THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
A firm belief in the future of Washington led to the making of very elaborate and extensive plans for laying out the city. But as the public buildings began to rise, with great stretches of unimproved country between them, many thought the plans much too elaborate and feared that the attempt to build a new city would end in failure. It was in the fall of 1800 when the government moved to Washington. Then, in 1814, when things had taken a start, a dreadful misfortune happened; just a few months before the close of the war of 1812, the British attacked the city and burned both the Capitol and the White House. In spite of these early discouragements and years of ridicule, the capital has fully justified the plans and hopes of the far-seeing men who built not for their own day but for the years to come.
Perhaps one gets the best idea of the city to-day from the height of the Capitol's beautiful dome that rises over three hundred feet above the pavement. There is a gallery around the outside of the dome, just below the lantern which lights its summit, and from here one can see for miles in any direction.
Our view of the city from this height shows us that most of the streets are straight and run either north and south or east and west. The east and west streets are lettered; those running north and south are numbered. One might easily imagine four great checkerboards placed together, with the Capitol standing at the point where the four boards meet. I say four checkerboards, because from the Capitol three great streets go to the north, the south, and the east, while a broad park runs away to the west, thus dividing the city into four sections. Running across the regularly planned streets of these checkerboards are broad avenues, many of which seem to come like spokes of wheels from parks placed in different sections of the city. These avenues are named for different states.
LOOKING WEST FROM THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL
Close about us is a splendid group of majestic buildings. The Capitol, upon the brow of the hill overlooking the western part of the city, is the center of the group. To the north and south of the Capitol rise the beautiful marble buildings for the use of the committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. To the east is the Library of Congress, the most beautiful building of its kind in the world.
