The Nacotchtank , also Anacostine , were an Algonquian Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands .
134-666: During the 17th century, the Nacotchtank resided within the present-day borders of Washington, D.C. , along the intersection of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. The Nacotchtank spoke Piscataway , a variant of the Algonquian subfamily spoken by many tribes along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean . This was due to close association and tribute with the nearby Piscataway chiefdom, whose tayac (grand chief) ruled over
268-495: A cascading waterfall with Italian Renaissance -style architecture. Modern , Postmodern , contemporary , and other non-classical architectural styles are also seen in the city. The National Museum of African American History and Culture deeply contrasts the stone-based neoclassical buildings on the National Mall with a design that combines modern engineering with heavy inspiration from African art . The interior of
402-509: A referendum on D.C. statehood resulted in an 85% support among Washington, D.C., voters for it to become the nation's 51st state . In March 2017, the city's congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill for statehood. Reintroduced in 2019 and 2021 as the Washington, D.C., Admission Act , the U.S. House of Representatives passed it in April 2021. After not progressing in
536-532: A single municipality for the remaining portion of the district. There have been several unsuccessful efforts to make the district into a state since the 1880s; a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate . To become law it would have to be passed by the Senate and signed by president; it would have renamed the city Washington, Douglas Commonwealth and shrunk
670-600: A trellis for climbing beans, the beans fix nitrogen in their root nodules and stabilize the maize in high winds, and the wide leaves of the squash plant shade the ground, keeping the soil moist and helping prevent the establishment of weeds . Indigenous peoples throughout North America cultivated different varieties of the Three Sisters, adapted to varying local environments. The individual crops and their use in polyculture originated in Mesoamerica , where squash
804-408: A garden-lined grand avenue about 1 mile (1.6 km) long and 400 feet (120 m) wide in an area that is now the National Mall inspired by the grounds at Versailles and Tuileries Gardens. In March 1792, President Washington dismissed L'Enfant due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott , who worked with L'Enfant in surveying
938-529: A loose confederacy of tribes in Southern Maryland from the village of Moyaone to the south. As the neighboring Maryland colony sought land for tobacco plantations, the Nacotchtank were encroached upon and forcibly removed. They were last recorded in the late 1600s to have taken refuge on nearby Theodore Roosevelt Island located in the Potomac River . Over time, the small population that
1072-502: A modern glass exterior and heavy curvature. CityCenterDC is home to Palmer Alley, a pedestrian-only walkway, and houses several apartment buildings, restaurants, and luxury-brand storefronts with streamlined glass and metal facades. Outside Downtown D.C., architectural styles are more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne , Châteauesque , Richardsonian Romanesque , Georgian Revival , Beaux-Arts , and
1206-525: A party of approximately 26 settlers from Jamestown in an attempt to barter for corn from the Nacotchtank. The Nacotchtank were suspicious of the colonists, and a confrontation erupted into fighting. All of the colonists were killed except for Captain Fleet, who was captured. Held captive for 5 years, Fleet acquired the language and culture of the Nacotchtank. During his time, Fleet observed the trading village Tohoga in present-day Georgetown and noted it as being
1340-431: A relatively high homelessness rate, despite its high living standard compared to many American cities. Washington, D.C., is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW) , Northeast (NE) , Southeast (SE) , and Southwest (SW) . The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol. All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location. House numbers generally correspond with
1474-584: A result, the English settlers that were interacting with the Nacotchtank would not pronounce the "-tchtank" and would replace it with the ending "-stine," which was easier to enunciate. Through transmission of the mispronounced Nacotchtank name amongst English settlers, the Nacotchtank name was slowly faded out and replaced with Nacostine. Later on, the Jesuits from the Province of Maryland further latinized
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#17327732403081608-533: A snowstorm in January 1772. Hurricanes or their remnants occasionally impact the area in late summer and early fall. However, they usually are weak by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River , however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in the Georgetown neighborhood of
1742-676: A special committee charged with beautifying Washington's ceremonial core. What became known as the McMillan Plan was finalized in 1901 and included relandscaping the Capitol grounds and the National Mall, clearing slums, and establishing a new citywide park system. The plan is thought to have largely preserved L'Enfant's intended design for the city. By law, the city's skyline is low and sprawling. The federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 prohibits buildings with height exceeding
1876-633: A stream valley that bisects the city. Established in 1890, it is the country's fourth-oldest national park and is home to a variety of plant and animal species, including raccoon, deer, owls, and coyotes. Other National Park Service properties include the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park , the National Mall and Memorial Parks , Theodore Roosevelt Island , Columbia Island , Fort Dupont Park , Meridian Hill Park , Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens , and Anacostia Park . The District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation maintains
2010-473: A variety of Victorian styles. Rowhouses are prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federal and late Victorian designs. Georgetown 's Old Stone House , built in 1765, is the oldest-standing building in the city. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture . The Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in
2144-542: A very long history in the Americas. The process to develop the agricultural knowledge for cultivation took place over a 5,000 to 6,500 year period. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second and beans third. Squash was first domesticated some 8,000–10,000 years ago. From 800 AD, Three Sisters crop organization was used in the largest Native American city north of the Rio Grande known as Cahokia , located in
2278-479: A visit by the spirits of the Three Sisters, prompting him to return to and re-teach his fellow Haudenosaunee their traditional agricultural practices. Researchers in the early 20th century described more than a dozen varieties of maize and similar numbers of bean varieties, as well as many types of squash, such as pumpkin and winter squash, grown in Haudenosaunee communities. The first academic description of
2412-537: A wide number of leguminous crops increase the growth and yield of maize, while Gulyaev et al. 1970 select later maturing lines of beans to produce the converse effect, increasing even further the yield gain of beans when planted with maize. Pronin et al. 1972 find increased productivity and root exudate in both crops when combining faba beans with maize, and even more so in soils with preexisting high nitrogen fixing microorganism activity. Indigenous peoples throughout North America cultivated different varieties of
2546-422: A yellow Frock , or dress. The eldest of the three, who represents corn, is often described as wearing a pale green shawl and having long, yellow hair. These three sisters are repeatedly visited by a young Indigenous boy, impressing them with his character and hunting skills, specifically archery. With each visit, one of the three sisters disappears until the eldest is left alone. As such, she begins to mourn. When
2680-575: Is "one of the unfailing evidences of permanent aboriginal occupation." This theory of pottery as a marker for permanent occupation was used in Proudfit's mapping of another Nacotchtank village north of Garfield Park on what is now Capitol Hill . The Nacotchtank utilized this land, which now houses the Supreme Court and Library of Congress , for agriculture, growing corn , beans , and squash. The Nacotchtank settled on this specific area as it
2814-575: Is a dialect of the Nanticoke language, which belongs to the Algonquian subfamily of languages. The Algonquian subfamily belongs to an even larger grouping of languages, the Macro-Algonquian phylum. All languages that fall under the Macro-Algonquian phylum are polysynthetic , meaning that an individual word is made up of many different morphemes , which are the smallest linguistic units of meaning. The principal village, Nachatank, housed
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#17327732403082948-512: Is an important facet in the Nacotchtank culture. The Carolina Dog served as a symbol for respect and honor. The dogs likely played an integral role for the Nacotchtank people, as Carolina Dog skeletons have been found lying on top of human skeletons in ossuary burials collected from gravesites on Nacotchtank territory. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C. ,
3082-519: Is derived from the word anaquashatanik , meaning "a town of traders"; this reflected how the Nacotchtank were a trading people established on fertile land on the nearby rivers. The process by which Nacotchtank was slowly changed to Anacostine was done by European colonists. During their colonization, English settlers frequently got rid of unfamiliar and unaccustomed sounds in the words from the local languages and replaced them with sounds that were easier to pronounce and to which they were more familiar. As
3216-911: Is generally popular among tourists and locals. In 2007, six of the top ten buildings in the American Institute of Architects ' ranking of America's Favorite Architecture were in the city: the White House , Washington National Cathedral , the Jefferson Memorial , the United States Capitol , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . The neoclassical , Georgian , Gothic , and Modern styles are reflected among these six structures and many other prominent edifices in
3350-480: Is in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city. Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of 79.8 °F (26.6 °C) and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause moderate personal discomfort. Heat indices regularly approach 100 °F (38 °C) at the height of summer. The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in
3484-452: Is known as a lobbying hub, with K Street as the industry center. The city had 20.7 million domestic visitors and 1.2 million international visitors, ranking seventh among U.S. cities as of 2022. The Algonquian -speaking Piscataway people , also known as the Conoy, inhabited the lands around the Potomac River and present-day Washington, D.C., when Europeans first arrived and colonized
3618-477: Is sea level at the Potomac River. The geographic center of Washington is near the intersection of 4th and L streets NW. The district has 7,464 acres (30.21 km ) of parkland, about 19% of the city's total area, the second-highest among high-density U.S. cities after Philadelphia . The city's sizable parkland was a factor in the city being ranked as third in the nation for park access and quality in
3752-529: Is the capital city and federal district of the United States . The city is on the Potomac River , across from Virginia , and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named after George Washington , the first president of the United States . The district is named after Columbia , the female personification of the nation . The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for
3886-499: The Anacostia River to the east. Washington, D.C.'s street grid was extended, where possible, throughout the district starting in 1888. Georgetown's streets were renamed in 1895. Some streets are particularly noteworthy, including Pennsylvania Avenue , which connects the White House to the Capitol; and K Street, which houses the offices of many lobbying groups. Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue , located on
4020-559: The Anacostia River , or the neighborhood in southeast D.C., Anacostia . The Nacotchtank fell under the larger influence of the Piscataway Chiefdom. The Nacotchtank were not necessarily under complete control of the Piscataway, but rather, the Nacotchtank closely allied with them as they were a much larger group of 7,000 members in comparison to the roughly 300 members of the Nacotchtank tribe. The Piscataway affiliation
4154-646: The Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the district, freeing about 3,100 slaves in the district nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation . In 1868, Congress granted the district's African American male residents the right to vote in municipal elections. By 1870, the district's population had grown 75% in a decade to nearly 132,000 people, yet the city still lacked paved roads and basic sanitation. Some members of Congress suggested moving
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4288-714: The Continental Congress and under the Articles of Confederation . New York City was the first capital upon the adoption of the Constitution , succeeded by Philadelphia , which was capital from 1790 to 1800. On October 6, 1783, after the capital was forced by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 to move to Princeton, Congress resolved to consider a new location for it. The following day, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts moved "that buildings for
4422-756: The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 , which officially organized the district and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal government. The area within the district was organized into two counties, the County of Washington to the east and north of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west and south. After the Act's passage, citizens in the district were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which ended their representation in Congress. On August 24, 1814, during
4556-483: The Indigenous peoples of the Americas practiced "intensive agriculture, based on human labour". In Indigenous American companion planting, maize ( Zea mays ), beans ( wild beans and vetches spp.), and squash ( Cucurbita pepo ) are planted close together. The maize and beans are often planted together in mounds formed by hilling soil around the base of the plants each year; squash is typically planted between
4690-688: The National Mall , including the Jefferson Memorial , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Washington Monument . It hosts 177 foreign embassies and serves as the headquarters for the World Bank , the International Monetary Fund , the Organization of American States , and other international organizations. Home to many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks , D.C.
4824-548: The Northeast megalopolis . As the seat of the U.S. federal government , the city is an important world political capital . The city hosts the buildings that house federal government headquarters, including the White House , the Capitol, the Supreme Court Building , and multiple federal departments and agencies . The city is home to many national monuments and museums , located most prominently on or around
4958-484: The Potomac River forms the district's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries, the Anacostia River and Rock Creek . Tiber Creek , a natural watercourse that once passed through the National Mall , was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s. The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled Washington City Canal , which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until
5092-579: The Three Sisters family—corn, beans, and squash. Since the Nacotchtank had abundant natural resources and were situated where two rivers met, they held an epicenter for a bustling trade network with neighboring tribes. One known intertribal network was with the Haudenosaunee of New York, in which the Nacotchtank traded principally furs, which was readily available given their extensive supply of wild game. The Nacotchtank eventually monopolized
5226-428: The U.S. East Coast . The city has a total area of 68.34 square miles (177 km ), of which 61.05 square miles (158.1 km ) is land and 7.29 square miles (18.9 km ) (10.67%) is water. The district is bordered by Montgomery County, Maryland , to the northwest; Prince George's County, Maryland , to the east; Arlington County, Virginia , to the west; and Alexandria, Virginia , to the south. The south bank of
5360-637: The War of 1812 , British forces invaded and occupied the city after defeating an American force at Bladensburg . In retaliation for acts of destruction by American troops in the Canadas , the British set fire to government buildings in the city, gutting the United States Capitol , the Treasury Building , and the White House in what became known as the burning of Washington . However, a storm forced
5494-623: The Washington Metro stations and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are designed with strong influence from the 20th-century Brutalism movement. The Smithsonian Institution Building is built of Seneca red sandstone in the Norman Revival style. The Old Post Office building, located on Pennsylvania Avenue and completed in 1899, was the first building in the city to have a steel frame structure and
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5628-582: The fur trade . The Nacotchtank were first recorded by Captain John Smith , who visited their palisaded village during his First Voyage in 1608, in which he explored the land surrounding the Jamestown settlement of the Colony of Virginia. Between the dates of June 16 and July 18 of 1608, Smith recorded in his journal, which has since been published as The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and
5762-529: The 1850s. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of the city at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line . The highest natural elevation in the district is 409 feet (125 m) above sea level at Fort Reno Park in upper northwest Washington, D.C. The lowest point
5896-482: The 2018 ParkScore ranking of the park systems of the nation's 100 most populous cities, according to Trust for Public Land , a non-profit organization. The National Park Service manages most of the 9,122 acres (36.92 km ) of city land owned by the U.S. government. Rock Creek Park is a 1,754-acre (7.10 km ) urban forest in Northwest Washington, which extends 9.3 miles (15.0 km) through
6030-585: The Americas differed from the Old World in that the Americas lacked large-seeded, easily domesticated grains (such as wheat and barley ) and large domesticated animals that could be used for agricultural labor. At the time of first contact between the Europeans and the Americans, Carlos Sempat Assadourian writes that Europeans practiced "extensive agriculture, based on the plough and draught animals" while
6164-504: The British to evacuate the city after just 24 hours. Most government buildings were repaired quickly, but the Capitol, which was largely under construction at the time, would not be completed in its current form until 1868. In the 1830s, the district's southern territory of Alexandria declined economically, due in part to its neglect by Congress. Alexandria was a major market in the domestic slave trade and pro-slavery residents feared that abolitionists in Congress would end slavery in
6298-610: The Cahokia site had been mostly abandoned and the large population dispersed, though the Mississippian and Muscogee cultures continued to thrive until c. 1600 , when contact with Spanish explorers brought Eurasian diseases, death, and cultural collapse. In the Handbook of North American Indians , the Three Sisters are called the "foundation of (Iroquois) subsistence", allowing the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois to develop
6432-521: The District from its founding. The building of Washington likely relied in significant part on slave labor, and slave receipts have been found for the White House, Capitol Building, and establishment of Georgetown University. The city became an important slave market and a center of the nation's internal slave trade . After its survey, the new federal city was constructed on the north bank of
6566-484: The District of Columbia. Shepherd authorized large projects that modernized the city but bankrupted its government. In 1874, Congress replaced the territorial government with an appointed three-member board of commissioners. In 1888, the city's first motorized streetcars began service. Their introduction generated growth in areas of the district beyond the City of Washington's original boundaries, leading to an expansion of
6700-556: The Federal District to about the size of the national mall. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant , the city is divided into quadrants , which are centered around the Capitol Building and include 131 neighborhoods . As of the 2020 census , the city had a population of 689,545. Commuters from the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during
6834-507: The Haudenosaunee Three Sisters polyculture provided both more energy and more protein than any local monoculture. The three crops benefit by being grown together. The cornstalk serves as a trellis for the beans to climb, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and their twining vines stabilize the maize in high winds, and the wide leaves of the squash plant shade the ground, keeping the soil moist and helping prevent
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#17327732403086968-693: The Iroquois practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, abandoning fields when the soil was depleted of nutrients after several years of farming, but instead claimed that Iroquoian no-till farming techniques preserved soil fertility. In a similar experiment to reproduce Native American agricultural practices in Minnesota, Munson-Scullin and Scullin reported that over three years, the per-acre annual maize yields declined from 40 to 30 to 25 bushels (2.5, 1.9, and 1.6 t/ha). Other scholars have estimated lower average yields of maize. Hart and Feranec estimated
7102-518: The Mississippi floodplain to the east of modern St. Louis, Missouri . It spanned over 13 km2 and supported populations of at least thousands. Cahokia was notable for its delineated community zones, including those for administration, several residential areas, and a large agricultural complex. Domesticated squash, gourds, and maize were initially grown alongside wild beans; domesticated beans were not grown at Cahokia until 1250. The cultivation of
7236-434: The Nacotchtank had a reliable supply of fish and the area soon became a well-known fishing ground. Additionally, the rivers were surrounded by a vast area of woodlands, which housed wild game such as bison, turkey, deer, and geese. The Nacotchtank were also accomplished in agricultural practices, as they would move inland from the rivers to occupy fertile and flat land and grow a variety of crop species, most of which belonged to
7370-410: The Nacotchtank tribe, depopulated from Eurasian diseases, collectively relocated to Anacostine Island , which has since been renamed to Theodore Roosevelt Island. Theodore Roosevelt Island is located directly across from Georgetown in the Potomac River, between what is now Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. By 1697, the Nacotchtank population living on Theodore Roosevelt Island sought refuge in
7504-493: The Nacotchtank would chip away large chunks of the rock, which would then be taken back to the individual villages, where they would complete formation of whatever artifact they were intending to create. Quartzite, which was relatively-easily chipped and available in a quarry in the Piney Branch area of what is now Northwest Washington, D.C., was used in forming sharp-edged tools, particularly spears and arrow points. Soapstone
7638-422: The Nacotchtank, now had the leverage to begin encroaching on Nacotchtank territory. Additionally, with the two groups now close to one another and in constant contact, the Europeans from Maryland introduced to the area a number of Eurasian infectious diseases to which the Nacotchtank had no immunity , such as measles, cholera, and smallpox. As a result, the Nacotchtank suffered a large population loss. In 1668,
7772-523: The Patawomeke referring to the Nacotchtank as their "mortal enemies." As such, the Patawomeck chief not only allied with the colonists, but also helped them in avenging the death of Fleet's party and in attaining corn by providing roughly 40-50 warriors to take part in a raid against the Nacotchtank. As a result of the raid, a mixed colonial and Patawomeke force killed 18 Nacotchtank people and drove
7906-434: The Piscataway tayac who resided in a village named Mayone in present-day Prince Georges County of Maryland, 15 miles south of the Nacotchtank land base. The tribe's physical location, which had a mild, temperate climate in the mid-Atlantic, allowed for the Nacotchtank to become a flourishing, self-sustainable community with an abundance in myriad natural resources. By being situated along the confluence of two major rivers,
8040-529: The Potomac River in Georgetown, gathered findings of a "hair comb, hammer stone, and pendants." This land, upon which modern-day Georgetown is established, was the site for the Tohoga village, which Fleet had observed in his time as captive . Tohoga was a trading village, with it being located along the river bank of the Potomac and thus permitting easy access for traders. Although the proximity of rivers
8174-444: The Potomac River, to the east of Georgetown centered on Capitol Hill . On September 9, 1791, three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The same day, the federal district was named Columbia, a feminine form of Columbus , which was a poetic name for the United States commonly used at that time. Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800. Congress passed
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#17327732403088308-524: The Powhatan Confederacy, they were large enough so that they could lose such affiliation and side with the colonists. The Patawomeke, an Algonquian-speaking people, were established across from the Nacotchtank along the Potomac River, within what are now Stafford and King George counties of Northern Virginia. Such proximity to one another resulted in long-standing hostility, with the Chief of
8442-399: The Residence Act, the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington , who signed the bill into law on July 16, 1790. Formed from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km ). Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory,
8576-410: The Senate, the statehood bill was introduced again in January 2023. The bill would have made D.C. into a state with one representative and two senators, with the name Washington, Douglas Commonwealth (thus keeping the same abbreviation Washington, D.C.). The legalities, reasons, and impact of statehood have been heavily debated in the 2020s. Washington, D.C., is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of
8710-439: The Summer Isles , his impressions of the indigenous peoples of the Potomac River. Specifically speaking of the Nacotchtank, Smith writes that they were a welcoming people who "did their best to content [him]." Smith also noted the presence of a river which made the area appear to be very pleasant. These initial encounters were peaceful and did not affect the Nacotchtank existence. In the year 1621, Captain Henry Fleet, age 20, took
8844-480: The Three Sisters as "a symbiotic plant complex of North and Central America without an equal elsewhere". The agronomist Jane Mt. Pleasant writes that the Three Sisters mound system "enhances the soil physical and biochemical environment, minimizes soil erosion, improves soil tilth , manages plant population and spacing, provides for plant nutrients in appropriate quantities, and at the time needed, and controls weeds". After several thousand years of selective breeding,
8978-581: The Three Sisters cropping system in 1910 reported that the Iroquois preferred to plant the three crops together, since it took less time and effort than planting them individually, and because they believed the plants were "guarded by three inseparable spirits and would not thrive apart". Among the Haudenosaunee, women were responsible for cultivation and distribution of the three crops, which raised their social status. Male roles traditionally included extended periods of travel, such as for hunting expeditions, diplomatic missions, or military raids. Men took part in
9112-580: The Three Sisters crops by Cahokian residents produced a food surplus large enough to support Cahokia's expanded population, as well as further cultures throughout the extended Mississippi River system such as those of the Mississippian and Muscogee . There is evidence that Cahokia held at least one great feast around 1050-1100 AD. The food served at these gatherings included, alongside a variety of other plants and animals, several domesticated squash varieties, maize, and wild beans. Food that needed to be processed, like cornmeal , would commonly be prepared at
9246-436: The Three Sisters, adapted to varying local environments. The milpas of Mesoamerica are farms or gardens that employ companion planting on a larger scale. The Ancestral Puebloans adopted this garden design in the drier deserts and xeric shrublands environment. The Tewa and other peoples of the North American Southwest often included a "fourth Sister", the Rocky Mountain beeplant , which attracts bees to help pollinate
9380-480: The Three Sisters, farmers harvest about the same amount of energy as from maize monoculture , but get more protein yield from the inter-planted bean and pumpkin. Mt. Pleasant writes that this largely explains the value of the Three Sisters over monoculture cropping, as the system yields large amounts of energy, and at the same time increases protein yields; this polyculture cropping system yielded more food and supported more people per hectare compared to monocultures of
9514-647: The United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the district three votes in the Electoral College for the election of president and vice president, but still not affording the city's residents representation in Congress. After the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the city , primarily in the U Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, which were predominantly black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until more than 13,600 federal troops and Washington, D.C., Army National Guardsmen stopped
9648-513: The already-implemented L'Enfant Plan , with the new McMillan Plan leading urban development in the city throughout the movement. Much of the old Victorian Mall was replaced with modern Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts architecture ; these designs are still prevalent in the city's governmental buildings today. Increased federal spending under the New Deal in the 1930s led to the construction of new government buildings, memorials, and museums in
9782-504: The area. Blizzards affect Washington once every four to six years on average. The most violent storms, known as nor'easters , often impact large regions of the East Coast . From January 27 to 28, 1922 , the city officially received 28 inches (71 cm) of snowfall, the largest snowstorm since official measurements began in 1885. According to notes kept at the time, the city received between 30 and 36 inches (76 and 91 cm) from
9916-577: The average yield of Native American farms in the 19th century was 18.9 bushels per acre (1.2 t/ha), but opines that pre-historic yields might have been as low as 10 bushels per acre (0.6 t/ha). As the Iroquois and other Native Americans did not plow their land, Mt. Pleasant and Burt concluded that their lands retained more organic matter and thus were higher in yields of maize than early Euro-American farms in North America. Maize, beans, and squash, whether grown individually or together, have
10050-547: The beans and squash. The Three Sisters crop model was widely used by a number of First Nations in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands region. European records from the sixteenth century describe highly productive Indigenous agriculture based on cultivation of the Three Sisters throughout what are now the Eastern United States and Canada, from Florida to Ontario. The geographer Carl O. Sauer described
10184-562: The capital farther west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider the proposal. In the Organic Act of 1871 , Congress repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown , abolished Washington County , and created a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia. These steps made "the city of Washington...legally indistinguishable from the District of Columbia." In 1873, President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd as Governor of
10318-432: The capital moved from Philadelphia . In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria , was officially recognized as the federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia , including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created
10452-608: The capital. In the Compromise of 1790 , Madison, Alexander Hamilton , and Thomas Jefferson agreed that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the Southern United States . On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act , which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River . Under
10586-627: The center for the monopolized fur trade with the Iroquois . In November 1622, the Nacotchtank faced their first death at the hand of colonial forces. This took place at the time of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War , a battle between English colonists and the Powhatan Confederacy. One tribe that the colonists closely allied with during this time was the Patawomeke (or Patawomeck ). Though the Patawomeke were initially part of
10720-565: The city's 900 acres (3.6 km ) of athletic fields and playgrounds, 40 swimming pools, and 68 recreation centers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates the 446-acre (1.80 km ) United States National Arboretum in Northeast Washington, D.C. Washington's climate is humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ), or oceanic ( Trewartha : Do bordering Cf downtown). Winters are cool to cold with some snow of varying intensity, while summers are hot and humid. The district
10854-730: The city's classical-style architecture include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire style, including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building , and the modernist Watergate complex . The Thomas Jefferson Building , the main Library of Congress building, and the historic Willard Hotel are built in Beaux-Arts style , popular throughout the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Meridian Hill Park contains
10988-421: The city, was then tasked with completing its design. Though Ellicott revised the original L'Enfant plans, including changing some street patterns, L'Enfant is still credited with the city's overall design. By the early 20th century, however, L'Enfant's vision of a grand national capital was marred by slums and randomly placed buildings in the city, including a railroad station on the National Mall. Congress formed
11122-530: The city. Many of the government buildings, monuments, and museums along the National Mall and surrounding areas are heavily inspired by classical Roman and Greek architecture. The designs of the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building , Washington Monument , National Gallery of Art , Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial are all heavily drawn from these classical architectural movements and feature large pediments, domes, columns in classical order, and heavy stone walls. Notable exceptions to
11256-469: The city. Precipitation occurs throughout the year. The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 6, 1918, and on July 20, 1930. The lowest recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 11, 1899 , right before the Great Blizzard of 1899 . During a typical year, the city averages about 37 days at or above 90 °F (32 °C) and 64 nights at or below
11390-447: The corn, beans, and squash came from her breasts, hands, and navel respectively; sunflowers from her legs; strawberries from her heart; tobacco from her head; and purple potatoes or sunchokes from her feet. It is said that in 1779, Seneca Chief Handsome Lake wished to die after the US military killed Haudenosaunee communities and villagers. Handsome Lake, grief-stricken, envisioned
11524-420: The creation of a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress . As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state , and is not one itself. The Residence Act , adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River. The city was founded in 1791, and the 6th Congress held the first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after
11658-482: The district . Alexandria's citizens petitioned Virginia to retake the land it had donated to form the district, a process known as retrocession . The Virginia General Assembly voted in February 1846, to accept the return of Alexandria. On July 9, 1846, Congress went further, agreeing to return all territory that Virginia had ceded to the district during its formation. This left the district's area consisting only of
11792-497: The district over the next few decades. Georgetown's street grid and other administrative details were formally merged with those of the City of Washington in 1895. However, the city had poor housing and strained public works, leading it to become the first city in the nation to undergo urban renewal projects as part of the City Beautiful movement in the early 20th century. The City Beautiful movement built heavily upon
11926-404: The district with a total area of about 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m ). Washington Union Station is designed in a combination of architectural styles. Its Great Hall has elaborate gold leaf designs along the ceilings and the hall includes several decorative classical-style statues. Three Sisters (agriculture) The Three Sisters ( Spanish : tres hermanas ) are
12060-523: The district, though the chairman of the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations, Ross A. Collins of Mississippi , justified cuts to funds for welfare and education for local residents by saying that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers." World War II led to an expansion of federal employees in the city; by 1950, the district's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents. The Twenty-third Amendment to
12194-488: The eastern border of the city and the neighborhood in southeast, D.C., are named "Anacostia" after the latinized version of Nacotchtank. The entirety of the Nacotchtank tribe, prior to colonization, was situated within the modern borders of the District of Columbia. The tribe was situated along the intersection of two major rivers—the Potomac and the Anacostia —and thus, the majority of Nacotchtank settlements were along
12328-736: The establishment of weeds . The prickly hairs of some squash varieties deter pests, such as deer and raccoons . Although this synergy had been traditionally reputed among American cultures, scientific confirmation has arrived only much more recently. Much of this research was performed in the Soviet Union in the early 1970s and published in several volumes of Biochemical and Physiological Bases for Plant Interactions in Phytocenosis edited by Andrey Mikhailovich Grodzinsky [ uk ; ru ] . Dzubenko & Petrenko 1971, Lykhvar & Nazarova 1970 and Pronin et al. 1970 find
12462-430: The feast site alongside non-food items that gave the feasts ritual or ceremonial importance. Eventual overuse of the environment in the areas surrounding Cahokia began to degrade the land. As the surrounding woodlands were cleared through overuse, runoff frequently flooded the crop fields throughout the growing season, limiting the ability to grow the squash, maize, and corn Cahokia subsisted upon. By c. 1350 ,
12596-473: The federal level, politically disenfranchised since the city's residents do not have voting representation in Congress; the city's residents elect a single non-voting congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment , passed in 1961. Washington, D.C. anchors the southern end of
12730-684: The first to use electrical wiring in its design. Notable contemporary residential buildings, restaurants, shops, and office buildings in the city include the Wharf on the Southwest Waterfront , Navy Yard along the Anacostia River , and CityCenterDC in Downtown . The Wharf has seen the construction of several high-rise office and residential buildings overlooking the Potomac River . Additionally, restaurants, bars, and shops have been opened at street level. Many of these buildings have
12864-404: The freezing mark (32 °F or 0 °C). On average, the first day with a minimum at or below freezing is November 18 and the last day is March 27. Washington, D.C., was a planned city , and many of the city's street grids were developed in that initial plan. In 1791, President George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant , a French-born military engineer and artist, to design
12998-439: The great popularity and demand of one of its cash crops — tobacco . This large expansion necessitated vast areas of land that could be turned into tobacco plantations as the demand was exceedingly high. In 1663, Cecil Calvert , the second Lord of Baltimore, granted Thomas Dent an 850-acre tract of land named Gisborough on the Potomac River, which bordered the principal Nacotchtank village. The colony, in such close proximity to
13132-443: The hemisphere's most important crop, maize , was more productive than Old World grain crops. Maize produced two and one-half times more calories per given land area than wheat and barley. Nutritionally, maize, beans, and squash contain all nine essential amino acids . The protein from maize is further enhanced by protein contributions from beans and pumpkin seeds, while pumpkin flesh provides large amounts of vitamin A ; with
13266-464: The individual crops or mixtures of monocultures. Scholars Mt. Pleasant and Burt reproduced Iroquois methods of cultivation with Iroquoian varieties of maize at several locations in New York . They reported maize yields of 22 to 76 bushels per acre (1.4 to 4.8 tonnes per hectare). Soil fertility and weather were the main determinants of yield. Mt. Pleasant also questioned the conventional wisdom that
13400-418: The initial preparation for the planting of the Three Sisters by clearing the planting ground, after which groups of related women, working communally, performed the planting, weeding, and harvesting. Based on archaeological findings, paleobotanist John Hart concludes that the Haudenosaunee began growing the three crops as a polyculture sometime after 700 BP . The Haudenosaunee frequently traded their crops, so
13534-549: The institutions of sedentary life. The Three Sisters appear prominently in Haudenosaunee oral traditions and ceremonies, such as Iroquois myths and the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. According to legend, the Three Sisters grew out of Earth Woman's dead body. During the time of creation , Sky Woman fell to Earth, where she had a daughter named Earth Woman. With the west wind, Earth Woman conceived twin sons . The first twin, Sapling ,
13668-550: The larger Piscataway tribe of Southern Maryland, whom the Nacotchtank had previously been allied with. With the increased sense of tolerance of indigenous peoples in Pennsylvania, the Piscataway, which the Nacotchtank coalesced with, migrated north and settled on land bordering the lower Susquehanna River around the year 1700. Though the Nacotchtank were absorbed by the Piscataway and relocated north, some aspects of Washington, D.C., are named after them. The river surrounding
13802-514: The monopoly on the fur trade that the Nacotchtank had for long enjoyed. When the Jesuits arrived in Maryland in 1634, who wanted to adapt church teachings for the natives, Fleet helped by translating the Algonquian language used by the Nacotchtank to English, under the guidance of Governor Leonard Calvert . Beginning in the 1650s, the Province of Maryland experienced an economic boom with
13936-406: The mounds. In the northeastern U.S., this practice increases soil temperature in the mound and improves drainage , both of which benefit maize planted in spring. In Haudenosaunee or Iroquois farming, the fields were not tilled , enhancing soil fertility and the sustainability of the cropping system by limiting soil erosion and oxidation of soil organic matter . A modern experiment found that
14070-537: The need for each crop could vary substantially from year to year. Jane Mt. Pleasant surmises that the Haudenosaunee may have typically inter-planted the three crops, but they could also have planted monocultures of the individual crops to meet specific needs. The Maya diet focused on the Three Sisters. Maize was the central component of the diet of the ancient Maya and figured prominently in Maya mythology and ideology . Archaeological evidence suggests that Chapalote-Nal-Tel
14204-469: The need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the constitution does not specify a location for
14338-496: The new capital. He enlisted the help of Isaac Roberdeau, Étienne Sulpice Hallet and Scottish surveyor Alexander Ralston to help lay out the city plan. The L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. L'Enfant was also provided a roll of maps by Thomas Jefferson depicting Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Turin, and Milan. L'Enfant's design also envisioned
14472-552: The north and south sides of the National Mall, respectively, are home to many of Washington's iconic museums, including many Smithsonian Institution buildings and the National Archives Building . Washington hosts 177 foreign embassies ; these maintain nearly 300 buildings and more than 1,600 residential properties, many of which are on a section of Massachusetts Avenue informally known as Embassy Row . The architecture of Washington, D.C., varies greatly and
14606-404: The number of blocks away from the Capitol. Most streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW), north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW), and diagonal avenues, many of which are named after states . The City of Washington was bordered on the north by Boundary Street (renamed Florida Avenue in 1890); Rock Creek to the west, and
14740-568: The port of Georgetown , founded in 1751, and the port city of Alexandria, Virginia , founded in 1749. In 1791 and 1792, a team led by Andrew Ellicott , including Ellicott's brothers Joseph and Benjamin and African American astronomer Benjamin Banneker , whose parents had been enslaved, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point; many of these stones are still standing. Both Maryland and Virginia were slave states , and slavery existed in
14874-480: The portion originally donated by Maryland. Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the district, although not slavery itself. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to the expansion of the federal government and notable growth in the city's population, including a large influx of freed slaves. President Abraham Lincoln signed
15008-621: The principal village followed a particular pattern of settlement called dispersed settlement . In this pattern, there would be rather-isolated dwellings with large open fields in between them. The resultant community would have groupings of between 2 and 100 dwellings clustered together, with a shared, designated spot that would have fallen trees that were to be used for fire-burning. In between these clusters were plots of land, ranging from between 20 and 100 acres, which would be used in cultivating various plants and crops. The Nacotchtank lived in wigwams —which were dome-shaped huts—and longhouses , as
15142-498: The principal village, there were multiple smaller villages, as observed by Fleet in his time held captive. Fleet mentioned four of these villages: Tohoga , Mosticum , Shaunetowa , and Usserahak . Various excavations have been performed throughout Washington D.C., which point to more specific areas of Nacotchtank villages. For example, a 1997 excavation near the Whitehurst Freeway, a major freeway which runs parallel to
15276-479: The region in the early 17th century. The Nacotchtank , also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries , maintained settlements around the Anacostia River in present-day Washington, D.C. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes ultimately displaced the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland . Nine cities served as capitals to
15410-502: The rest from their cabins before plundering and burning the village. Captain Fleet remained a captive of the Nacotchtank, but would escape in 1626. In 1626, when Captain Fleet escaped, he left with a great sum of knowledge of the Nacotchtank way of life and would use that information in partnering in trade with other tribes. Fleet began sailing up and down the East Coast, trading with various indigenous tribes and eventually taking over
15544-413: The term by attaching a prefix "A" to "Nacostine," creating the name Anacostine. Etymologically, keeping the "A" is indeed a closer derivation of the term "anaquashtank," but the Nacotchtank preferred to omit prefixes and suffixes from words. Any present cultural honoring of the Nacotchtank bears the legacy of the latinized version, Anacostine , as seen in the naming of the river which borders eastern D.C.,
15678-439: The terrain that was dug up proved indigenous existence on the site, with findings such as quartzite points, a broken biface, and fragments of broken pottery. According to Proudfit, blades of quartzite that taper off into points on each end are indicative of the Nacotchtank, as they are found commonly in areas of Nacotchtank settlement and rarely in settlements of the nearby tribes. Additionally, Proudfit posits that fragmented pottery
15812-430: The three main agricultural crops of various indigenous people of Central and North America : squash , maize ("corn"), and climbing beans (typically tepary beans or common beans ). In a technique known as companion planting , the maize and beans are often planted together in mounds formed by hilling soil around the base of the plants each year; squash is typically planted between the mounds. The cornstalk serves as
15946-521: The use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton , or of the Potomac , near Georgetown , provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for a federal town". In Federalist No. 43 , published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety. The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 emphasized
16080-442: The violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned, and rebuilding from the riots was not completed until the late 1990s. In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act providing for an elected mayor and 13-member council for the district. In 1975, Walter Washington became the district's first elected and first black mayor. Since the 1980s, the D.C. statehood movement has grown in prominence. In 2016,
16214-540: The water. The Nacotchtank's principal village, Nachatank, was situated along the eastern bank of the Potomac River on the land of what is now the Bolling Air Force Base . It was here that the Nacotchtank chief was noted as residing, along with 80 others, in Smith's journal. Smith summarized his findings in his "Map of Virginia," which plotted the principal village of the Nacotchtank in 1608. In addition to
16348-412: The werence (subordinate Chief to the tayac), close kin, priests, and councilors. Here, the werence would store tribute, oftentimes corn and hides, from surrounding villagers. The abode of the werence and all religious buildings within the main village were protected by a palisade , and there were approximately 80 warriors contained within the village. The structure of the Nacotchtank occupation outside of
16482-541: The width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet (6.1 m). Despite popular belief, no law has ever limited buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument , which remains the district's tallest structure. City leaders have cited the height restriction as a primary reason that the district has limited affordable housing and its metro area has suburban sprawl and traffic problems. Washington, D.C., still has
16616-407: The workweek. The Washington metropolitan area , which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia , is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area , with a 2023 population of 6.3 million residents. A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed the district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on
16750-699: The yield of Huron agriculture at 8 to 22 bushels per acre (0.5 to 1.4 t/ha), the higher yields coming from newly cultivated land. The Huron lived in Ontario near the northern limit of where agriculture was feasible and had less fertile soils than many other regions. Nevertheless, they produced surpluses for trading with nearby non-agricultural peoples. Bruce Trigger estimates that the Hurons required .4 to .8 acres (1,600 to 3,200 m ) of land under cultivation per capita for their subsistence with more cultivated land required for trade. Sissel Schroeder estimates that
16884-399: Was born normally , but his evil twin brother, Flint, was so impatient that he came out of his mother's side, killing her during childbirth . As Earth Woman died, either she wished for her body to sustain the people or Sky Woman sowed on her grave the seeds she had brought when she fell to Earth, but never planted before. Out of Earth Woman's body parts grew various plants: the spirits of
17018-586: Was domesticated first, followed by maize and then beans, over a period of 5,000–6,500 years. European records from the sixteenth century describe highly productive Indigenous agriculture based on cultivation of the Three Sisters throughout what are now the Eastern United States and Canada, where the crops were used for both food and trade. Geographer Carl O. Sauer described the Three Sisters as "a symbiotic plant complex of North and Central America without an equal elsewhere". Agricultural history in
17152-462: Was accessed mainly through the Rose Hill quarry of what is now Northwest Washington, D.C., and was utilized in producing various vessels such as bowls and pipes. There is also evidence of the Nacotchtank producing pottery, which has been found in fragments in an excavation of the terrain under the White House. The Carolina Dog was the only domesticated animal that lived among the Nacotchtank and
17286-533: Was flat and much more suitable for agriculture than the uneven land bordering the rivers on which they were initially established. The smooth terrain allowed the Nacotchtank to grow the large stores of corn that were appealing to European colonists. With the Nacotchtank's under the loose confederacy of the Piscataway Chiefdom, the Nacotchtank spoke the Piscataway language. The Piscataway language
17420-557: Was integral for the Nacotchtank, there is evidence of the Nacotchtank existence further inland, which comes from the findings of archaeologist Samuel Proudfit, who worked for the United States Department of the Interior . Proudfit studied the excavation that was performed when the swimming pool was being constructed in the White House, which is relatively inland from any of the Nacotchtank river settlements. Analysis of
17554-490: Was intended for protection against the rival Powhatan Chiefdom of eastern Virginia. The Piscataway Chief, or tayac, held a loose confederacy over the Nacotchtank in addition to the other surrounding tribes. The rank of the tayac was supreme to that of the individual chiefs of the smaller tribes that belonged to the Piscataway Chiefdom. These lower-ranked chiefs were known as werences (also known as werowances/weroances) . The Nacotchtank werence would collect and pay tribute to
17688-495: Was left behind after battle and disease was absorbed into the Piscataway. In his 1608 expedition, English explorer John Smith noted the prosperity of the Nacotchtank and their great supply of various resources. Various pieces of art and other cultural artifacts, including hair combs, pendants, pottery, and dog bones, have been found in excavations throughout Washington, D.C., on Nacotchtank territory. The name Nacotchtank (and variants Anaquashtank , Nacothtant , or Nachatanke )
17822-478: Was the dominant maize species, though it is likely others were being exploited also. Numerous legends from indigenous cultures surround the existence and production of the Three Sister crops. One legend personifies the crops as three human sisters. The first sister, who represents beans, is described as a toddler dressed in green. The second sister, who represents squash, is a slightly older child dressed in
17956-435: Was typical of other tribes along the East Coast . The villages also had menstrual huts, which women would visit when menstruating, and communal sweat houses, where those who were sick could visit and be healed. Two types of rock were readily available in Nacotchtank territory for their use— quartzite and soapstone . These two types of rock were available in various quarries throughout Nacotchtank territory. At these quarries,
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