A new capital city named in honor of President George Washington was founded to the east of Georgetown in 1791.

The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to notable growth in the capital's population due to the expansion of the federal government and a large influx of emancipated slaves.

[4] Growth was even more dramatic within the County of Washington, where the population more than doubled as people escaped the crowded city.

The situation was so bad that some lawmakers in Congress even suggested moving the capital out further west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider the proposals.

[7] The new government consisted of an appointed governor and 11-member council, a locally elected 22-member assembly, and a board of public works charged with modernizing the city.

[10] In 1873, President Grant appointed an influential member of the board of public works, Alexander Robey Shepherd, to the post of governor.

[11] In 1874, Congress replaced the District's quasi-elected territorial government with an appointed three-member Board of Commissioners.