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(formerly Riggs Bank ) lies on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street ]] Georgetown is a Neighborhood , located in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. , along the Potomac River waterfront. It was formerly a separate city, predating the establishment of the District Of Columbia and the founding of Washington, D.C. GEOGRAPHY in Georgetown]] Georgetown is bounded by the Potomac River on the south, Rock Creek to the east, and Glover Park to the north, with Georgetown University on the west end of the neighborhood. Its primary commercial corridors are M Street and Wisconsin Avenue , whose high Fashion stores draw large numbers of tourists as well as local shoppers year-round. There are also several high-end developments on K Street , on the waterfront, featuring outdoor bars and restaurants popular for viewing boat races. Between M and K Streets runs the historic Chesapeake And Ohio Canal , today plied only by tour boats; adjacent trails are popular with joggers or strollers. Georgetown is home to the main campus of Georgetown University , as well as the Embassies of France , Mongolia , Thailand , and Ukraine . Other landmarks include
HISTORY . Aqueduct Bridge at right, and unfinished Capitol Dome in the distant background.]] First settled in 1696 , Georgetown was incorporated as a town and first regularly settled in 1751 , when the area was part of the British Colony of the Province Of Maryland (initially in Frederick , and later Montgomery County ), later one of the 13 Original States . It grew into a thriving port, the farthest point upstream which oceangoing boats could navigate the Potomac River , and a key point for transferring goods, particularly Tobacco , from boats on the Potomac to boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . The home of Francis Scott Key was in Georgetown. Doctor William Beanes, a relative of Key, captured the rear guard of the British Army while it was burning Washington. When the mass of the army retreated, they retrieved their imprisoned guard and took Dr. Beanes as a captive to their fleet near Baltimore . Key went to the fleet to request the release of Beanes, was held until the bombardment of Fort McHenry was completed, and gained the inspiration for '' The Star-Spangled Banner ''. Origin of the name Georgetown was founded in 1751 in Frederick County, Maryland (in a section later divided to become into Montgomery County) by George Beall and George Gordon as the "Town of George". Given the curious coincidence of the both of the founders' first names and that of the English king at the time, historians dispute the source of the name of the town: One theory suggests that it was designated to honor King George II , while another argues that it was named for its founders . {Link without Title} Merger with Washington After the American Revolution , Georgetown became an independent municipal government of the federal District of Columbia along with the City of Washington, City Of Alexandria , and the newly created County Of Washington and County Of Alexandria (now Arlington County, Virginia ). It was officially known as ''Georgetown, D.C.'' Georgetown was not formally annexed by the City of Washington until 1871 , and remained nominally separate until 1895 . The streets in Georgetown were then Renamed to conform to the Street Name s in use in Washington. Later history tracks that were installed in the 1890s.]] Many African-American s moved to Georgetown following the Civil War , establishing a thriving community, but an 1890 flood and expansion of the railroads brought destitution to the C&O Canal, and Georgetown became a depressed Slum . As a result, many older homes were preserved relatively unchanged. The waterfront area retained its industrial character in the first half of the 20th Century . Georgetown was home to a lumber yard, a cement works, and a meat Rendering plant, and its skyline was dominated by the smokestack of a garbage Incinerator . Indeed, in 1949 , the city constructed the Whitehurst Freeway , an elevated Highway above K Street, to allow Motorist s entering the District over the Key Bridge to bypass Georgetown entirely on their way downtown. Gentrification Some Gentrification occurred during the 1930s , as a number of members of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved into the area, but the area did not become fashionable until John F. Kennedy lived there in the 1950s while serving in the U.S. Senate . Parties hosted by his wife, Jackie , drew political elites to Georgetown away from hotels downtown or in the upper 16th Street neighborhoods. Kennedy went to his Presidential inauguration from the neighborhood in January 1961 . Since then, Georgetown has acquired a reputation as the leading center of wealth and style within the U.S. capital. PRESENT DAY in Georgetown, at 28th Street, in Washington, D.C. ]]Many leading figures in politics, media, and commerce reside in this upper-bracket community. Current inhabitants include John Kerry and Madeline Albright , among others. High-end developments and gentrification have revitalized Georgetown's formerly blighted industrial waterfront. One remnant is the District's old refuse incinerator smokestack, preserved as a historic landmark and, as of 2003, incorporated into the layout of a newly built Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Whitehurst Freeway has been proposed for demolition. Transportation At present, Georgetown is not served by the to Dupont Circle and Rosslyn, as well as other campus-related locations. POPULAR CULTURE decorations abound in December.]] Numerous movies have been filmed in Georgetown, most notably the 1973 Horror Film '' The Exorcist '', which was set in Georgetown. Several scenes of the movie were filmed in Georgetown, including the climactic scene where the protagonist hurls himself down the 75-step staircase connecting Prospect Street with M Street below at 36th Street; also the 1984 "Brat Pack" classic '' St. Elmo's Fire '' was set in Georgetown, though portions were filmed at the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland. The 1987 film '' No Way Out '' featured as a plot device, a Georgetown Metro stop, although in actuality there is no Metro station in Georgetown. REFERENCES
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