East Coast Trip: Ron & Nancy’s House

10-11 September 1985
washington DC

Seeing as how we didn’t get to bed until 2:00a the night before, it’s no surprise that our sightseeing got off to a late start.  But before I start off on the places we visited during our two days in DC, a bit about the nation’s capital (from un-sourced notes in my photo album).

After nearly seven years of argument, the site George Washington finally selected for the nation’s “Federal Town” was originally little more than a mosquito-infested fen.  But out of it Pierre Charles L’Enfant and Benjamin Banneker forged a visionary city of monuments, broad avenues, and circles.

Planned on a magnificent scale, the city was slow to grow.  In the early 1800s, real estate development was sporadic, and the War of 1812 further impeded the growth of the city.  On August 24, 1814, British troops defeated the Americans at Bladensburg, Maryland, and put a torch to the President’s House, the partially finished Capitol, and all the public buildings except the Post and Patent Office.  As soon as the war ended, rebuilding the city began in earnest.

Washington DC had finally begun to grow … the active trade centers of Georgetown and Alexandria, the rapidly expanding railroad system, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal became arteries that delivered new blood to the city.  By 1860, the total population had climbed to about 75,000, but at the same time, the divisive force of the North-South had also gone to work.  Tension was such that when Lincoln appeared for his inauguration, the city was placed under virtual military occupation.

The White House ruins after the conflagration of August 24, 1814.
Watercolor by George Munger, displayed at the White House.

Once the smoke of the Civil War cleared, Washington resumed its growth.  The present shape of the city had already been established in 1846 by retrocession to Virginia of Arlington and a portion of Alexandria.  And although with each new presidential administration the city assumed a different air, the trend was clearly and increasingly global.

Today, the diversity that characterizes this city is perhaps best illustrated by its architectural variety; from Greek Revival museums, to Victorian houses, to Baroque churches.  Though L’Enfant did not live to see the city he designed reach maturity, his grave in Arlington National Cemetery overlooks the capital he wanted to be “magnificent enough to grace a nation.”

If there’s one thing that DC does not lack, it’s tourist attractions.  With limited time in the city, we deliberated where to go first and decided to see if we could tour the White House … see if Ron and Nancy were at home, so to speak.  Alas, they were entertaining foreign dignitaries and all tours were canceled for the day.

So onward we continued with the rest of our must see list.