A Brief History Of Georgetown

Georgetown was founded in 1751, but constituted a vital part of the Province of Maryland, an English colony, as early as 1632, when its first settler, Henry Fleet, established a fur trading operation there. Georgetown, marking the highest point on the Potomac River ocean-faring ships could reach, rapidly evolved into a thriving port town.

In the 50 years following its establishment, it became dominated by tobacco warehouses and, in the late 1800s, industrial developments. In 1791, Benjamin Stoddert and other Potomac landowners agreed to transfer land to the federal government for the purpose of erecting our nation’s capital.

Today, Georgetown’s physical landscape retains its historical significance, thanks to neighborhood and preservation society efforts, as well as stipulations that buildings conform to certain standards set by the US Commission of Fine Arts, which simultaneously slows the rate of new development.

One of Georgetown’s iconic features, the C&O Canal, operated for nearly half a century despite never becoming profitable. It’s now maintained by the National Park Service and draws joggers and bikers to either gravel or paved tracks that run adjacent to it.

Many affluent members of the DC ecosystem, including politicians, government workers, university students, lobbyists and power brokers, call the chic and charming neighborhood home, while tourists are delighted and enticed by Washington Harbor, numerous high-fashion stores, the “Exorcist Steps” and Georgetown Cupcake (the treats, not the hours-long wait in lines that can stretch multiple blocks they must endure to snag them).