ROBERT PETER, as attorney in fact for ELIPHAS DOUGLASS. (Seal) BENJ. STODDERT for JNO. WARING by written authority from Mr. Waring. (Seal) WILLIAM KING (Seal) [Illustration: MAP OF BOUNDARY STONES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA] [Illustration: THREE OF THE BOUNDARY STONES] The land which was being considered for the city proper consisted of about 6,000 acres. In laying out the streets 3,606 acres were taken, and about 540 acres were bought by the United States as sites for the public buildings and grounds. The lots laid out numbered 20,272. Of these the United States took half and the property owners were given back the remainder. The United States sold its share of the lots and from the proceeds paid for the 540 acres on which it was to put the public buildings. The United States also took a fee-simple title to the streets and avenues. BOUNDARY STONES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A survey of an outline of the District of Columbia was made by Andrew Ellicott. From the initial point at Jones Point, on Hunting Creek, at the Potomac (just south of Alexandria), a line was run due northwest 10 miles; thence (into Maryland) due northeast 10 miles to a northern boundary point (now called Sixteenth Street Heights); thence due southeast 10 miles; thence due southwest 10 miles, or back to Jones Point. [Illustration: BOUNDARY STONE NEAR SIXTEENTH STREET, NORTHWEST] This survey was approved by Congress with the amendment that all public buildings should be erected on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. On March 29, 1791, President Washington arrived on a visit to the Potomac and stayed at Suter’s Tavern in Georgetown. The next day, accompanied by the three commissioners and Maj. Pierre Charles L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicott, he rode over the ground. Washington met the owners of the land the same night, and the general terms were then agreed upon and signed by the 19 “original proprietors.” The area of 100 square miles embraced about 64 square miles of Maryland soil (ceded previously in 1788) and about 36 square miles of Virginia soil (ceded in 1789). Thereupon the three city commissioners were ordered to have the boundary lines permanently marked by monuments placed 1 mile apart. One of these boundary stones can be seen to-day near the north corner of the District of Columbia. Each stone was quite large, and this particular one is well preserved. PRELIMINARY STUDIES