File:Historic towns of the Southern States (1904) (14784542195).jpg

Identifier: historictownsofsou00powe (find matches)
Title: Historic towns of the Southern States
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Powell, Lyman P. (Lyman Pierson), b. 1866
Subjects: Cities and towns
Publisher: New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons
Contributing Library: University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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or threemiles of poorly constructed pavements. Mostof the streets were worse than country roads.In summer the dust rose in clouds and blindedand choked those who ventured forth, while inwinter the mud was so deep that at times thestreets were well-nigh impassable. Until 1862there were no street railways. Charles Dickens, who was a visitor to Wash-ington during its period of struggle and recon-struction, drew this startling picture of thecapital: Take the worst parts of the City Road and Penton-ville, or the straggling outskirts of Paris, where the housesare smallest, preserving all their oddities, but especiallythe small shops and dwellings, occupied in Pentonville(but not in Washington) by furniture-brokers, keepers ofpoor eating-houses, and fanciers of birds. Burn thewhole down ; build it up again in wood and plaster ;widen it a little ; throw in part of St. Johns Wood ; putgreen blinds outside all the private houses, with a redcurtain and a white one in every window ; plough up all
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GRAND STAIRCASE IN THE HALL OF THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY. 139 I40 Washington the roads ; plant a great deal of coarse turf in everyplace where it ought not to be ; erect three handsomebuildings in stone and marble, anywhere, but the moreentirely out of everybodys way the better ; call one thePost Office, one the Patent Office, and one the Treasury ;make it scorching hot in the morning and freezing coldin the afternoon, with an occasional tornado of wind anddust ; leave a brick-field without the bricks in all cen-tral places where a street may naturally be expected ;and thats Washington. As there were few attractions to tempt thewealthy, plain and inexpensive dwellings weremostly in evidence. During the sessions themembers of Congress could hardly find suit-able quarters, since the inns and hotels, withfew exceptions, were of such a character thatthey brought forth vilification from those whowere compelled to live in them. Boarding-houses were somewhat better. An old direc-tory shows t

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