Crossroads of Trade and Travel

Crossroads of Trade and Travel. Battle of Bladensburg. Standing here, where the 120-foot long wooden bridge would have carried the road between Bladensburg and Washington D.C., a traveler in 1814 would have experienced all manner of travel in and out of the popular community. Established in the 1740's as a 40-foot-deep port with tobacco weigh stations, and two doctors by 1776. Road converged from Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington , and Upper Marlboro. By 1814, Bladensburg's port was in decline due to silting, but it had become popular for day-trippers, especially from Georgetown, to experience the Spa Springs. By the Mid-nineteenth century, the port closed. Today the river continues to silt and remains very shallow., Across the Anacostia River and to the left is "George Washington House" - an early store attached to the former Indian Queen Tavern. Further along Annapolis Road are the Hilleary-Magruder House, the Market Master building, and Bostwick. Built by Christopher Lowndes, a wealthy merchant, rope maker, and shipbuilder, Boswick was also home to Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert. These historic buildings are reminders of the historic crossroads of Bladensburg., "...just after crossing the bridge at the entrance of the town, the view is very inviting. Soft masses of smoke-like willows lean over the water, and the stream curves in graceful sweeps around wooded points, as if tentatively feeling its way to the land of faery..." - Eben Jenks Loomis, "Wayside Sketches," 1894