Early East Side: What it used to be

"City of Washington From beyond the Navy Yard." Color aquatint by William James Bennett after George Cooke. Published 1834 by Lewis P. Clover of New York.

Many people may not realize but Near Southeast or the East Side or the Navy Yard section of early Washington DC (Federal City) was a vibrant, beautiful, bustling part of the D.C.  As the city was being planned, Near Southeast was supposed to be the waterfront and commerce center of Washington DC.  The reason for this, maybe early Gerogetown settlers (or current residents) would disagree, but the Eastern Branc (Anacostia River) was a better river for water commerce for two reasons:  its deep water channel was closer to shore and it wasn't as impacted as much by ice during the winter months like the Potomac River.  Those two reasons are why the Navy Yard was located on the Eastern Branch and not the Potomac which helped SE continue its growth. 

     As the early city began to develop and real estate was snapped up by speculator such as Thomas Law and Greenleaf, the area of what was Carrollsburg, bounded by James Creek to the west and the Eastern Branch to the east and Jenkins Hill (Capitol Hill) to the north took on the appearance "of an old English village—its public market, its village green, its public springs and wells, its extensive common, and its churches among the trees".  Most of the streets as laid out in L'Enfant's Plan had not yet been been constructed or were barely passable or taken up by early farms such as William Prout's farmland (which was located near today's 8th Street/L Street area).  "Fruit and shade trees abounded, many of them in parts of the closed streets, and there were few houses in rows."  The homes that did exist were primarily along New Jersey Ave with early industry located along the river branch (near Nationals Stadium to the Navy Yard).  

     "Most of the houses had their little parks in front. Everybody had plenty of breathing space. It is true the cows and pigs and chickens roamed at large; but these seemed only to add picturesqueness to the place; they were certainly not offensive to the people. The playgrounds of the boys, the swimming places in the river, the skating ponds and river coves, the distant woods and fields for hunting and nutting, were all among the finest in the world. Fish and game, fruit and vegetables, and nearly everything that people needed, were cheap and easy of obtainment. Education, though not perhaps of the highest class, was not neglected; religion was enthusiastically fostered ; the old camp-meetings of the Methodists particularly were events to be long remembered. Everybody knew everybody, and there was a spirit of fraternity and love of locality among men, women, and children that made life almost ideal. The men, as a rule, were manly, the women sweet and womanly, and there were many things constantly occurring, in both the joys and sorrows of life, that would seem to render the old section worthy even of the pen of the poet and the romancer."


  So here we are about 200 years later and SE does not resemble what it did in the late 1700s/early 1800s.  So despite what believe the early residents of early DC had established a thriving respectable community.  Some of that remains today with the new residents of SE but also of the old residents of the Capper buildings who hold annual reunion meetings near Garfield Park.  People may believe that SE is a forgotten land and for the most part they are correct but if you look past the bickering of trains, and dog parks and who was here first you will find an incredible community that eventually gave life to DC in its infancy.  So what happened?  I'll post a few more bits of SE and let you make that determination.


Note: this came from the Records of Historical Society of DC but the copyright expired a few years ago but will still give them credit.  Also, if you want to see the image above, go to the Library of Congress and view the original image.