MAP #: 302MA.10

CARTOGRAPHER : MOORE, S.S. & JONES, T.W.

DATE: 1802

SHORT TITLE : WASHINGTON CITY

REMAINING TITLE & ID : (NO CARTOUCHE, BOTTOM LEFT). "23" (ABOVE MAP). "I. DRAPER Sc." (BELOW AND ON RIGHT OF THE MAP). FOUR POINTED COMPASS ROSE (ORIENTED WITH NORTHWEST AT THE TOP, LEFT BELOW CENTER). LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).

THIS IS THE SECOND AMERICAN ROAD MAP DIRECTORY AND THE FIRST TO APPEAR AFTER THE COLLES BOOK IN 1789. UNLIKE THE COLLES WORK, THIS BOOK APPARENTLY WAS A FINANCIAL SUCCESS. IT CONTAINS SOME 38 STRIP MAPS ON 22 LEAVES AND FIFTY TWO PAGES OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXT.

CAREY'S BOOK COVERED THE MOST HEAVILY TRAVELLED AREA IN THE U.S. - FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, WHICH HAD BECOME THE CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY IN 1800. FIFTEEN STRIP MAPS COVER THE AREA FROM THE DELAWARE BORDER TO WASHINGTON, IN ADDITION TO A PLAN OF BALTIMORE AND ONE OF WASHINGTON.

SNYDER NOTES THAT CAREY'S MAPS WERE BETTER ENGRAVED THAN COLLES AND THAT THE ADDITION OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXT WAS AN INNOVATION.

THE MAP DESCRIBED HEREIN COVERS THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, D.C. AND ITS OUTSKIRTS, SOON AFTER IT ACTUALLY BECAME THE NATION'S CAPITAL. THE MAP WAS ENGRAVED BY I. DRAPER AND IS ORIENTED WITH NORTHWEST AT THE TOP. THE TOPOGRAPHY AND A DETAILED LAYOUT OF THE STREETS AND BUILDINGS OF THE CITY ARE SHOWN.

THE DESCRIPTIVE MATERIAL ON THIS MAP READS AS FOLLOWS:

THE CAPITOL, IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, STANDS NEAR THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINTH MILE FROM PHILADELPHIA, ON AN ELEVATED GROUND. THIS CITY, BY VIRTUE OF AN ACT OF CONGRESS PASSED AT NEW-YORK IN THE YEAR 1789, BECAME THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN THE YEAR 1800, AND CONGRESS HELD THEIR FIRST SESSION IN IT, IN DECEMBER, OF THAT YEAR: DURING THE PRECEDING SUMMER THE PUBLIC OFFICES REMOVED THEIR PAPERS, BOOKS, &c. PREPARATORY TO THE MEETING OF CONGRESS: THE NECESSARY BUILDINGS FOR EACH DEPARTMENT, BEING EITHER UNFINISHED, OR SCARCELY BEGUN, TEMPORARY SITUATIONS WERE OBTAINED FOR DEPOSITING THE RECORDS, &c. AND TRANSACTING THE GENERAL BUSINESS: THIS GAVE RISE TO A GREAT MISFORTUNE; FOR THE BUILDING OCCUPIED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR, HAVING TAKEN FIRE ON THE EVENING OF THE EIGHTH OF NOVEMBER, 1800, IT WAS CONSUMED, WITH EVERY BOOK, PAPER AND RECORD IN THE SECRETARY'S OFFICE, RELATIVE TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AS WELL AS ALL OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS OF MILITARY TRANSACTIONS UNDER THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT; AND ON THE TWENTIETH OF JANUARY FOLLOWING, A FIRE WAS DISCOVERED IN A PART OF THE BUILDING OCCUPIED BY THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WHEREIN A NUMBER OF PAPERS, &c. WERE DESTROYED. THESE OFFICES NOW OCCUPY THE BUILDINGS ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR THEIR USES.

THIS CITY IS ON A GRAND SCALE, EXTENDING FROM THE EASTERN BRANCH, TO ROCK CREEK, WHICH DIVIDES IT FROM GEORGE TOWN; BEING ABOUT FOUR MILES AND A HALF THROUGH THE PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE; AND FROM THE PATOWMAC, NORTH- EASTWARD, ABOUT TWO MILES AND A HALF. IT IS LAID OUT INTO A GREAT NUMBER OF STREETS EXTENDING DUE EAST AND WEST; THESE ARE CROSSED BY OTHERS, MORE NUMEROUS, AT RIGHT ANGLES, NORTH AND SOUTH: IN ADDITION TO THESE, IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS ARE LARGE AND AIRY STREETS, OR AVENUES, FROM ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY, TO ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FEET WIDE; THESE ARE NAMED AFTER THE INDIVIDUAL FIFTEEN STATES, PREVIOUS TO THE ADMISSION OF TENNESSEE. THESE STREETS, AT EACH OF THEIR INTERSECTIONS WITH EACH OTHER, AND THE SUBORDINATE INTERSECTIONS, FORM SPACIOUS OPEN SQUARES, INTENDED FOR THE FREE CIRCULATION OF PURE AND WHOLESOME AIR. FIVE OF THESE SPACIOUS AVENUES DIVERGE FAROM THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, VIZ. PENNSYLVANIA, NEW-YORK, VERMONT, CONNECTICUT; AND SIXTEENTH STREET, WEST. SEVEN FORM RAYS FROM THE CAPITOL, VIZ. NORTH CAPITOL, DELAWARE, MARYLAND, EAST CAPITOL, PENNSYLVANIA, NEW-JERSEY, AND SOUTH CAPITOL AVENUES. THE STREETS, EXTENDING EAST AND WEST, ARE DESIGNATED BY THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET BEGINNING AT THE SOUTH, AND ADVANCING NORTH, a,b, c,d,&c. AND THOSE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ARE NUMERICALLY NUMBERED, EAST AND WEST FROM THE CAPITOL. THIS CITY, ALTHOUGH IN AN INFANT STATE, CONTAINS UPWARDS OF SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY HOUSES, MANY OF WHICH ARE BUILT IN A SUPERIOR STYLE, DISPERSED IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THIS EXTENSIVE AND ELEGANT SPOT. IT PRESENTS THE PROSPECT OF BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST FLOURISHING CITIES IN THE WORLD. THE PATOWMAC AND EASTERN BRANCH, ON THE NORTHERN BANKS OF WHICH IT IS SITUATED, AFFORD CAPACIOUS HARBORS FOR ADMITTING VESSELS OF BURDEN, OR FORCE, WITH SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE. THE PATOWMAC, BY MEANS OF CANALS TO PASS THE SEVERAL FALLS ABOVE THE CITY, OPENS AN EXTENSIVE INLAND INTERCOURSE FOR A GREAT NUMBER OF MILES.

THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, WHICH IN ON A VERY EXTENSIVE SCALE, STANDS ON A RISING GROUND, POSSESSING A MOST DELIGHTFUL VIEW, NOT ONLY OF THE RIVER, BUT OF THE CAPITOL, WHICH IS ONE MILE AND A HALF DISTANT, AND OF THE MOST MATERIAL PARTS OF THE CITY.

THE CAPITOL STANDS ON A BEAUTIFUL EMINENCE, SEVENTY-EIGHT FEET ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE TIDE, COMMANDING A VIEW OF THE WHOLE CITY, AND AN EX- TENSIVE PROSPECT OF THE COUNTRY. THE PUBLIC OFFICES, NEAR THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, ARE HANDSOME AND CONVENIENTLY BUILT.

THE WATERS OF TIBER CREEK AND REEDY BRANCH SOURCES MAY BE CONVEYED, WITH FACILITY, TO ANY PART OF THE CITY; WITHIN ITS LIMITS ARE A GREAT NUMBER OF EXCELLENT SPRINGS; AND BY DIGGING WELLS, WATER OF THE BEST QUALITY MAY READILY BE OBTAINED.

GEORGE TOWN IS ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO MILES FROM PHILADELPHIA, PLEASANTLY SITUATED ON A NUMBER OF SMALL HILLS, ON THE NORTH-EAST SIDE OF THE PATOWMAC, AND AFFORDS AN AGREEABLE VIEW OF THE RIVER, AND COUNTRY ADJACENT. AN ACADEMY IS INSTITUTED HERE, AND IS IN A FLOURISHING STATE. IT IS A POST TOWN AND PORT OF ENTRY, EIGHT MILES NORTH FROM ALEXANDRIA."

MESSRS. MOORE AND JONES ARE LISTED BY MATHEW CAREY IN THE PREFACE TO THE TRAVELLER'S DIRECTORY AS "TWO RESPECTABLE AND QUALIFIED SURVEYORS", AND CAREY INDICATES THAT THEY HAVE REMEASURED THE MILE MARKERS AND FOUND THE MILE STONES IN SOME INSTANCES TO HAVE CONSIDERABLE VARIATION.

DATA IS FROM SNYDER, SABIN AND FROM THE BOOK IN WHICH THE MAPS APPEARED.

EDITION & STATE INFO : SABIN LISTS EDITIONS OF THE TRAVELLER'S DIRECTORY... ISSUED IN 1802 AND 1804, BUT WRITER HAS NOT SEEN THE 1804 EDITION AND DOES NOT YET KNOW IF THERE WERE ANY PLATE CHANGES.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS 8 X 10" PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS OF THE MAPS FROM PHILADELPHIA TO WASHINGTON IN THE 1802 EDITION.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : SABIN, J., A DICTIONARY OF BOOKS RELATING TO AMERICA, J. SABIN'S SON, NEW YORK, 1879, #50436 (NOTES BOTH THE 1802 AND THE 1804 EDITIONS); SNYDER, JOHN P., THE MAPPING OF NEW JERSEY, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS, NEW BRUNSWICK, 1973, PP. 92-93; HOWES, M-778. July 14, 1988

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