"WASHINGTON SHOULD BE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN WORLD"

SENATOR SAYS CITY'S BEAUTY IS BEING MARRED; CITES LACK OF ENFORCEMENT OF ZONING LAW

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 13, 1924, The Evening Star reports Senator William King* (D-Utah), ranking member of the Senate District Committee, is "protesting that the 'beauty of (Washington, D.C.) is being marred' through lack of proper enforcement of the zoning law."

The Senator has written a letter to Calvin Coolidge calling on the President to "appoint the best and strongest men available as District...Commissioners."

Senator King says the Nation's Capital should not be commercialized and "should be made the most beautiful city in the world."

*William Henry King (1863-1949) was born in Fillmore, Utah Territory & graduated from Brigham Young University & the Michigan School of Law. 

WHK served in the U.S. Senate 1917-1941.  He opposed FDR's bid for a 3rd term in 1940 & lost his Senate re-nomination that year to a Democrat who supported FDR 100%.

SOURCE

"Capital's Beauty Declared In Peril By Senator King," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 13, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C.

June 2016

Photo by John White

"IN MARYLAND CHILDREN MAY CELEBRATE VOCIFEROUSLY"

A QUIET FOURTH IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 4, 1923, half of the population of the Nation's Capital had fled the city to enjoy the 147th birthday of the United States of America at "amusement resorts or picnic grounds" far outside the District's environs.

The Evening Star reports Washington "as quiet as a Sabbath's morning" and describes the day as "the safest and sanest on record."

Although fireworks are not legally sold in the District of Columbia, those residents so inclined may cross over into Maryland to make their purchases and carry them back into Washington.

So the quietness of the 4th was broken by the occasional exploding firecracker.  The Star says that "in Maryland, children are permitted to celebrate vociferously."

SOURCE

"Half Of D.C. Flees Tame Fourth Rites," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 4, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

4th of July on the National Mall

Washington, D.C.

July 4 2022

Photo by Anthony Quintano