The Federal District and Alexandria

The Federal District and Alexandria. . On January 22, 1791, George Washington appointed Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker to survey the boundaries of the "District of Columbia," to be the home of the Federal government of the United States. The President instructed the surveyors to begin with Alexandria's Jones Point as the southern corner of a 10-mile square diamond to be laid out on a north-south axis. Each corner and mile mark along the boundary was indicated by a large stone. Today, 37 of the 40 old boundary stones survive, including one near the lighthouse at Jones Point. The District boundaries also encompassed the former Maryland port of Georgetown and the farmlands, forests and small settlements surrounding the confluence of the Potomac with the Anacostia River and Rock Creek. At the center of the diamond, the boroque plan for Washington City was designed and [unreadable] out by French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant., Alexandria did not prosper from its association with the District of Columbia. The District never became the major commercial and industrial center that had been envisioned and Congressional policies tended to favor Washington interests to the detriment of Alexandria and even Georgetown. In 1836, the District [unreadable] southeast of the river [unreadable] to accept the retrocession of Alexandria and "Alexandria County" to the sovereignty to the Commonwealth of Virginia.