Notley and Eleanor Young
In the s a group of investors led by James Greenleaf began to build sturdy brick houses for congressmen and government workers.Their money ran out before they could finish, but a few of their projects can still be seen today on Fourth and N streets. Af ter the s bu i l ders constructed individual cottages or simple row houses of wood or brick. The city’s first military post (now Fort McNair) was establ i s h ed here in on stra tegic Green l e a f ’s Point, where the Anacostia and Potomac rivers meet. In the first ferries to Alexandria City across the Potomac encouraged settlement. Soon, however, the affluent moved on to the more fash- i on a bleNorthwest andCapitol Hill, and Southwest became home mostly to dock workers,laborers, tradesmen,and domestic workers.The waterfront became industrial,with warehouses,coal yards, armories, i ce houses, and shipyards. Eventually wholesale markets and Washington’s auto inspec- tion station and morgue were found here.In the s the wharves operated hours a day,and Washingtonians in search of a late-night meal— or more disreputable pastimes—could find them in Southwest. Sout hwest was called “the island” because the Tiber and James creeks separated it from the rest of the city. Beginning in the City Canal ran from the Potomac River near today’s Lincoln Memorial to the foot of Capitol Hill,then took a sharp right turn to end at the Anacostia River,
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