I’ve written about it before, but one of the many things I like about building Drink•Eat•Walk is that there are so many things to do. So if one day I don’t feel like doing something directly related —writing; businessing; designing;drinking•eating•walking— I can always be productive by researching & reading.
Yesterday was one of those days. With ChatGPT as my trusty research assistant (mostly — I love when I’m able to scold it for hallucinating on something I know to be historically wrong), I dove down the rabbit hole of learning why DC is where it is, and why it looks like it does.
This hole opened as I was reading the newest addition to my library of DC history, Creating the Federal City, 1774-1800: Potomac Fever. It provided lots of context around the conversations that determined how & where DC came to be, including how important the compromise of locating the district in a Southern state was, so much so that it might have saved the Union. It also did a nice job of exposing how our beloved George Washington established precedent for a President to be a shady real estate speculator & opportunist.
While in the hole, I found this GIF, which does a great job of showing the changes:
The GIF is great, but brings up questions. The book is great, but a tad confusing. The DC story isn’t a clean one, which also means it’s confusing.
So, mostly for the benefit of future-Tim when he’s asked and can’t remember, here are the major stops on Washington, DC’s continuing geographical journey:
| Question | tl;dr Answer | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Where did the idea of a federal district come from ? | The US Constitution | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_8:_Powers_of_Congress |
| Why is the district located where it is? | The Residence Act of 1790 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Act |
| How did the district get the Washington, District of Columbia name? | The Resident Act Commission | https://www.history.com/articles/how-did-washington-d-c-get-its-name |
| Wait, people used to call the US “Columbia” instead of “America”? | Yep | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(personification) |
| No, really, why is DC where it specifically is? | The Organic Act of 1801 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Organic_Act_of_1801 |
| Why is DC a diamond shape? | To reach down south far enough to include the city of Alexandria | https://www.amazon.com/dp/155835011X |
| What happened to the Virginia part of the diamond? | It was returned to sender | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_retrocession |
| Why are Roosevelt & Columbia Islands still in DC? | The DC border is the western edge of the Potomac | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Washington,_D.C. |
| I’m so confused | Look at a map | https://datahub-dc-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/maps/DCGIS::basemap-of-dc/explore |
| Wait, there used to be a Georgetown, DC? | Yep, until The Organic Act of 1871 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Organic_Act_of_1871 |
| I’m confused again | Reading the timeline in order helps. Some. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Washington,_D.C.# |
eyeintim 
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