No bridge connected the east and west ends of Pennsylvania Avenue SE over the Anacostia River between 1845 and 1890.
Benning Bridge, erected upstream in 1805, and the
11th Street Bridges, built downstream in 1820, also carried vehicular and foot traffic over the Ancostia. But the
Uniontown "suburb" was
platted in the Anacostia area in 1854, and development slowly began to turn the agricultural land into businesses and residences. The destruction of the Eastern Branch Bridge in 1846, however, significantly slowed growth in the area for five decades. The first push for a new bridge connecting the two sides of Pennsylvania Avenue occurred in 1870. The effort was led by
John S. Gallaher, an auditor for the Commissioner of Pensions in the
United States Department of the Interior. He had the support of Lieutenant R.M. Hall, assistant quartermaster in the U.S. Army, and Army Colonel Henry Naylor. Hall's idea was for a large and beautiful bridge, one which would also carry large pipes of fresh water to the eastern part of the city. The area of the city east of the Anacostia suffered extensively from lack of fresh water, and Hall called for extending the
Washington Aqueduct east of the river. A large reservoir would be constructed atop the Washington Heights (near what is now the intersection of Good Hope Road SE and Alabama Avenue SE) to receive this water, and the flow of gravity would inexpensively deliver it to homes throughout the area. But Hall's idea was opposed by the citizens of Uniontown, who feared the loss of retail and "
carriage trade" businesses. Hall abandoned the proposal, and moved away in 1872.
Formation of the East Washington Citizen's Association About 1871, a real estate development known as "East Washington Heights" began. Intended to be a "suburb" of "the city" catering to wealthy individuals, it never took off. Nevertheless, citizens in the areas that would later become
Dupont Park,
Fairfax Village,
Fort Davis,
Hillcrest,
Penn Branch, and
Randle Highlands wanted a bridge to reconnect "their" Pennsylvania Avenue (which ran through the center of their neighborhoods) with the Pennsylvania Avenue "in the city". Initially, the citizens of "East Washington" were primarily interested in issues like more clean water, better roads, and improved sewers. On January 31, 1879, they formed the East Washington Citizen's Association (EWCA) to lobby for action. But building a new bridge over the Anacostia River only slowly became an issue for them, and it was not until 1875 that the EWCA began agitating for one.
Legislative efforts to authorize a bridge On February 19, 1886, the EWCA formed a committee to lobby the Commissioners of the District of Columbia (the city government) and Congress on the issue. Later that year, Representative
Barnes Compton (
D-
Maryland) introduced legislation in Congress to build a $60,000 bridge of wood on wooden piers. The bill was co-sponsored in the
House of Representatives by Representative
Jonathan H. Rowell (
R-
Illinois), and received significant political support from key representatives such as
William W. Morrow (R-
California),
Philip S. Post (R-Illinois),
Archibald M. Bliss (D-
New York), and
Louis E. McComas (R-
Maryland). Companion legislation was introduced in the
Senate by Senator
John James Ingalls (R-
Kansas) and Senator
Joseph C.S. Blackburn, and strongly supported by influential Senators
Preston B. Plumb (R-Kansas) and
Isham G. Harris (D-
Tennessee). But the Compton bill was strongly opposed by the D.C. Commissioners. The legislation required that the city pay half the cost of the structure, and Commissioner Samuel E. Wheatley led the city government in adamantly refusing to support the bill. Some time prior to May 27, 1886, Captain F.A. Mahan, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assistant to the Commissioners, drew up new plans for the bridge. The EWCA lobbyists met personally with the D.C. Commissioners on December 5, 1886, to urge their support for the project. Most of the congressional lobbying was done by Weller, who personally testified before the
House Committee on the District of Columbia and the
Senate Committee on the District of Columbia. The new bridge's dedication was a major event in the history of Washington, D.C. Some 8,000 to 10,000 people attended the event, which included a half-hour artillery salute from the U.S. Army's Light Battery A, a parade from
Capitol Hill to the bridge's northwestern terminus, a
regatta, and
fireworks. The
United States Marine Band, conducted by John Philip Sousa, provided music throughout the afternoon and evening. The EWCA also hosted a
barbecue, in which three
ox were roasted and 4,000 loaves of bread used to feed the crowd roast ox sandwiches.
Economic effects of the 1890 bridge Construction of the 1890 bridge led to extensive new development east of the river. As the bridge was being built in 1889, a consortium known as the Bliss-Havemeyer Syndicate (which included Representative Archibald Bliss,
New York state bed manufacturer Erwin C. Carpenter, Representative
Thomas J. Clunie, Senator and railroad attorney
Chauncey Depew, Senator
George Hearst, and sugar refining magnate John W. Havemeyer) purchased of land in the former East Washington Heights development. They built a number of roads in the area, and landscaped the plots along Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Alabama Avenue SE, and Branch Avenue SE with gardens, orchards,
pavilions, and shade trees. Bliss constructed the Overlook Inn at 31st Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, a
hotel and
supper club that became very popular with city residents. On June 18, 1898, Congress chartered the East Washington Heights Traction Company to provide streetcar service in the new development. The company was authorized to build a new railroad bridge over the Anacostia River parallel to the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge. Congress required is streetcars to run from Barney Circle across the bridge to Pennsylvania Avenue SE, down Pennsylvania Avenue SE to the District border with Maryland. A branch line would travel south from Pennsylvania Avenue SE along Branch Avenue, and then southwest at Bowen Road (now Alabama Avenue SE) to the intersection with Harrison Street (now Good Hope Road SE), where a neighborhood called "Good Hope" was growing. Another branch line left Pennsylvania Avenue SE at Minnesota Avenue SE, and traveled along Minnesota Avenue to Harrison Street. A third branch line left Pennsylvania Avenue SE at 28th Street SE, traveled north to Anacostia Road SE, and the followed Anacostia Road SE to the neighborhood of East Washington Park (now the neighborhoods of
Greenway and
Fort Dupont). The firm incorporated on August 13, 1898. The Bliss-Havemeyer Syndicate collapsed, however, when Havemeyer and Hearst died, and Bliss became seriously ill. The Overlook Inn lost its popular appeal, and only a few homes were built. However, in 1903, Colonel Arthur E. Randle formed the United States Realty Company, bought out the Bliss-Havemeyer Syndicate properties and East Washington Heights Traction Company, and founded the settlement of
Randle Highlands. Randle, who only arrived in Washington in 1885, founded the development of
Congress Heights in 1890. The development was wildly successful, and he invested heavily in the Belt Railway, a local streetcar company. In 1895, the Capital Railway Company extended its streetcar lines over the 11th Street Bridges and down
Nicholls Avenue to Congress Heights. ==Notes==