Thomas Jefferson also secured money from Congress for the improvement of Pennsylvania Avenue, which was then a dusty highway in the summer and swampy place in winter; planted poplar trees and did what he could to redeem that thoroughfare from its lamentable condition. He applied his artistic taste and skill to the work of beautifying the city. CHAPTER VII WASHINGTON, 1810-1815 An interesting account of Washington during this period is given by David Baillie Warden in his book entitled “A Description of the District of Columbia,” published in Paris in 1816, and dedicated to Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis. He states: It is scarcely possible to imagine a situation more beautiful, healthy and convenient than of Washington. The gentle undulated surface throws the water into such various directions, as affords the most agreeable assemblage. The rising hills, on each side of the Potomac, are truly picturesque; and as the river admits the largest frigates, their sails, gliding through the majestic trees which adorn its banks, complete the scenery. The city extends from northwest to southeast about four miles and a half, and from northeast to southwest about two miles and a half. The public buildings occupy the most elevated and convenient situations, to which the waters of the Tiber Creek may be easily conducted, as well as to every other part of the city, not already watered by springs. The streets run from north to south, and from east to west, crossing each other at right angles, with the exception of fifteen, that point to the State of which each bears the name. The capitol commands the streets called the Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania avenues; the President’s House, those of Vermont, New York, and Connecticut; and all these different intersections form eleven hundred and fifty squares. The Pennsylvania Street, or avenue, which stretches in a direct line from the President’s house to the capitol, is a mile in length, and a hundred and sixty feet in breadth. That of the narrowest streets is from ninety to a hundred feet, which will give a fine appearance to the city; but in a region where the summer sun is so intensely hot, and the winter winds so severely cold, narrow streets, affording shade and shelter, would be of great utility.