124-516: The Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 was passed by the District of Columbia city council on June 29, 1976, and went into effect September 24, 1976. The law banned residents from owning handguns , automatic firearms , or high-capacity semi-automatic firearms , as well as prohibited possession of unregistered firearms . Exceptions to the ban were allowed for police officers and guns registered before 1976. The law also required firearms kept in
248-488: 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
372-499: 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
496-535: A bill in Congress that would return Alexandria County - less the towns of Alexandria and Falls Church - to the District of Columbia, but it was reported adversely by committee despite President Taft's stated desire that the District be expanded. In 1910, Senator Thomas Carter launched an effort to roll back what he called the "Crime of '46". In 1913, Taft expressed a desire to challenge the 1846 retrocession in court, but as he
620-549: A bill to retrocede the entire District to Maryland and Virginia, to "relieve Congress of the burden of repeated petitions on the subject" of slavery in the District. In 1839 some members of Congress proposed retrocession of the portion of the district west of Rock Creek to Maryland. Proposals going back to the 1840s would handle retrocession north of the Potomac similarly to how it was done south of it, with jurisdiction over this area returned to Maryland following approval of Congress,
744-545: A commuter tax, and determining who sits on its local courts, whose judges are all appointed by the president. The District is further limited by federally formed bodies like the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) , which exercise considerable power in the District with only minority local representation, in the case of NCPC, or with no local representation, such as for
868-503: A debate about banks in general. When the recharter bill failed and the banks were forced to cease operations in July, Alexandria called a town meeting at which they unanimously chose to begin pursuing retrocession. At the same time, Senator Robert J. Walker (D-MS) introduced a bill seeking to ascertain the desire of residents outside the limits of the City of Washington with regard to retrocession, but
992-408: 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
1116-496: 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
1240-540: A newspaper in Alexandria, changed its masthead to include the Virginia seal and declare itself printed in "Alexandria, Virginia". The Virginia General Assembly , however, did not immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that the people of Alexandria County had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, the Virginia legislature voted to formally accept
1364-431: 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
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#17330941013941488-466: A resolution passed to create a petition. But a competing group, led by merchant Phineas Janney, held a meeting shortly thereafter and agreed to draw up a petition against retrocession. A petition with 500 names supporting retrocession was submitted to Congress, as was a letter protesting it, but Congress declined to act on it and the matter died. In 1832, Philip Doddridge , chairman of the Committee on
1612-577: 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
1736-657: 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
1860-627: 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
1984-468: 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
2108-402: A vote of 32–14, with a mix of Southerners and Northerners on each side. It was signed into law by James K. Polk on July 9, 1846. Polk chose commissioners as called for in the law on August 18, most notable among them was George Washington Parke Custis . Custis had originally opposed retrocession, but once Virginia agreed to provide relief, Custis supported it. The referendum on retrocession
2232-483: Is estopped from raising the point which he seeks to have decided. He cannot, under the circumstances, vicariously raise a question, nor force upon the parties to the compact an issue which neither of them desires to make. The United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia had previously ruled that retrocession was constitutional in the 1849 case Sheehy vs. the Bank of the Potomac . Federal bills that would reunite
2356-861: 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
2480-650: Is home to many national monuments and museums , located most prominently on or around 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
2604-480: 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
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#17330941013942728-470: 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
2852-411: Is that the state of Maryland may not want to take the district back. In the opinion of former Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, discussing the matter in 1998, retroceding the district to Maryland without that state's consent may require a constitutional amendment. An alternative proposal to retrocession was the District of Columbia Voting Rights Restoration Act of 2004 (H.R. 3709), which would have treated
2976-492: 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
3100-623: 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
3224-685: 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
3348-530: The District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C. , 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
3472-638: 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
3596-477: 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
3720-602: The Twenty-third Amendment , passed in 1961. Washington, D.C. anchors the southern end of 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
3844-428: 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
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3968-406: The U.S. Supreme Court held that Virginia had de facto jurisdiction over the area returned by Congress in 1846, and dismissed the tax case brought by the plaintiff on the grounds that a citizen lacked standing. The court, however, did not rule on the core constitutional matter of the retrocession. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Noah Haynes Swayne stated only that: The plaintiff in error
4092-616: 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
4216-414: The War of 1812 , calls for retrocession began to subside. In 1822, the citizens of the District again began to desire a different political situation. A committee appointed by Washington City called on Congress to either make the area a territory or to retrocede it to the original states. That same year bills were introduced that would return Georgetown to Maryland and Alexandria to Virginia. In 1975,
4340-600: 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
4464-515: 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
4588-473: 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
4712-668: The 21st century, some members of Congress such as U.S. Representative Dan Lungren , have proposed returning most parts of the city to Maryland in order to grant the residents of the District of Columbia voting representation and control over their local affairs. These attempts, mostly supported by Republicans, have failed: H.R. 810 & H.R. 381 , both sponsored by U.S. Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH); and H.R. 1858 , H.R. 1015 , H.R. 3732 and H.R. 2681 , all sponsored by U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX). The proposals received little support from congressional Democrats. One problem with retrocession
4836-504: 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
4960-523: The CFA. There were Federal bills to reunite the southern portion of the District with Virginia as early as 1803, but it was only in the late 1830s that these garnered local support. People from Alexandria actively protested the 1803 effort. Early efforts, supported by the Democratic-Republicans, focused on the lack of home rule and were often combined with retrocession of some or all of the area north of
5084-496: The City of Washington was newly incorporated in Washington County. Following the 1801 Act, citizens located in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, thus ending their representation in Congress, their ability to weigh in on Constitutional amendments, and their unlimited home rule . Ever since, residents of the District and the surrounding states have sought ways to remedy these issues, with
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5208-457: The City of Washington were allowed to elect their own mayor, but in Alexandria that did little to quell discontent and after an 1822 debate in the local papers, the Grand Jury again voted for retrocession and a committee to promote it. In 1824, Thomson Francis Mason , future mayor of Alexandria and grandson of George Mason , called an informal town meeting at which retrocession was discussed and
5332-465: The Committee expressing support of relief if retrocession were carried out. Town leaders then expected a bill that would provide for both, causing many to believe that the issues were tied together and that to vote for retrocession would be to vote for Congress to take on Alexandria's debt. Later the House decided to decouple the issues and to get it passed had to abandon relief altogether. On February 16, 1846,
5456-422: The District could be immediately returned without the consent of the residents and the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia. Some representatives rejected the idea of retrocession entirely and concluded that the Congress lacked the constitutional authority to return the territory. When debate began to be intertwined with calls to move the capital elsewhere, after the burning of the White House and Congress during
5580-459: 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
5704-431: The District government was reorganized with citizens allowed to elect their own mayor and city council members, but all laws were subject to Congressional review , which has been used in limited, but notable ways. Congress also still exercises its unique power over the District in other ways, such as limiting the height of D.C.'s buildings, preventing the District from calling its mayor a governor, preventing it from imposing
5828-475: The District of Columbia and placed the federal territory under the exclusive control of Congress. The District was organized into two counties: Washington County on the east side of the Potomac River ; and Alexandria County on the west side. The incorporation of the City of Alexandria was retained in Alexandria County, and the incorporation of the town of Georgetown was retained in Washington County, while
5952-476: The District of Columbia do not support retrocession. A 1994 study showed that only 25% of suburban residents polled endorsed retrocession to Maryland, and that number dropped to 19% among district residents. Opposition by district residents was confirmed in a 2000 George Washington University study when only 21% of those polled supported the option of retrocession. A 2016 poll by Public Policy Polling of 879 Maryland residents showed that only 28% supported annexing
6076-402: The District of Columbia while 44% were opposed. From the 1993 statehood failure through the failure of the 2009 House Voting Rights Act, neither statehood nor retrocession was a legislative priority by either party as supporters of D.C. voting rights pursued a partial legislative solution giving D.C. one House member. But in 2014, efforts again began to grant D.C. statehood. That effort led to
6200-526: The District of Columbia, attempting to codify District law and address grievances of residents, asked the Alexandria Town Council if they would like retrocession to Virginia, a delegate to Congress, or a local District legislature. The vote was held on January 24, 1832, with 437 voting for no change, 402 voting for retrocession, and 1 each for a delegate or legislature. Notably, those from outside Alexandria City voted overwhelmingly for retrocession and
6324-433: 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
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#17330941013946448-463: The District was brought to the Senate in 1836, U.S. Senator William C. Preston of South Carolina introduced a bill to retrocede the entire District to Maryland and Virginia, to "relieve Congress of the burden of repeated petitions on the subject". But both the abolition effort and retrocession failed to receive a vote that year. In 1837, when Washington City began to agitate for a territorial government for
6572-634: The District's application for a rehearing en banc was denied, it appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States . On June 26, 2008, the Court determined that the ban and trigger lock provision violate the Second Amendment. However, the ruling does not prohibit all forms of gun control ; laws requiring firearm registration remain in place as does the city's assault weapon restriction. District of Columbia Washington, D.C. , formally
6696-443: The District, which would necessitate one set of laws for both counties, the subject of retrocession was again debated in Alexandria and Georgetown. In 1840, retrocession received renewed attention, and concrete steps were taken that would eventually end with retrocession six years later. That year, the banks of the District of Columbia went to Congress to seek rechartering, but the simple measure got wrapped up in national politics and
6820-481: The House adopted a resolution to study the retrocession of the District to Maryland and Virginia, and on February 22 adopted a bill for the south portion. In May, the bill was debated in the House of Representatives. There was some concern about the constitutionality of retrocession, and about claims the law was being supported by eastern Virginia leaders to gain them further advantage over the west. Amendments allowing free black residents to vote on retrocession and making
6944-450: The Maryland legislature and local voters; the difference being that it would carve out a small rump district of land immediately surrounding the United States Capitol , the White House and the Supreme Court building which, in a 2008 bill, would become known as the "National Capital Service Area". The idea to retrocede all but the federal lands to Maryland dates back to at least 1848. In
7068-444: 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
7192-536: The Potomac as well. The sentiment for retrocession started to grow in the 1830s culminating in the retrocession of Alexandria County in 1847. The first local effort for retrocession started in 1818, when the Grand Jury for the County of Alexandria voted for retrocession and to appoint a committee to that end. Similar efforts in Georgetown and dissatisfaction elsewhere led to some modest changes, most notably that residents of
7316-440: The Potomac. Subsequent proposals to return all or part of the remaining portion of the District of Columbia to Maryland have been cited as one way to provide full voting representation in Congress and return local control of the district to its residents. D.C. statehood advocates have noted that ceding Washington, D.C. to Maryland may not have the support of the government in Maryland. The Organic Act of 1801 organized
7440-455: 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,
7564-539: The Senate and signed by president; it would have renamed the city Washington, Douglas Commonwealth and shrunk 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
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#17330941013947688-464: 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
7812-881: 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
7936-517: The Virginia portion was returned in March 1847. The District of Columbia's creation was the result of the District clause of the United States Constitution , but it has remained controversial and is opposed by some residents and those outside the District ever since. In the 1790 Residence Act the District originally consisted of 100 square miles (259 km ; 25,900 ha) of land, which
8060-508: 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
8184-498: 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
8308-782: The beginning of Civil War in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln in his first State of the Union address called for the original borders to be restored over security concerns, but this idea was rejected by the United States Senate . In 1866, Senator Benjamin Wade introduced legislation to repeal retrocession on the grounds that the Civil War proved the necessity of it for defense of the Capital. In 1873 and again in 1890 some residents of Alexandria petitioned congress to repeal retrocession, either because of
8432-491: The bill failed. In August 1840, the people of Alexandria presented a memorial for retrocession to Congress with around 700 signatures in favor and only 12 opposed. On September 28, 1840, the Alexandria Common Council approved a vote on the issue, and on October 12, the vote was overwhelmingly for retrocession (666–211). In contrast to the 1832 vote, the vote in the county outside of the town (now Arlington), however,
8556-405: The bill, those against retrocession gathered more than 150 opponents to it, relying on those who had expected retrocession to come with relief from payments for the canal and those who would not be allowed to vote under the House bill. The Washington City Board of Aldermen and Common council also expressed opposition to retrocession of Alexandria. The Senate passed the retrocession bill on July 2 by
8680-556: 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
8804-585: 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
8928-556: 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
9052-402: The city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during 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
9176-696: 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
9300-421: 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
9424-530: 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
9548-462: 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
9672-646: The council chose lawyer Francis L. Smith and Common Council member Robert Brockett. On February 2, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly suspended their rules to pass unanimously an act accepting the retrocession of Alexandria County if Congress approved. The debate over retrocession then moved to the U.S. Congress , where the Town Committee met with the District Committee of the House to ask for both retrocession and relief from their Canal debt, with
9796-477: 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
9920-490: 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
10044-425: The district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on 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
10168-427: 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. District of Columbia retrocession District of Columbia retrocession is the act of returning some or all of
10292-515: 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
10416-482: The erection of public buildings . With some objection, Congress complied. The constitutionality of the retrocession has been called into question. The contract clause found in Article One of the United States Constitution prohibits states from breaching contracts to which they are themselves a party. By annexing Alexandria in 1846, Virginia arguably breached its contractual obligation to "forever cede and relinquish"
10540-407: The first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after 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
10664-666: 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
10788-432: The foundation of the district in 1790 until the passage of the Organic Act of 1801 , citizens living in D.C. continued to vote for members of Congress in Maryland or Virginia; legal scholars therefore propose that the Congress has the power to restore those voting rights while maintaining the integrity of the federal district. The proposed legislation, however, never made it out of committee. Most residents of Maryland and
10912-404: 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
11036-499: The home to be "unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a trigger lock or similar device"; this was deemed to be a prohibition on the use of firearms for self-defense in the home. On June 26, 2008, in the historic case of District of Columbia v. Heller , the Supreme Court of the United States determined that the ban and trigger lock provisions violate the Second Amendment . Washington, D.C. 's gun laws are considered by many to be
11160-456: The land originally ceded by Virginia , including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created 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
11284-461: The land that had been ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district for the new national capital , which was moved from Philadelphia to what was then called the City of Washington in 1800. The land was originally ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland in 1790. After moving through various stages of federal and state approval,
11408-402: The large corporation taxes that had to be paid to fund the canal, restarted the retrocession movement when he introduced a motion that the mayor resend the results of the 1840 pro-retrocession vote to Congress and the Virginia legislature. It was approved unanimously on January 8, 1846. Two weeks later, Virginia replied asking that two representatives be sent to Richmond to discuss the matter, and
11532-499: The most common being retrocession, statehood , and constitutional amendment . While representation is often cited as a grievance of District residents, limited self-rule has often played a large or larger part in retrocession movements. In 1801, members of the levy courts that governed Washington County and Alexandria County were all chosen by the president, as was the mayor of the City of Washington from 1802 to 1820. Other officers, such as marshals and attorneys, were also appointed by
11656-409: The nation . The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for 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
11780-542: The nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks , D.C. 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
11904-463: 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
12028-496: 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
12152-541: 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
12276-473: The northern portion of the district, in part or in whole, with Maryland date back to 1803, but in contrast to the southern portion, local residents almost always voted against it when given the choice. In 1826, in an informal referendum on the retrocession of Georgetown, retrocession won by one vote, but due to low voter turnout it was decided that it was not supported by the general populace. In 1836, U.S. Senator William C. Preston of South Carolina introduced
12400-404: 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
12524-563: 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
12648-472: 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
12772-498: The president. When the District was unified into one government in 1871, the people again lost the right to elect their leaders and, from 1871 until 1975, the government was led by a governor, commissioners, or a mayor-commissioner appointed by the president. Almost immediately after the Organic Act of 1801, Congress took up proposals for the return of the territory to the states. An 1803 bill introduced by John Bacon of Massachusetts
12896-526: 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
13020-584: The residents of the county outside of Alexandria City voted against retrocession 106 to 29. President Polk certified the referendum and issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. When the results were announced on the evening of the 2nd, a large crowd gathered and marched through town singing songs and celebrating. With the presidential proclamation, Virginia gained title to Alexandria County, but had not extended its jurisdiction to it. Locals, however, began changing their names to note their location in Virginia, and on September 9 The Alexandria Gazette ,
13144-414: The residents of the district as residents of Maryland for the purposes of congressional representation. Maryland's congressional delegation would then have been apportioned accordingly to include the population of the district. Those in favor of such a plan argued that the Congress already has the necessary authority to pass such legislation without the constitutional concerns of other proposed remedies. From
13268-446: The resolution died with him. The campaign that drew the most attention began in 1909, powered by support of President William Howard Taft . Business leaders in Alexandria passed around a petition asking for the county to be restored to the District. President Taft and members of Congress supported it, citing the need for the District to expand to accommodate the growing government. In May 1909, Everis A. Hayes of California introduced
13392-472: The retrocession legislation on March 13, 1847. A celebration and local holiday in honor of retrocession was then held on March 20. The movement for retrocession was largely driven by a failure of Congress to manage the area as residents wanted them to and by a belief among merchants that retrocession would be good for business. A number of factors aided the movement to return the area to Virginia: The free black population, which Congress did not allow to vote,
13516-404: The rural and short-lived Alexandria County, D.C. After decades of debate about the disenfranchisement that came with district citizenship , and tensions related to perceived negligence by the U.S. Congress, this portion of the district was returned to Virginia in 1847. The remaining district assumed its current boundaries and area of 68.34 square miles (177.00 km ; 17,699.98 ha) east of
13640-458: The state tax burden or a belief that it was unconstitutional. In 1902, U.S. Representative James McMillan , chair of the District Committee introduced a resolution to force the Attorney General to bring a lawsuit that would determine the constitutionality of retrocession as he saw restoring Washington, D.C. to its original size as critical to the U.S. But when McMillan died later that year,
13764-468: The strictest in the United States, and have been challenged as infringing on constitutional rights protected by the United States Constitution 's Second Amendment . On March 9, 2007, portions of the law were declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , in a 2-1 ruling in the case District of Columbia v. Heller . After
13888-435: The territory for use as the permanent seat of the United States government. President William Howard Taft also believed the retrocession to be unconstitutional and tried to have the land given back to the District. The Supreme Court of the United States never issued a firm opinion on whether the retrocession of the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia was constitutional. In the case of Phillips v. Payne (1875),
14012-466: The town council of Alexandria opposed all three proposals, but if one were forced on them, they claimed to prefer retrocession. In 1835, the Common Council of Alexandria appointed a committee to deal with the town's interests before Congress. They presented an eleven-page memorandum to the District Committee urging retrocession, but it was not taken up. When the proposition of abolishing slavery in
14136-565: 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
14260-442: 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,
14384-461: The vote District-wide failed, but an amendment preventing Congress from paying any of Alexandria's debt was approved. The bill as proposed would have retained for the district all the land on the south side that was needed for the Long Bridge abutment, but this clause was removed during debate as it was deemed improper. The bill passed by a vote of 95–66. Prior to the United States Senate vote on
14508-532: 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
14632-566: Was by then a lame duck , it died with the end of his presidency. After he left office, Taft wrote in a 1915 article in National Geographic, that he had approached the Virginia delegation to Congress about recession, but learned that because the area had become so prosperous, Virginia would never willingly part with it. In 1850, after retrocession was completed, Virginia asked the federal government to return to it $ 120,000 (equivalent to $ 4,390,000 in 2023) that it had given it to aid in
14756-491: Was ceded to it by Maryland and Virginia, and it straddled the Potomac River . The 1801 Organic Act placed the areas under the control of the United States Congress and removed the right of residents to vote in federal elections. The portion west of the Potomac River, ceded by Virginia, included two parts comprising 31 square miles (80 km ; 8,029 ha): the city of Alexandria , at the extreme southern shore, and
14880-464: Was defeated 66–26; an 1804 bill from John Dawson of Virginia was rejected by a large majority without debate; an 1806 bill introduced by John Smilie of Pennsylvania was never brought up for a vote; and the same fate occurred to an 1820 bill introduced by William Darlington of Pennsylvania. Members of Congress proposed retrocession because they found disenfranchisement of the District's residents to be unacceptable. Members of Congress debated whether
15004-489: Was held on September 1–2, 1846. Prior to the referendum a series of public debates were held in August at locations such as the court house and Ball's Crossroads , and the night before the vote supporters of retrocession held a rally. The first vote in favor of retrocession was cast by the mayor, William Veitch, and it was never close. The residents of the Alexandria County voted in favor of retrocession, 763 to 222; however,
15128-527: Was overwhelmingly against (53–5). Even so, the effort temporarily stalled. In 1844, four years later, John Campbell of South Carolina introduced a resolution to retrocede the entire District to Maryland and Virginia, to prevent abolitionists from ending slavery in the District, but it was never taken up and he died a year later. In early 1846, three years after the Alexandria Canal opened, Alexandria Common Council member Lewis McKenzie , motivated by
15252-406: Was strongly opposed to retrocession because they would be subjected to Virginia's far less friendly laws limiting their movement and property rights, and requiring them to carry papers. As blacks could not vote with their ballots, those who could did so with their feet: the number of free blacks in Alexandria plunged by a third, from 1,962 in 1840 to 1,409 in 1850. One argument against retrocession
15376-483: Was that the federal government did, in fact, use Alexandria variously as a military outpost , a signal corps site, and a cemetery . ( The Pentagon as the national military headquarters would not be built until 1941.) Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, although not slavery itself. There were several attempts to have retrocession repealed or otherwise undone, but none of them succeeded. At
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