WASHINGTON DESCRIBED.

A COMPLETE VIEW OF

THE AMERICAN CAPITAL,

AND THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA;

WITH MANY NOTICES,

HISTORICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC,

OF THE

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

EDITED BY WILLIAM D. HALEY.

NEW YORK:

RUDD & CARLETON.

PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & Co. BOSTON: CROSBY, NICHOLS, LEE & Co.

WASHINGTON: PHILP & SOLOMONS.

1861.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1861, by

JAMES PHILP,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.

BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS,
PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE,

NEW YORK.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,

EDITOR'S PREFACE,

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY.

Topography. Captain John Smith's Account of Chesapeake

Bay. Geology. Hydrography. Zoology.

Climatology. Health. Progress of Population,

Botany.

CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

District of Columbia. City of Washington. British Capture

of Washington,

CHAPTER III.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.

The Executive Mansion and the President. Department of

State. Treasury Department. Department of War.

Navy Department. Patent Office and Department of

the Interior. Post Office Department,

Page

7

8

13-42

43-69

70-120

Washington Navy Yard. United States Coast Survey. Na-

tional Observatory. The Washington National Monu-

ment. Smithsonian Institution. Washington Armory.

United States Arsenal. Penitentiary of the District of

Columbia. Military Asylum. Columbian Institution

for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. Government Hospital

for the Insane. American Colonization Society. United

States Agricultural Society. National Printing Office.

Washington Art Association. The Equestrian Statue of

Jackson. The Equestrian Statue of Washington. Wash-

ington Aqueduct,

154-195

The Code,

CHAPTER VII.

ETIQUETTE.

196-202