1901 HISTORY

1901.1 The Anacostia watershed contains lush habitat and diverse ecosystems, which in pre-colonial times supported the Nacotchtank Native Americans, whose name, when Anglicized, eventually became Anacostia. In the early years of European settlement, the river was known as the Eastern Branch of the Potomac. It formed the edge of the Washington, DC and was the terminus of important radial avenues extending out from the U.S. Capitol in the 1791 L'Enfant Plan.

1901.2 In 1799, the Washington Navy Yard was established about a mile south of the U.S. Capitol. It became the main port for receiving materials to construct Washington, DC's monumental buildings. Wharves and fisheries were established along the shoreline, and ocean-going vessels enjoyed a navigable channel up to the port of Bladensburg, Maryland. By the mid-1800s, development around the Navy Yard extended across the river via the 11th Street Bridge to Historic Anacostia (then called Uniontown). Moderate-income housing for Navy workers and others employed at the docks and nearby industrial areas was developed.

1901.3 By the time of the Civil War, tobacco farming, clear-cutting of forests, and industrial activities had silted and polluted the Anacostia River. The river shrank from depths of 40 feet to barely eight feet, making it too shallow for navigation by sea-bound vessels. The Navy Yard built its last large ship in 1876. After the war, the large tobacco plantations that had dominated the landscape along the Anacostia River were broken up into smaller farms or abandoned. The manufacturing and farming communities around the Navy Yard included a large population of newly emancipated residents, beginning a long history of African-American neighborhoods along the river.

1901.4 With the construction of Washington's sewer system in the 1880s, water quality in the Anacostia River continued to deteriorate. The tidal wetlands were the source of mosquito-borne malaria outbreaks and prone to periodic flooding. In 1901, the Senate Parks Commission suggested (through the McMillan Plan) that riverfront open space be constructed to improve public health conditions and create parkland. Between 1902 and 1926, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) filled in wetlands and mudflats, and constructed seawalls along the riverbanks to create Anacostia Park. Tons of dredged river bottom were used to create Kingman and Heritage Islands. However, the McMillan Plan vision of a grand interconnected public park system was never realized.

1901.5 For most of the 20th century, the Anacostia waterfront continued to be the location for unwanted land uses and neglectful land management practices. Landfilling of the marshes and wetlands continued through the 1930s and 1940s. Most of the tributaries were rerouted into storm drains, further compromising the ecosystem and health of the river.

1901.6 After World War II, significant population growth in the watershed affected both the river and the waterfront neighborhoods. While direct dumping into the river was curbed, highway building and development in the 176-square mile watershed led to continued pollution from stormwater runoff. Neighborhoods near the Southwest waterfront deteriorated further and finally were declared obsolete by planning documents of the early 1950s. Plans to rehabilitate the housing in an incremental manner were passed over in favor of more dramatic plans to clear and rebuild the entire community. These plans ultimately resulted in the largest urban renewal project in the United States. Thousands of mostly lower-income Black families were displaced, and the new Southeast/Southwest Freeway further eroded connections to the waterfront.

1901.7 By the 1970s, a grass roots movement to save the Anacostia River was gaining momentum. This movement grew during the 1980s and 1990s, as groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Anacostia Watershed Society advocated for the restoration of the District's forgotten river and improvements to its watershed to reduce pollution. Initiatives and mandates to clean the Chesapeake Bay and implement federal water quality programs provided further impetus for action. In March 2000, Mayor Anthony Williams and 20 different agencies controlling land or having jurisdiction over the Anacostia shoreline signed the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU led to the production and completion of the Anacostia Waterfront Framework Plan in November 2003. The Framework Plan has guided the revitalization of the waterfront and its shoreline communities for well over a decade, with many actions already realized or underway, such as improvement to water and environmental quality and the ongoing development of Capitol Riverfront, the Wharf, Buzzard Point, and Hill East.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6,

2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).