Buzzard Point, sometimes known as Greenleaf Point, is a
peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
and
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
of
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, located in
Southwest D.C., at the confluence of the
Potomac and
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...
.
History
17th and 18th centuries
The earliest documented name for the tip of the peninsula that now constitutes the area known as Buzzard Point was Turkey Buzzard Point, in use by 1673 when it appeared on a map published by
Augustine Herman, a
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n explorer and one of the early European settlers of the
Eastern Shore of Maryland
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Ma ...
.
[Taggart, Hugh T. (1908)]
Georgetown (District of Columbia)
Reprinted fro
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Vol. 11, 1908
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...
: The New Era Printing Company, pages 9 & 11. This name — often shortened to Buzzard Point remained in use until the federal capital was planned during the 1790s, at which time it became Young's Point, from one Notley Young, the then owner of the land. Very soon after that, it was renamed Greenleaf's Point, or Greenleaf Point, after
James Greenleaf
James Greenleaf (June 9, 1765 – September 17, 1843) was a late 18th and early 19th century American land speculator responsible for the development of Washington, D.C., after the city was designated as the nation's capital following passag ...
, a
land speculator and purchaser of numerous lots in the new city, many of which were located in the vicinity of the Point.
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
had intended the military to use some of Greenleaf's lots at the Point, including for defensive works. In 1791, he and
Pierre Charles L'Enfant
Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American artist, professor, and military engineer. In 1791, L'Enfant designed the baroque-styled plan for the development of Washington, D.C., after it was designated ...
chose the site for the emplacement of a
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...
of some sort. They acquired approximately by a deed of trust during that year and confirmed it in a July 25, 1798, executive order. L'Enfant intended for a fortification to be placed there, according to his city plan, setting it aside as "Military District No. 5", because, as one author wrote, the "peninsula where the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers met was an obvious, natural military site." This site, sported a "one-gun battery mounted behind earth breastworks," possibly as early as 1791 but, at any rate, definitely by 1794. Within a few years, "The U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point" grew from 28 to more than .
19th century
By 1803, the Fort was first referred to as an arsenal and the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
provided money to construct additional buildings. During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, experiments on new weaponry were performed both at the nearby
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is a ceremonial and administrative center for the United States Navy, located in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (federal District of Columbia). It is the oldest shore establishment / base of ...
and the
Washington Arsenal as the Army installation had come to be named.
Breechloader
A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzz ...
s, the
Spencer carbine
The Spencer repeating rifle was a 19th-century American lever-action firearm invented by Christopher Miner Spencer, Christopher Spencer. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version designed for the cavalry.
The Spencer was the world's ...
, and the
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
The Gatling gun's operatio ...
were among the weapons tested on the peninsula. In 1908, the peninsula's tip had the name Arsenal Point because of its military use at the time.
Washington Arsenal was renamed
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair, also historically known as the Washington Arsenal, is a United States Army post located on the tip of Buzzard Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C ...
in 1948.
From its earliest times, the point was primarily ignored by the city's population since it was largely isolated within the city. L’Enfant's and Washington's hopes for bustling river traffic at Buzzard Point wharves never came to be; instead, the area south of Q Street SW and between South Capitol and the Fort retained a predominantly rural aspect. Wrote an early resident of this period: "From the Navy Yard westward along the Eastern Branch
he Anacostiato Greenleaf's Point was a wild stretch of land with here and there a hovel or a house, and a stouring of brick kilns." The marshy James Creek, flowing alongside the Arsenal (canalized in 1866 as the James Creek Canal but never connected to the existing Washington Canal), served only as a source of disease, often used for trash dumping.
An 1875 survey of Buzzard Point (below Q) found only 36 residences, eight "shanties," and six businesses. These numbers barely increased over the years. Census numbers show the population peaking at 323 in 1894 (this from the Police Census for that year, found in the Metropolitan Police Annual Report) and then decreasing gradually: 231 in 1900; 185 in 1920; 19 in 1940. The area generally had proportions matched almost perfectly of black and white residents, living intermingled and all being of the working class. "Farmer" was the most common profession until about 1920 when "driver" replaced it.
The few accounts of this 1880–1920 period describe a modest community dominated by tidy truck gardens to the south and west and workers' houses and some small businesses along the eastern border from South Capitol to First Streets SW. "It is bordered on either side by true market gardens in the highest state of cultivation. The fields are interspaced with orchards of small fruit trees and occasionally these miniature farms have buildings set back from the road and profusely surrounded with chickens, stables and farm implements", ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported on November 21, 1886. The neighborhood was visited seldom by outsiders: "A stranger is a very strange thing on Buzzard Point."
20th century
Deterioration was evident by the 1910s as fields were abandoned and the trash-strewn James Creek Canal was progressively filled in. Unpleasant semi-industrial uses crept down South Capitol Street, including trash, which was hauled legally or otherwise to various points along that street and the Anacostia River and also dumped into the river through the city's new sewage system. As the population decreased, city planners tried to plan other uses for this neglected area.
The city's new zoning system of 1920 optimistically implemented industrial zoning in the area of the Point, followed by the 1929 National Capitol Parks and Planning Commission's development planning report intending the area to be covered with railroad spurs and new large-scale manufacturing and utility uses that were unwelcome in other parts of the city. This effort destroyed what little was left of the old rural area without bringing in more than the railroad lines, including
Pepco, a power plant and oil and gas storage facility. During the mid and late-20th century, these two major facilities and adjoining smaller ones were closed as new development began from the nearby Navy Yard area. Some boatyards and marinas maintained themselves on National Park Service-owned land along the Anacostia River.
Industry in the area tended to serve the growth of the city, with construction, demolition, and fuel companies dominating the waterfront. Other businesses served the Navy Yard factories. In the early 1960s, the Naval Gun Factory was shuttered and much of the supporting businesses left, concerning planners at the
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a United States government, U.S. government executive branch agency that provides Urban planning, planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its pl ...
. The agency initiated several studies throughout the 1960s and 1970s that imagined considerably increased density along South Capitol Street and public parkland along the riverbank. While the plans had little traction, developers, the Washington, D.C. government, and the
Federal City Council remained interested in the area. Lazlo Tauber, a developer, built two large buildings for
federal offices. The buildings were mired in a scandal that implicated
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second of two vice presidents to resign, the first being John C. ...
, but were eventually leased to the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and the
U.S. Coast Guard.
The Federal City Council commissioned a study in 1981 promoting the area as a development area with great potential and little resistance.
Pepco subsequently began to explore redeveloping its large holdings redevelopment in the 1980s, working with other developers to form a nonprofit called the Buzzard Point Planning Association. They hired the firm
Keyes Condon Florance, later Keyes Condon Florance Eichbaum Esocoff King, to create a detailed planning study. The FCC returned to complete a second plan, hiring Wallace Roberts Todd to develop its own plan for the area. Both plans were rejected by the District of Columbia's Office of Planning, who instead initiated the Buzzard Point/Near Southeast Vision 2020 Plan to balance these business interests with the needs of the broader community.
21st century
The development plans collapsed during the city's
financial crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...
. Nevertheless, interest in developing these areas persisted and the plans and policy set the pattern of development for the area that has followed.
In 2022, developers announced construction would begin on a two million square foot mixed use project called The Stacks, which is expected to deliver in 2025. The project will include 2,000 residential units and more than 80,000 square feet of retail space. Additionally, there will be hotels, restaurants, and a bowling alley on site.
The
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
's (USGS) most recent topographic maps identify the tip of the peninsula that contains Fort McNair as "Greenleaf Point".
[United States Geological Survey topographic map with locations of Greenleaf Point and Buzzard Point](_blank)
''in'' website o
TopoQuest
Retrieved 2009-11-17. The USGS maps also identify a lesser point to the northeast of Greenleaf Point as "Buzzard Point".
(James Creek, which was excavated during the 19th century to become a branch of the
ow defunctWashington City Canal
The Washington City Canal was a canal in Washington, D.C., that operated from 1815 until the mid-1850s. The canal connected the Anacostia River, termed the "Eastern Branch" at that time, to Tiber Creek, the Potomac River, and later the Chesapeak ...
, once separated these two points. Its name persists in the present-day James Creek Marina, located between the two named points. In early times, James Creek was also known as St. James Creek.)
Although officially the name of only a tip of the peninsula, the term "Buzzard Point" now serves to identify much or all of an urbanized area south of
M Street SW and west of
South Capitol Street SW, excluding Fort McNair. The area has long been known as an industrial part of the city. Buzzard Point is close to
Nationals Park
Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...
, and not far from the
Waterfront and
Navy Yard – Ballpark Metro stations. The Buzzard Point waterfront extends from the Fort along the west bank of the Anacostia River as far as South Capitol Street at the
Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. From west to east along it from the Fort are the James Creek Marina, the former headquarters of the
U.S. Coast Guard, Buzzard Point Marina, and
Buzzard Point Park.
During 2007,
Pepco Holdings announced that it sought to retire the Buzzard Point power plant by 2012.
On July 25, 2013, a tentative deal was announced to have a 20,000-seat stadium for the
D.C. United soccer team built at Buzzard Point and to cost $300 million.
Audi Field
Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the home of D.C. United, DC Power FC, and Washington Spirit soccer teams, and the DC Defenders American football team. The stadium seats 20,000 p ...
opened July 14, 2018.
References
Citations
Further reading
*Wetzel, Hayden M., ''Buzzard Point, DC: A Brief History of a Brief Neighborhood''. Privately printed, 2014. (Available at the Historical Society of Washington library)
External links
*
Official website
{{Authority control
1791 establishments in Maryland
Anacostia River
Forts in the District of Columbia
History of Washington, D.C.
Landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Neighborhoods in Southwest (Washington, D.C.)
Potomac River watershed
Washington Navy Yard