MacArthur Boulevard and the Washington Aqueduct

MacArthur Boulevard and the Washington Aqueduct. . , MacArthur Boulevard was originally named Conduit Road because it provided access to the aqueduct that carried the District's water supply. After World War II it was renamed in honor of General Douglas MacArthur., From 1902 to 1962, the Washington and Great Falls Electric streetcar ran from Georgetown to Glen Echo and Cabin John along the verge of the Palisades overlooking the C&O Canal and the Potomac River. Until 1900, most of the land along the Palisades was farmland and pasture, except for a few Federal style farmhouses, cattle barns, dairies and a slaughterhouse., The Georgetown Reservoir Castle Gatehouse , In 1850, Congress tasked the US Army Corps of Engineers with providing a water supply to Washington, DC. Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs chose the Great Falls of the Potomac River as the water source and designed the delivery system for the Washington Aqueduct. The Georgetown Reservoir Castle Gatehouse was designed to control the water going from the Georgetown Reservoir to the McMillan Treatment Plant, four miles east., From the 1920s to the 1980s call boxes like this one were used to report fires. They were refurbished in 2019 thanks to generous contributions by the residents and friends of the Foxhall Community Citizens Association., The Engineers Castle: Original oil painting by Peter Waddell 2020