Glass r 2- ^ ^ 
 
 Book 0*^ \\\ 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON A SURVEY 
 
 OF 
 
 JACKSON CITY, D. C 
 
 WITH A PLAN FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 BY 
 
 «k 
 
 GEORGE \i . HUGHK.^:, 
 u. s. CIVIL ea'gi^:eer. 
 
 PRINT^i, ., . r\ G. I 
 1837. 
 
, -^HBPORT, &c. 
 
 Washington City, D. C. t 
 August 25^/2, 1836. i 
 
 jrENTLEMEN, 
 
 At your request I organized a party of 
 .Engineers to survey, under my instructions, the 
 grounds recently purchased by your association, 
 from Richard B. Mason, Esq. for a site of a new 
 city on the Potomac River. Not having received 
 any specific instructions from your board, nor being 
 possessed of their viaws on the subject, I exercised 
 my own discretion in regard to the mode of conduct- 
 ing the survey, and have endeavoured to cause it lo 
 be made in such a manner, that an accurate opinion 
 of the position, detailed hydrographical and topogra= 
 phical features, and its capabilities of improvement 
 generally may be conveyed to those, who have never 
 personally visited the site of the proposed city. 1 
 have adopted the method commonly used by the 
 Engineer Department in delineating the sites for 
 works of fortification by supposing the surface of 
 the ground to be intersected by horizontal planes, at 
 every two feet of elevation above medium tide. The 
 red lines, are the lines of level and survey, and the 
 black curves, are the traces of the horizontal planes, 
 intersecting the surface of the ground. The eleva- 
 tions above tide are shown by red figures on the red 
 lines, and by black figures on the curves. By means 
 of these references, it is easy to determine by mere 
 inspection, the elevation of any particular point 
 above tide, or its relative position with regard to any 
 other point. The red figures on the diverging lines 
 from the high water mark, show the soundings 
 
reduced to the lowest water, observed during the 
 survey. It is behoved tliat this plan cannot fail to 
 convey, the most accurate and detailed information 
 in relation to your purchase, even to its minutest 
 features.: and will enable you to project on a map, 
 such plans for a city as may best suit your views. 
 I have refrained from suggesting any but general 
 ideas in relation to a precise plan for a city, as it 
 regards streets, squares, &c., in order to avoid con- 
 fusion on the map, and will confine myself principally 
 to the necessary improvements, preliminary to the 
 building of a large commercial city. The map made 
 from the survey is on a scale of 24 inches to the 
 mile, and is intended to exhibit the minutest features 
 of the ground on which it is proposed to found a 
 city. The second map is on a scale of four inches 
 to the mile, and shows the relative position of Jack- 
 son City, to the other neighbouring cities and the 
 various works of internal improvement in the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 The property purchased by the Jackson City as- 
 sociation is situated in Alexandria County, D. C, on 
 •the Virginia side of the Potomac River, directly 
 opposite the city of Washington. It consists of 
 572 A. R. 23 P. including the area H. I. K. of 
 land, divided into two unequal portions, by Gravelly 
 or Flat Creek, through which the tide formally 
 ebbed and flowed ; but since the erection of the 
 dyke at tiie upper end, and the causeway at the 
 lower end, this creek is seldom submerged, indeed 
 never is, except in time of floods. It is however 
 wet and marshy, producing a luxuriant growth of 
 vegetation. The island formed by the creek and 
 river, called Alexander's or Mason's Island, is an 
 alluvial deposite of a deep and rich soil, and was no 
 doubt at one time always covered by the Potomac, 
 (and the high grounds south of the island formed the 
 shores of the river,) but gradually arose, above the 
 action of the tides by successive deposites of earthy 
 and vegetable matter and a gradual diminution. of. 
 
water in the river from above Georgetown. The 
 hiffest ffrounds on the island are but Httle more than 
 eight feet cibove ordinary tide, and the average not 
 more than four or five, so that the greater part of 
 the island is subject to occasional inundations. If 
 a city should be built on this site, the necessity of 
 a levee to protect it from the floods is obvious. 
 
 A large portion of the property amounting to 189 A. 
 B R. 34 P.* is south of Gravelly Creek, on elevated 
 ground, perfectly healthy, or will be rendered so 
 by the preliminary improvements, and is abundantly 
 supplied by numerous, and copious springs of cool 
 and delicious water. It is principally cleared and 
 was formerly cultivated as a farm, and like all the 
 farms, in the immediate vicinity, has been exhausted 
 by improper culture, but was naturally rich and 
 productive, and is very susceptible of improvement. 
 
 The morass of Gravelly Creek, is about 1000 feet 
 wide, and may be easily rendered perfectly dry at 
 no great cost, or converted into fine meadow land 
 depending on the plan, which may be adopted for 
 the city. 
 
 An examination of the map suggests three plans^ 
 or rather sites for the proposed city,. 
 
 First, to build on Alexander's Island. 
 
 Second, to build on the main land south of the 
 island. 
 
 Third, to build on both the island and main, mak- 
 ing the commercial quarter on the river and the 
 residences on the high ground. 
 
 First plan — To build on the island. The most 
 eligible plan on this supposition, is to erect wharves 
 for the shipping below the bridge.. I have indicated 
 in blue lines, the front line of wharfage in 1 2 feet 
 water, with a view of dredging to such depth of water, 
 as may be required, say 18 feet at low water or 22 
 at ordinary high tide and filling with the mud thus 
 excavated, between high water mark, and e/, leaving 
 
 * The island consists of 196 A. R. 2 U P. ; on Gravelly Crcek. 
 of 186 A. R. 08, P. 
 
 1* 
 
6 
 
 it an open \vliarf for the free flowing of the water 
 between that hne and B C. The surface- of the 
 mud filling should be covered a foot thick with clean 
 gravel and sand to make it healthy. But if it be 
 deemed advisable to attain deep water immediately 
 without dredging, it will of course be necessary to 
 carry out the line of open wharfage to 18 feet water. 
 By extending from A to F 1300 feet, we shall have 
 22 feet at high tide. Perhaps an intermediate line, 
 wdll be found the most judicious. In either case 
 2500 feet of wharfage wnll be obtained, and in course 
 of time, when the wants of commerce may require 
 more room, the wharves may be carried above the 
 bridge to any necessary extent. 
 
 ESTIMATE OF COST. 
 
 For stone wall on f/, of dry masonry, 2500 
 perches of rubble stone, for foundations, 
 at 50 cents per perch, .... 1250 00 
 
 7392 perches of dry masonry^ at $1 00 per 
 
 perch, 7392 00 
 
 For dredging on the curves between B & F 
 60,000 cubic yards, at 25 cents per yard, 
 including the filling behind e/, . . 15000 00 
 
 25,000 cubic yards of gravel, at 25 cents per 
 
 yard, 6222 00 
 
 8642 00 
 
 21222 00 
 
 For protection wall along face of levee, from 
 
 A to E, 6000 perches of rubble stone, at 
 
 25 cents per perch, .... 3000 00 
 
 5000 cubic yards of earth thrown up on in- 
 side of protection wall for levee, at 12^ 
 
 cents per cul)ic yard, .... 625 00 
 
 For repairs and extension of dyke at head 
 
 of Gravelly creek, ..... 350 00 
 
 For expense of opening and grading 
 
 streets, and draining low grounds, . . 1000 00 
 
 Total, exclusive of wharves, ... 834839 CO 
 
 4 or 5000 perches of stone thrown on the 
 line AE, would soon reclaim that portion 
 of the shoal lying between it and high wa- 
 ter mark. 
 
 Open wharf, 2500 feet long and 200 feet 
 v.ide, . . . . . $140000 CO 
 
 Open wharves 200 feet by 36, may be built 
 for about S2000 apiece. 
 
7 
 
 It is proposed to build this large wharf of eight 
 lows of white oak piles, the piles in each row six 
 feet- apart, to be braced together and capped, and 
 the several rows connected with stringers, and these 
 stringers covered with gum plank. This forms a 
 solid but expensive work, and a less permanent 
 wharf might be built for much less money. It is 
 only necessary in the first instance to build out solid 
 to the line ef, and then extend the open wharfage 
 afterwards, as the wants of commerce may require ; 
 one or two wharves extended to 18 or 20 feet water, 
 would probably be amply sufficient for sometime to 
 come, for large ships engaged in foreign commerce ; 
 and generally 12 or 14 feel would accommodate the 
 vessels employed in the coal trade, which w411 be 
 the great business transacted on the Potomac, and 
 will probably require all, or even more than all your 
 wharfage for that purpose. 
 
 The superiority of the Cumberland coal over all 
 other Bituminous coals heretofore discovered, for 
 every purpose to which coals are applied, has been 
 established beyond all question ; and as it can be 
 delivered in Baltimore, New-York, Boston, &c. &c. 
 quite as cheap as any other coal, it will most likely 
 in a great degree, supercede all other kinds of fuel ; 
 for the use of the parlour, it is free from the objec- 
 tions to which most other coals are liable, and is in 
 fact productive of a more pleasant and cheerful fire 
 than wood. In Allegany county, it is used univer- 
 sally, and the people could not be induced to burn 
 wood, if it were furnished free of expense ; and 
 such it is predicted, will be the case in all the 
 northern cities, and indeed on the v/hole Atlantic 
 board, as soon as the peculiar qualities of this coal 
 are well understood and fully appreciated. It is' 
 believed that the Chesapeake and Ohio canals, a 
 work of the largest dimensions in the U. S., 60 X 
 6 feet, even with a double set of locks, will scarcely 
 be able in a few years, to satisfy the demands, 
 
8 
 
 wliicli will be made annually on the mineral treas- 
 ures of Allegany ; and when tlie communication is 
 open with the west, it will be inadequate to the 
 wants of commerce. When this is the case, the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, at all times an im- 
 portant work, will become a most useful and power- 
 ful auxiliary. 
 
 But it is not coal alone that will be brought down 
 the canal. Iron manufactured and in pigs, lumber, 
 pork, beef, whiskey, wool, tobacco, grains of all 
 kinds, lime, marble, &c. will constitute its descend- 
 ing trade, while the wants of the w^est will be mainly 
 supplied through the same channel. As this matter 
 is now well imderstood, and as it is obvious that 
 this immense trade will give active employment to a 
 large amount of shipping, and a vast number of 
 seamen and labourers ;. it is quite unnecessary for 
 me to enlarge on the subject, for it is well known 
 by all who are familiar with the wants of this trade, . 
 that your whole line of wharfage, will be inadequate 
 to its demands, when once in active operation. 
 
 The second plan is to build on the high grounds 
 south of Gravelly creek, on the main land.. 
 
 There can scarcely be a more beautiful position 
 for a city, than these grounds afford ; it rises gradu- 
 ally from the river to the heighth of 144 feet ; but the 
 general elevation t f the plair, is from 50 to 60 feet, 
 and may be rendered perfertly healthy with the 
 exception of the marsh of Gravelly creek, which it is 
 proposed to remove or cover with gravel ; there is no 
 low ground in the vicinity, and no cause whatever 
 lo produce disease ; on the contrary its elevation 
 and exposure are conducive to health and com- 
 fort. 
 
 The marsh of Gravelly creek, as has been stated,, 
 is on an average about 1000 feet wide, and would 
 be covered by every high tide, if it were not for the 
 artificial means used to prevent the flow of the. tides 
 over or through it. It is proposed to excavate a 
 basin in this marsh 300 feet wide, (and fill up the 
 
9 
 
 remainder above the actions of tides and floods,) 
 and 20 feet deep at low water, which will admit 
 vessels of the largest class engaged in foreign trade. 
 By excavating a basin 2500 feet above the bridge 
 or causeway on the turnpike, would give a wharfage 
 of very nearly a mile in length, with ample room 
 on both sides for the transaction of any amount of 
 business ; along the basin on both sides, would be 
 built the warehouses and magazines, receptacles for 
 the various commodities of trade, while the elevated 
 grounds more remote from the business quarter, 
 are capable of accommodating an immense popula- 
 tion ; and the adjacent country offers most beautiful 
 and romantic sights for country residences, and 
 elegant villas, while Alexander's Island might be 
 converted into fine public grounds or useful gardens, 
 to minister to the pleasures, comforts and wants of 
 the citizens 
 
 At the upper end of the morass, it would be neces- 
 sary to excavate only wide enough to admit freely 
 the canal boats from the river descending from 
 Georgetown, to transfer their loads to large vessels 
 in the basin. If the Alexandria canal, which is 
 located through your grounds, should be completed, 
 boats might cross the aqueduct in Georgetown, and 
 tranship from a high level, which would be a great 
 convenience in shifting the loads ; besides this, 
 some arrangement might doubtless be effected witli 
 the company, by which the surplus v/ater could be 
 obtained for hydraulic power, (and there will be a 
 great excess of water,) which could here be applied 
 to great advantage for manufacturing purposes. 
 
 By reference to the general map, it will be seen 
 that a large shoal extends from the mouth of Gravel- 
 ly creek to the main channel of the Potomac ; and 
 in order to obtain access from it to the proposed 
 basin, it will be first necessary to dredge out a 
 channel, wide and deep enough, to admit vessels of 
 large burden. After this communication has been 
 opened, it will be in great danger of filling up again 
 
10 
 
 wilh alluvial deposiles ; and works must be erected 
 to prevent such consequences. For this object, it 
 is proposed to construct a jeitee from the point C, 
 and carry it out nearly parnllcl to the cut, for the 
 purpose of retaining ihe earthly matter, w^ith which 
 the water is always fully charged in times of floods, 
 and thus filling up between D and C, and preventing 
 such substances from being deposited in our new 
 channel. This jettee will be about 7000 feet long ; 
 a cross section will be a right angle triangle, formed 
 of ^tw^o rows of white oak piles, driven 6 feet apart, 
 capped and braced together and covered with 4 inch 
 oak stuff. If placed at the point D, this jettee would 
 have the effect of improving the general navigation 
 of the river, and would therefore merit the liberal 
 patronage of Congress. 
 
 ESTIMATES. 
 
 Canal for the largest size boats employed on 
 the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 2400 feet 
 long by 45 X 6 feet ; 24000 cubic yards, 
 at 12i- cents, . . . . . . 3000 00 
 
 For guard lock at mouth of Gravelly creek, 1000 00 
 
 4000 00 
 
 BASIX. 
 
 S500 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 20 feet 
 deep at low water ; 630000 cubic yards, 
 at 25 cents per yard, . ; . .157500 00 
 
 Artificial channel to main channel of river, 
 10000 feet long, 150 feet wide, and an 
 average of 18 feet cutting, giving 20 feet 
 at low water ; 1,000,000 cubic yards, at 
 25 cents per yard, .... 250000 00 
 
 -407500 00 
 
 7000 feci (linear) of jettee, at $10 00 per 
 
 linear foot, 70000 00 
 
 or, 481500 00 
 
 Allowing for Contingencies, Total, . . $500000 00 
 
 The third plan may be said to be a compound o^ 
 the tw^o first,^ erecting the wharves and warehouses 
 for the accommodation of commerce below the 
 l)iidgc on the river, where now at ordinary low tide, 
 there is from 25 to 27 feet water ; connecting such 
 portions of the island as are not required for building 
 
11 
 
 into gardens and pleasure grounds, filling in ti 
 marsh of Gravelly creek, and then building the prin 
 cipal part of the city on the high, grounds, on the 
 main land. This will perhaps prove to be the most 
 economical and convenient plan for your contem- 
 plated improvements, although the best plan, leaving 
 the expense out of view, is undoubtedly the second 
 one proposed. 
 
 In addition to the estimates of the first plan, it 
 will be necessary in this case to render the marsh 
 of Gravelly creek dry, for which purpose We shall 
 require 200,000 cubic yards of gravel at 12j cents 
 per yard, $25,000, a large portion of which will be 
 taken from the grading of the streets and from the 
 gravel bank in the immediate vicinity of the marsh. 
 
 The subject of a national foundry has for some 
 time past excited public attention, and has been 
 brought to the notice of Congress by the executive 
 with an earnest recommendation to authorize the 
 erection of such an establishment to meet the urgent 
 wants of the government, and relieve it from the em- 
 barrassments under which it labours in procuring 
 proper ordnance, for the armaments of forts and 
 ships of war ; and it is believed that Congress wall 
 not long resist the urgent appeals made to it from a 
 co-ordinate branch of the government on this im- 
 portant subject, so intimately connected with the 
 defence of the countr}^ If it should be determinec 
 to establish a National Foundry in the District o" 
 Columbia, it is behoved, that a better position fo 
 that object than the property purchased by your as 
 sociation cannot be found. Water power, if it be 
 deemed most expedient to use it, can be obtained 
 from the Alexandria canal, or, if that work should 
 not be speedily completed, it can be procured from 
 the Potomac at the great falls, through the depres- 
 sions in the country back from the river. It has 
 been asserted that steam is more economical for 
 manufacturing purposes than water power, and it 
 is contended that this is the result of many fair ex- 
 
12 
 
 p^riments in large manufactories, but not having 
 seen the details of these experiments, and not know- 
 ing the circumstances under which they were tried, 
 I am unable to express any opinion on the relative 
 merits of the abstract proposition ; although I can 
 readily imagine that under certain circumstances 
 steam power will be the most economical, particu- 
 larly when used in a position, where it is not neces- 
 sary to open artificial means of communication to 
 obtain access to markets, and where fuel is cheap. 
 Many practical men prefer steam, which of course 
 in the winter is the more controlable, certain and 
 efficient agent, and its economy (if it exists) may 
 consist in using the waste steam in heating the esta- 
 blishment. The best Bituminous coal can be ob- 
 tained in the greatest abundance from Alleghany, at 
 a cost not exceeding $3 50 per ton, and large beds 
 of iron ore are known to exist in the same region, 
 but the quality of the iron wdiich they will yield, 
 particularly as regards the fabrication of ordnance 
 cannot be known, till they have been reduced and 
 experiments made with the metal ; but no doubts 
 can exist in relation to the Antietam ores, which arc 
 the best in the known world for cannon, possessing 
 within themselves all the ingredients necessary to 
 constitute the very best gun metals. The loss from 
 the strictest proof at the Columbian Foundry where 
 these ores are used, is not on an average over one 
 per cent, and frequently less, while at other foun- 
 dries it is sometimes as high as 25 per cent, and 
 even higher. I have seen specimens of granite 
 which I was informed was procured within three 
 or four miles of your purchase, of a remarkably fine 
 quality, and it is said to occur in large quantities, 
 and of course could be furnished cheap for build- 
 ings. Excellent soap stone is known to exist in 
 large beds not far from Georgetown. 
 
 Jackson City, from its position, will possess pe- 
 culiar and important advantages for trade. It is 
 connected with Washington City by a new and free 
 
13 
 
 National bridge. The turnpikes to Alexandria and 
 Fairfax court-house pass through it, and it is also 
 intersected by the road from Georgetown to Alex- 
 andria, and by the location of the Alexandria canal. 
 The rail-road from Richmond to Fredericksburg is 
 nearly completed, and surveys have been made with 
 a view to its extension to Alexandria and Washing- 
 ton, in which case, its terminus will be Jackson 
 City, and will open a direct communication with the 
 James river improvements and the southwestern 
 works ; and thus attract a large portion of the rich 
 cotton crops of those fertile regions to Jackson City, 
 where a transfer of tonnage must necessarily take 
 place, and thus of course confer a great advantage 
 on that locality for the cotton trade. The great 
 thoroughfare of travel between the north and south, 
 southwest, will be through Baltimore and the Dis- 
 trict cities, when the works at present under way 
 are completed ; and it is probable that many years 
 will not elapse, before a direct^ communication by 
 means of rail-roads will be open between the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia and New Orleans, and the former 
 will become the recipient of the advantages which 
 will result from those great works, which Vv^ll em- 
 brace a large portion of the middle, western, and. 
 southwestern parts of the Union, and converge upon, 
 her as a common centre. 
 
 The position which you have selected for a nevv- 
 city may be said to be at the head of natural naviga- 
 tion for vessels of large size, for between George- 
 town and the Potomac bridge, obstructions are con- 
 stantly accumulating, and under present circum- 
 stances must continue to accumulate, which will 
 render it impossible, unless the channel is annually 
 dredged out, or some other plan adopted to prevent 
 the yearly alluvial deposits from taking place, for 
 vessels engaged in foreign trade to reach George- 
 town, although there is 27 feet water at ordinary 
 low tide at the Virginia draw of the bridge. Last 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 year ilie shoal in the Georgetown channel below 
 Analostan island was removed by the liberality of 
 Congress; giving 15 feet water, where formerly 
 there was but seven feet, but I am informed it has 
 already filled in at least three feet, which will ren- 
 der the operation of dredging a constant or useless 
 task ; for the same uniform laws, which formed the 
 shoal which has been removed, must continue, un- 
 less modified by artificial means to produce similar 
 results.* In a report which I had the honor to pre- 
 pare in 1834, the detailed operatirns of the natural 
 means by which these shoals were formed are ex- 
 plained. In the Washington City channel there is 
 only seven or eight feet water at low tide at the 
 draw. The last great flood has deepened the Vir- 
 ginia channel opposite the arsenal, I am informed 
 to 1 7 feet at low water. The terminus of the Che- 
 sapeake and Ohio canal is on the Potomac at 
 Georgetown, nearly opposite the mouth of Gravelly 
 creek. The high |^-ounds on the Washington and 
 Georgetown side of the river, Analostan island, and 
 the causeway of the bridge, form a beautiful and 
 commodious harbour for canal-boats to pass to and 
 from the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, and your pro- 
 posed canal and basin in Gravelly creek. Between 
 the Bridge and Alexandria it would be exceedingly 
 dangerous at almost any season of the year, to 
 attempt to navigate the river with canal-boats. So 
 tiiat Jackson City may be considered as the point 
 of union (as an inspection of the map and chart vv^ill 
 show) of river and canal navigation; and seems to 
 spread out its bosom to receive the rich productions 
 v.'hich are destined to descend the canal, and to har- 
 bour the larger vessels in giving value to those pro- 
 ductions, by ti-ansporting tliem to markets and in 
 exchange bringing back rich merchandize for con- 
 sumption in the far west. 
 
 * The chart of the river shows the state of the obstruction in 
 1332, before the chainiel was dredged out. 
 
15 
 
 At the present time the course of trade seems to 
 be unsettled, by the universal efforts in every section 
 of the union to attract capital, by opening nevvr chan- 
 nels of intercommunication, but there is not most 
 assuredly, any avenue to the west, so well calculated 
 to attract and retain trade, as the Chesapeake and 
 Ohio Canal to Cumberland, and a rail-road from 
 thence across the mountains (many intelligent per- 
 sons believe that in less than 10 years there will be a 
 continuous Canal communication from the Potomac 
 to the Western waters ;) and it requires not the 
 spirit of prophecy to foresee, that at the terminus on 
 the Atlantic coast of that magnificent and truly 
 national work, a great commercial city with a large 
 population and corresponding capital must grow up ; 
 and that its prosperity can be checked by no ordinary 
 cause. 
 
 New Orleans is an example of the irresistible 
 operations of the laws of commerce in overcoming 
 the most formidable natural obstacles — quite as 
 irresistible as the will of the Russian Autocrat, at 
 whose imperial fiat, a great capital sprung into ex- 
 istence from the swamps of the Neva. 
 I have the honor to be. 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 GEORGE W. HUGHES, 
 
 U. S. Civil Engineer, 
 
iKJp'IO