Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) -- Description and travel; Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) -- History
A portrait, partly of its physical features, its streets, its houses and
gardens, some of which still exist in their pristine glory but, alas,
many of which have gone the way of so-called progress. In place of the
dignified houses of yore, of real architectural beauty, stand rows of
cheap dwellings or stores, erected mostly in the seventies and eighties
when architecture was at its worst. In 1895 it was that the old names of
the streets were taken away and from then on we've been just an adjunct
of Washington.
Not only of its physical side do I wish to tell, but I want to paint a
picture of the kind of people who lived here, from the beginning up
through the gay nineties--nearly one hundred and fifty years. Of the
kind of things they did, their work, their play, their thoughts and
their beliefs, for the character of the town, like human beings, was
formed largely by their beliefs, and these old Scotsmen--for they were
greatly in the majority--laid a great deal of stress on their
Presbyterian form of Christianity. Witness the oath that had to be taken
by the Flour Inspector on February 24, 1772: "I, Thomas Brannan, do
declare that I do believe that there is not any trnsubstantiation in
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper or in the elements of bread and
wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever."
And yet, with this strong prejudice, they cooperated and lived on
friendly terms with the Roman Catholics who, very soon after the taking
of this particular oath, founded their college and established their
convent for teaching young girls.
Dr. Balch counselled well when he besought his people: "Let us resolve
to be social rather than fashionable, and generous instead of
extravagant."
All down through the years and to this day I think that has been the
hall-mark of the real Georgetonian. A great deal of fashion has come to
Georgetown, as in the early days of the bringing of the government when
Washington City was a waste and almost entirely one big mud puddle, and
the foreign ministers and many high in our government sought the comfort
and dignity of this town, which was then far from young.
Again in later years there has been an exodus across Rock Creek of men
and women high in the government; in the diplomatic corps; in industry;
in literature and the arts; lured hither by the quiet dignity of the
old-time atmosphere.
There are today living in Georgetown descendants of nearly every one of
the original makers of the town, and all through these years the old
friendships still persist and flourish.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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