Washington is the capital of the USA

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This is the well known fact that Washington – is the capital of the USA. There are government and Capitol there. But Washington is not very big sity, at least not so bid as New York, without skyscrapers and big business part. At all it is forbidden to built the buildings higher than Capitol. Yes, Washington is not the business capital, but as well it can be as a cultural and tourist capital of the USA.

Let us explore a little bit the history of this enigmatic city in order the better understand the present and maybe make some hints to future. So… The founder of Washington was of course George Washington. Black founder of Centralia. George Washington was the son of a slave and a woman of English decent. Soon after his birth, his father was sold to a new owner and his mother took him to the home of the Cochranes, a white couple who later adopted George. Anti-black laws, restrictions, and prejudice followed George and the Cochranes through six moves and six different states from Virginia to Washington. Prior to 1857, a law barring blacks from land ownership prevented George from owning the property he found in Washington. The Cochranes filed for the land chosen by George in order to protect it for him. In 1857 the law was repealed and the Cochranes deeded back to George, the 640 acres he had lived on and developed for the past five years. At last, receiving that title symbolized the attainment of basic rights and in 1875 George filed his intention of laying out a new town, originally named Centerville. In 1889 the town had a population of 1,000 and George had sold his 2,000th lot. In the Panic of 1893, Centralia was hard hit, and George saved the town by purchasing properties gone to the auction block and making wagon trips alone to Portland, Oregon for supplies, and by lending considerable sums of money with no interest or terms for repayment.

The one very big part of present Washington is Georgetown. Georgetown was officially formed in 1751 when the Maryland Assembly authorized the foundation of a town bordering the Potomac River. It was named George Town in honor of King George II, and very soon it prospered. In the beginning, tobacco was the lifeblood of the fledging community, which soon expanded into a profitable shipping community. Because of its access to the Potomac, Georgetown soon had a commercial and industrial hub around the waterfront where flour mills and wharves were constructed. As a result of its prosperity, Georgetown gained a reputation as the fashionable quarter of the capital and was visited by important people from all over the world.

And that famous river Potomac! It has seen enormous changes since the arrival of Native Americans in the first century C.E. The Native American settlements are now gone. Wars have been fought in along its shores; canals, railroads and factories built beside it; and the Nation's Capital built on its banks.

Probably as a result of its popularity, Georgetown was annexed to Washington City in 1871 by Congress. This little plot of land on the Potomac had evolved from a dirt patch to a part of a nation's capital.

After the Civil War, large numbers of freed slaves migrated to Georgetown. These African Americans flourished, becoming increasingly self-reliant. However, all this changed when in 1890 the Colorado and Ohio Canal was severely damaged by a Potomac River flood, and the Canal Company was forced into bankruptcy. The area went into an economic depression, and in the period after the First World War, the area gained a reputation as one of the worst slums in Washington. However, this trend started to reverse itself, when in the 1930s, New Deal government officials discovered Georgetown's beauty and convenience. Georgetown once again became the hip enclave for the affluent and politically inclined.

Today, Georgetown still boasts many attractions. One of these is the C&O Canal. The C & O Canal is scenic park area covered with camping sites, and over 180 miles of biking and hiking trails. Another attraction is the Old Stone House, which is the oldest intact house in the area. It was originally built in 1765 for Christopher Lehman and now is owned by the National Park Service, which opens it to the public.

Georgetown also sports a quiet, darker side. That side is evidenced in its cemeteries. Designed by George de la Roche, Oak Hill Cemetery was a gift to the town from philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran. Its Gothic chapel and gates were the work of the artistic genius of James Renwick, the architect responsible for the Smithsonian Castle and the Renwick Gallery. Among those buried here are Abraham Lincoln's young son Willie and his secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton; Benjamin Harrison's secretary of state, James G. Blaine; and John Howard Payne, author of “Home, Sweet Home.” The graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers attest to Georgetown's divided loyalties during the Civil War. The Van Ness Mausoleum, also part of the cemetery, was built in 1833 by George Hadfield and eventually was moved to the cemetery in 1872. Another graveyard in Georgetown is the Mount Zion Cemetery. It was established by the Female Union Band Society, a benevolent association that provided free burial for blacks. Even with its darkness, Georgetown is truly a beautiful place.

Washington D.C. was the first carefully planned capital in the world. The capital of the U.S. was tran