ILLUSTRATED BY A MAP OF WASHINGTON CITY, AND
SEVERAL ENGRAVINGS.

Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1837:

BY WILLIAM ELLIOT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania.

MICROFILMED
AT HARVARD

PREFACE.

In presenting to the public this improved edition of the "Washington Guide," it will be seen that many valuable additions and improvements have been added. Captain Smith's account of the Che'sapeake Bay, with the tribes of Indians which inhabited the borders of the rivers is altogether new. The abstract of the laws of the Corporation is also nearly altogether new: The list of officers of the Corporation and General Government is also made correct. The remarks on the capitol have been chiefly taken from a printed pamphlet by Mr. Robert Mills, architect; and through the kindness of Mr. Rich, the botany of the District has been made correct. The Map of the District will be found correct and useful.

One of the leading objects of the present little work is to collect and preserve, in a portable size,

all the material facts relating to the foundation and formation of the metropolis of the United States. In doing this, our information has been chiefly drawn from three sources: public documents, in formation furnished by intelligent friends, and from our own observations. The reader will find no difficulty in distinguishing from which of these sources any piece of information has been obtained: And we will here acknowledge the obligations we are under to Mr. John Sessford, of this city, for his valuable and correct information; also, to Mr. Clement T. Coste, for the corrections in the laws of the Corporation.

It was, no doubt, through the influence of General Washington that the seat of the National Government was established here; but it has required the fostering hand of every successive administration to keep alive and to nourish what he had so wisely planted. Happily this has been done to the extent of every reasonable man's expectation. The city was laid out during the administration of John Adams. The Capitol, President's House, two of the Executive Offices, and Navy-yard were begun ; some were finished, and considerable progress made in others, under his fostering care.