The Division

The Division. Make No Little Plans. , Soon after the Federal government moved to Washington in 1800, this area attracted shops and stables to serve the new residents. But where Constitution Avenue runs today, just south of this sign, Tiber Creek flowed - and often flooded. In 1815 engineers channeled the creek into the new Washington Canal., By 1860, however, the canal had deteriorated into an open sewer. Impoverished families, both African American and white, lived in small wood-frame houses along unpaved, often muddy streets and alleys. Crime was rampant., The Civil War (1861-1865) brought thousands of soldiers and civilians into the capital, and brothels and saloons thrived. This area became known as "Hooker's Division," a pun on the name of General Joseph Hooker, who commanded an Army division defending Washington., After the war ended, Alexander "Boss" Shepherd, head of Washington's powerful Board of Public Works, filled and paved over the canal, though the area remained flood-prone. Reformers such as the Central Union Mission and Anti-Saloon League moved here, as did cabinet workshops, lumber yards, and other industrial facilities. But the old businesses continued - despite the 1908 arrival of the District Building, home to the city government and police department - until Congress finally outlawed prostitution in 1914, and Prohibition shut down the saloons a few years later., The Division, including homes, a church, and a school, was bulldozed for construction of the Federal Triangle in 1926. Five years later, Congress renamed B Street (and the filled-in canal) Constitution Avenue., As you walk through the passageway on your way to Sign 11, please note the typical Federal Triangle cobblestone walk and rusticated (rough-edged) limestone.