The Potomac River has shaped Washington since before the city existed, serving as the boundary between Maryland and Virginia and the geographic reason the federal capital was placed here. From the Civil War ironclads that patrolled its waters to the bathing beaches that once lined its banks, the Potomac runs through almost every chapter of Washington’s history. These posts explore the river’s long relationship with the city.
Anacostia takes its name from the Nacotchtank people, the Native Algonquin tribe Captain John Smith encountered when he sailed up the Eastern Branch in 1612. Here’s how “Natcotchtank” slowly became “Anacostia.”
