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| Apart from its role containing the capital city of the US, the '''District of Columbia''', coterminus with ], can also be described by its own historical, municipal, and physical geographic characteristics, many of which aren't well documented. The term "Washington" is often used for the city including the parts in ] and ], while there is still the notion of the District being a distinct entity separate from that city, as most residents refer to the area simply as "'''D.C.'''". The area is 159 sq. km (98.5 sq. miles). | |||
| ==History== | |||
| The District of Columbia was authorized by ] in 1790, after at least seven years of sometimes heated contention among states, as the permanent seat for the government of the new country. The new territory was to be made of land from the states of ] and ]. The United States was occasionally called '']'' during and after the time of the revolution, after ], and the new district (originally called a territory) received that name rather than the more unwieldy District of the United States. | |||
| The choice of the exact site on the ] was left to the first president, ]. He chose a 10-mile-(16 km)-square area that included the existing villages of Georgetown and Alexandria, and another called Hamburg in the Foggy Bottom area. A new city, eventually named Washington, was laid out in undeveloped area within the district. | |||
| The land from the State of Virginia was eventually returned to the state in ]. This land in Virginia makes up the modern area of ] and the old part of ], both which are considered suburbs of Washington. In fact, the ] and the ] complex are both located in Arlington but are largely tied to the federal government in ]. Between ] and ], Alexandria was referred to as "Alexandria, D.C." | |||
| The '''Georgetown''' neighborhood was originally part of Maryland and was the only significant population in the area that would become the District of Columbia. Georgetown became part of the district in ] when the Federal City was first created, but Georgetown remained an independent city, referred to as "Georgetown, D.C.", until ], when it was annexed by Washington, completing the process of Washington and the District of Columbia occupying the same geographic borders. | |||
| The district has several distinct historic neighborhoods, which include ], '''Tenleytown''', '''Capitol Hill''', '''Anacostia''', and '''Congress Heights'''. Out of these neighborhoods, Georgetown was originally an incorporated city of the State of ]. | |||
| The '''monumental core''' of the city consists of the ] and many key federal buildings, monuments, and museums, including the ], ], and the ]. Its layout is based on that proposed by the ] report in ]. | |||
| '''Tenleytown''' is a historic name for a general area of northwest D.C. In ], the area was called Tennally's Town, named after resident John Tennally and his tavern. The area became known as Tenleytown in the 19th century, although the spelling '''Tennallytown''' was also in use for some time, as ]s of ]s will attest. Tenleytown is the second oldest neighborhood in D.C., being surpassed in age only by Georgetown. | |||
| '''Anacostia''' makes up much of the southeast corner of the District south of the ], which the area is named after. "Anacostia" comes from the ] Indian word ''anaquash'', which means "village trading post". ] built his homestead in Anacostia and lived there until he died. | |||
| ==Physical Geography== | |||
| The physical ] of the District of Columbia is very similar to the physical geography of much of ]. The District has three natural flowing bodies of water: the ], the ], and Rock Creek. Both Anacostia River and Rock Creek are tributaries of the ]. There are also two man-made ]: ], which crosses over the northwest border of the District from Maryland, and ] near ]. | |||
| The highest point in the District of Columbia is 410 feet (125 m) above sea level at Tenleytown. The lowest point is 1 foot, which occurs at least as far up the Potomac River as 0.35 miles (0.57 km) upstream from the terminus of Rock Creek. | |||
| ==Municipal Geography== | |||
| The District of Columbia is divided into eight wards and 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) within these wards. The total number of named neighborhoods is 127. | |||
| <div style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; text-align: center;">]<br><small>''District of Columbia wards map''</small></div> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 1</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Adams Morgan</th><td align=Center>Mount Pleasant</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Columbia Heights</td><td align=Center>Pleasant Plains</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Howard University</td><td align=Center>U Street/Cardozo</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Kalorama Heights</td><td align=Center></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Lanier Heights</td><td align=Center></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Le Droit Park</td><td align=Center></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 2</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Burleith/Hillandale</td><td align=Center>Mount Vernon Square</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Dupont Circle</td><td align=Center>Shaw/Logan Circle </td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Foggy Bottom</td><td align=Center>China Town</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort McNair</td><td align=Center>Southwest-Waterfront</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Georgetown</td><td align=Center>West End</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>GW-University</td><td align=Center></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 3</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>American University Park</td><td align=Center>Massachusetts Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Cathedral Heights</td><td align=Center>McLean Gardens</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Chevy Chase (not city in MD)</td><td align=Center> North Cleveland Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Cleveland Park</td><td align=Center>Palisades</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Forest Hills</td><td align=Center>Pinehurst Circle</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Foxhall</td><td align=Center>Spring Valley</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Friendship Heights</td><td align=Center>Tenleytown</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Glover Park</td><td align=Center>Wesley Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Hawthorne</td><td align=Center>Woodley Park</td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 4</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Barnaby Woods</td><td align=Center>Manor Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Brightwood</td><td align=Center>Petworth</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Brightwood Park</td><td align=Center>Queens Chapel </td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Colonial Village</td><td align=Center>Rock Creek Gardens</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Crestwood</td><td align=Center>Shepherd Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort Totten </td><td align=Center>Takoma</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Lamond Riggs </td><td align=Center></td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 5</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Arboretum</td><td align=Center>Ivy City</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Bloomingdale</td><td align=Center>Lamond Riggs </td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Brookland</td><td align=Center>Michigan Par</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Carver Langston</td><td align=Center>North Michigan Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Eckington</td><td align=Center>Pleasant Hills</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Edgewood</td><td align=Center>Queens Chapel </td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort Lincoln</td><td align=Center>South Central</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort Totten </td><td align=Center>Trinidad</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Gateway</td><td align=Center>Woodridge</td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 6</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Capitol Hill</td><td align=Center>Sursum Corda</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Kingman Park</td><td align=Center>Stanton Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Lincoln Park</td><td align=Center>Union Station</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Navy Yard</td><td align=Center></td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Southeast</td><td align=Center></td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Southwest</td><td align=Center></td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 7</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Benning Heights</td><td align=Center>Hillbrook</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Burrville</td><td align=Center>Hillcrest</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Capital View</td><td align=Center>Kenilworth</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Deanwood</td><td align=Center>Lincoln Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Eastland Gardens</td><td align=Center>Mahaning Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fairfax Village</td><td align=Center>Marshall Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fairlawn</td><td align=Center>Mayfair</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fairmont Heights</td><td align=Center>Naylor Gardens</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort Davis Park</td><td align=Center>Penn Branch</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fort Dupont Park</td><td align=Center>Randle Highlands</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Good Hope</td><td align=Center>River Terrace</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Grant Park</td><td align=Center>Summit Park</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Greenway</td><td align=Center>Twining</td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| <table border> | |||
| <tr><th align=Center><b>Ward 8</b></th></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Anacostia</td><td align=Center>Garfield Heights</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Barry Farm</td><td align=Center>Knox Hill</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Bellview</td><td align=Center>Sheridan</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Buena Vista</td><td align=Center>Shipley Terrace</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Congress Heights</td><td align=Center>Washington Highlands</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Douglass</td><td align=Center>Woodland</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td align=Center>Fair Lawn</td><td align=Center></td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| ==External Links== | |||
| * http://www.citymuseumdc.org/ | |||
| * http://www.rootsweb.com/~dcgenweb/dcmdva.html | |||
| * http://www.dc.gov/neigh_ciz/neigh_alpha.shtm | |||
Latest revision as of 14:49, 6 September 2005
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