District of Columbia
Washington, D.C. exists because of a compromise. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton wanted federal assumption of state debts; Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wanted the national capital closer to the South. The result was a diamond-shaped federal district carved from land donated by Maryland and Virginia along the Potomac River. The Virginia portion was returned in 1847, leaving the 68 square miles that make up the present district. Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed the street grid, with broad diagonal avenues named after states radiating from the Capitol and the White House.
About 702,000 people live in D.C. proper, but the metropolitan area holds over six million. The federal government is the dominant employer. Every weekday, hundreds of thousands of commuters arrive from Virginia and Maryland suburbs via Metro, commuter rail, and car. The concentration of embassies, think tanks, lobbying firms, law offices, and international organizations gives the city a transient professional population unlike any other American city.
The National Mall stretches two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, lined with the Smithsonian museums (free admission, all of them), the Washington Monument, and the World War II, Vietnam, and Korean War memorials. Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood, predates the district itself. U Street was known as "Black Broadway" in the early 20th century. The Shaw, H Street NE, and Navy Yard neighborhoods have seen rapid development since the 2010s.
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Washington, D.C. exists because of a compromise. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton wanted federal assumption of state debts; Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wanted the national capital closer to the South. The result was a diamond-shaped federal district carved from land donated by Maryland and Virginia along the Potomac River. The Virginia portion was returned in 1847, leaving the 68 square miles that make up the present district. Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed the street grid, with broad diagonal avenues named after states radiating from the Capitol and the White House.
About 702,000 people live in D.C. proper, but the metropolitan area holds over six million. The federal government is the dominant employer. Every weekday, hundreds of thousands of commuters arrive from Virginia and Maryland suburbs via Metro, commuter rail, and car. The concentration of embassies, think tanks, lobbying firms, law offices, and international organizations gives the city a transient professional population unlike any other American city.
The National Mall stretches two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, lined with the Smithsonian museums (free admission, all of them), the Washington Monument, and the World War II, Vietnam, and Korean War memorials. Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood, predates the district itself. U Street was known as "Black Broadway" in the early 20th century. The Shaw, H Street NE, and Navy Yard neighborhoods have seen rapid development since the 2010s.
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