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[a few more wading in--Ed.] Don't neglect the ca. 100 acre swamp at DuPont Circle, "Slash Run Swamp." Phil Ogilvie pwo@gwu.edu ================= I'm sorry, but it's too early to put the baby to bed. This may not be a myth. Pardon me for bringing an Attorney General into the fray but here's A-G Richard Rush writing to John Adams, 5 Sept. 1814 (see Richard Rush Papers, Library of Congress): The city was still ..."a meagre village, a place with a few bad houses and extensive SWAMPS." (my caps). anthony pitch info@dcsightseeing.com ================= Re: the suggestion that we never whisper the s(wamp) word again, and it will disappear. There was a recommendation, recently made at this site, that it might be a good idea to compile all the baseless legends of local history that deserve to die but won't. The Built On A Swamp Myth would surely enjoy pride of place in such a collection. A writer with the calling to do good, could probably turn such a wealth of material into many newspaper feature articles. Repeating the facts, at frequent intervals, to the widest possible audience, is probably the only chance you have to kill a cherished myth. Carlton Fletcher carltonf@earthlink.net ================= Yes, the myth is a nineteenth century one. And early at that if Bob Arnebeck is correct. He once told me that he thought it started with the petitions to Congress from local residents requesting services. They painted the conditions as badly as they could. Though certainly some of you electobibliomaniacs could go word searching and start a record of the use of the word "swamp" for The City of Washington," or rather the area of the original city of Washington. kbowling@gwu.edu Ken Bowling Matthew Gilmore H-DC list co-editor, web editor dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~dclist/ [list website] http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/lists/subscribe.cgi?list=H-DC [subscribe to H-DC] Remember to check http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=lm&list=h-dc for past list messages.
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