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Page 3 · column 1 of 8 · from the scan, no model involved
The New York Times devoted the front page of the travel section in its June 12 Sunday edition to “The First Washington: A Capital Place.”
The Times quotes the historical marker on the outskirts of town: “The town of Washington, Virginia, The First Washington of All, surveyed and platted by George Washington, with the assistance of John Lonem and Edward Gorder, as Chainmen, August 4, 1749. Organized and Established as a Town by the General Assembly of Virginia, December 14, 1796.”
The reporter notes that the streets still bear the names young George Washington gave them— Wheeler, Calvert, Jett and Porter, the first families to settle at the crossroads that became the town. “And Gay Street, which the more romantic historians say he named for Gay Fairfax, who preceded Martha in his affections,” the reporter adds.
(Those who believe that the mysterious “lowland beauty” mentioned by Washington in his letters was Gay Fairfax and that she inspired the young surveyor to name a street in her honor will be disappointed to know that the Gays were among the earliest settlers here and belonged to the Presbyterian Church in town.)
According to the Times, George Washington really wanted to put the capital of the new nation in this first Washington but couldn’t because the Rush River's flow wasn’t sufficient for river boat transportation. The reporter cites Miss Ruby Jenkins. “the village's unofficial historian” the “guardian of the past” as the source for this information.
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