Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/497

WASHINGTON (CITY) 4T7 120 to 160 ft. wide, and 2 are 85 ft. wide. These streets and avenues divide the city into 1,170 blocks or squares, many of which have been subdivided by streets or alleys from 40 to 65 ft. wide, variously named and not included in the original plan. Pennsylvania avenue, the great business thoroughfare, extending across the city from Rock creek to the Eastern branch, is interrupted by the capitol and the white house, between which it forms the main avenue of communication. Between these points it is 160 ft. wide, elsewhere 130 ft. Massachusetts avenue, N. E. of Pennsylvania avenue, is the handsomest in the city. It runs parallel with Map of Washington and Vicinity. 1. Capitol. 2. President's House. 3. Statue of Washington. 4. Treasury Department. 5. Corcoran Art Gallery. 6. State, War, and Navy Building. 7. Interior Department. 8. General Post Office. 9. Department of Justice. 10. Department of Agriculture. 11. Observatory. 12. Arsenal. 18. Navy Yard. 14. Smithsonian Institution. 15. V> ask- Ington Monument. 16. Botanic Garden. the latter, and is 160 ft. wide throughout. The city has an excellent system of sewerage, and since 1871 the streets and avenues have been greatly improved and beautified. They are well graded and paved, ornamented with a variety of shade trees, and well lighted with gas. There are several squares handsomely laid out and containing fountains, trees, and shrubbery. In Lafayette square, N. of the white house, is a bronze equestrian statue of Gen. Jackson by Clark Mills; in Judiciary square, a statue of Lincoln by Lot Flannery ; and in Rawlins square, a heroic bronze statue gf Gen. John A. Rawlins by J. Bailey. On April 14, 1876, a colossal bronze statue of Lin- coln by Thomas Ball, erected by contributions of colored people, was unveiled in Lincoln park. At the intersections of the principal avenues are spaces termed circles. Washington cir- cle, at the intersection of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire avenues, contains an eques- trian statue of "Washington by Clark Mills; and an unnamed circle N. of the white house, a colossal bronze equestrian statue of Gen. Scott by H. K. Brown. At the intersections of the streets with the avenues are small spaces called triangles, many of which are ornamented. The mall extends from the capitol grounds W. to 15th street, between B street N. and B street S., taking the place of West Capitol street. It contains the botan- ic garden, the Smith- sonian institution (see SMITHSONIAN INSTITU- TION), and the depart- ment of agriculture. The botanic garden, comprising 10 acres, is under the control of a committee of con- gress. The " park " ex- tends W . from the mall to the banks of the Potomac, and contains the unfinished Wash- ington monument and the government pro- pagating garden and nursery. The capitol is on the W. brow of a plateau that forms the E. portion of the city. The corner stone was laid by Washington, Sept. 18, 1793, and the N. wing was ready for the first, sitting of con- gress here, Nov. 17, 1800. The S. wing was finished in 1808, and the interior of both wings was burned by the British, Aug. 24, 1814. The recon- struction of the wings was begun in 1815, the foundation of the main building was laid March 24, 1818, and the whole was completed in 1827. An act passed Sept. 30, 1850, provided for the extension of the capitol. The corner stone of the extension was laid July 4, 1851, by President Fillmore, and an address deliv- ered by Daniel Webster. It was finished in 1867. The whole edifice fronts the east. The old building, which now forms the centre, is 352 ft. 4 in. long and 121 ft. 6 in. deep, with a portico 160 ft. wide of 24 Corinthian col- umns on the east, and a projection of 83 ft. on the west, embracing a recessed portico of