movement” inspired city planning across the nation
This movement had a major impact on DC, as city planners saw the capital as a potentially perfect example of a beautiful city
Many sculptures and bridges resulted from the City Beautiful movement
1880s-90s: The Potomac River was dredged, adding 600 acres of new waterfront land on the Mall
1890s: With urging from Charles Glover, Congress purchased 2500 acres of land to form Rock Creek Park
The McMillan plan encouraged the building of additional parks, as well as many buildings in the classical style:
Anacostia Park; Civil War Fort parks
Union Station, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, National Gallery of Art

8. The Mall and Monumental Washington
: A group of architects and planners set out to revive L’Enfant’s vision of the Mall as a ceremonial avenue
This was part of the “McMillan Plan”
The effort did not succeed until the New Deal during the 1930s
1932: Construction of Memorial Bridge
1937: The Mall had been cleared of unplanned trees, smokestacks, and temporary buildings, providing unimpeded views of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial, White House, and Capital
The Reflecting Pool was also constructed
Other monumental structures constructed/completed during this period:
Lincoln Memorial (1922)
Federal Triangle Buildings (1930s)
National Gallery of Art (1941)
Jefferson Memorial (1942)

11. Public Transportation
The growth of the city and suburbs would not have been possible without a vast increase in public transportation
1888: The first electric streetcars ran
The city experimented with overhead wires, cable cars, before settling on underground electric rails
In addition to facilitating the city’s growth, the expanded streetcar system transformed the city’s old core into a true “downtown,” which was dominated by businesses and workplaces, with very few residential areas

12. New Neighborhoods and Suburbs
Capitol Hill—expanded to its current size by 1900; mostly a middle-class neighborhood
Eastern Market was founded in the 1870s
Southwest—remained a mostly poor neighborhood, but the Waterfront became a busy market during this period
Wealthy residents moved further into Northwest, establishing the neighborhoods of:
Dupont Circle (1870s)
Kalorama (1870s)
Expansion of streetcars to the District line in the late 1800s led to rapid growth of population outside the original city limits:
LeDroit Park (1870s)
DC’s first “gated community”
In the early 1900s, it became the most fashionable neighborhood for middle class black residents
Brookland (1880s)
Chevy Chase (1890s)
Petworth (1900)

14. The Impact of Automobiles
Automobile ownership in DC exploded during the 1920s
DC’s wide streets made driving easy and parking plentiful, so cars were more common here than in most cities
Public transportation quickly shifted from streetcars to buses—the remaining streetcars caused traffic congestion and were quickly abandoned
Personal automobiles contributed greatly to the continued expansion of the city’s suburbs from the 1920s to 1950s
The explosion of automobile traffic also began to cause major traffic problems as early as the 1920s

16. Group Activity: Illustrated Timeline of DC’s Population
Create a Graph (You may use a bar graph or line graph) showing the growth of DC’s population between the Civil War and World War II
Illustrate each point on the graph with an image that symbolizes developments in, or the culture of, DC during that time period.
You may create your own illustrations or send me images to print (or a combination of the two)

17. Homework DC Neighborhood Exhibit:
Neighborhood Choices and Partners are due on FRIDAY.