"Wonderful Washington" a Washington D.C. Travel Page by rexvaughan

Saying something new about the US Capitol City is somewhat daunting but as I like to know the history of places I visit, maybe a little background will be helpful.

You probably know that George Washington was inaugrated in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City which was the nation's capitol at the time. About a year later the capitol was moved to Philadelphia and about that time President Washington was given the power to select a site for the new "federal district." One factor in choosing a southern location was the fierce rivalry between the northern and southern states which ended in compromise and another may have been its proximity to Washington's own estate, Mount Vernon. The main reason apparently was that Washington thought the Potomac had great potential for shipping commerce. The land was mostly floodplain, forest and farmland; such a challenge that the planner of the new city, Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, said his work would be like "turning a savage wilderness int a garden of Eden."

L'Enfant is an interesting story in himself. He was a French born engineer who enlisted in the American Revolutionary Army where he befriended Washington and later was selected to design the new captol city. His plan is widely considered to be the US's best example of municipal planning. His vision of the "Congress Hall" or Capitol on a hill overlooking a 400 foot wide "Grand Avenue" gave us the National Mall with the Lincoln Memorial anchoring the end about 2 miles west of the Capitol and lined with grand museums and memorials. The Mall is frequently referred to as the Main Street of the US. It appears that it is now out of space for additional memorials and in the future they may have to be constructed in other parts of the city.

One of the things that makes Washinton so appealing is the varied architecture and the presense of art everywhere. I would not even hazard a guess as to how many statues dot the city's parks, squares and circles. Our hotel was near Scott Circle and there are statues of Winfield Scott, Daniel Webster and Samuel Hahnemann in and around this circle. Lt. Gen Scott served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and he is generally regarded as the best general of his time. In his 50 year career he commanded armies in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War and briefly the American Civil War. He is credited with creating the strategy that defeated the Confederacy. He served as military governor of Mexico City and ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Presidency in 1852, losing to Franklin Pierce.

There are all sorts of people memorialized with statues, not all of them well known. In the photo restoration work is being done on the fountain and statue dedicated to Samuel Hahnemann whom I had never heard of. It seems he was a pioneer in the field of homeopathy. It was given by the American Institute of Homeopathy with the help of President McKinley wo was a supporter of this field of medicine