99% of the territory of D.C. should be split up between the two bordering states (Maryland and Virginia) from which it was originally carved.
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Who would want it?
When DC was established in 1790, it consisted of a diamond-shaped territory 10 miles on a side, for a total of 100 square miles. If you visit the area, an interesting historic building few people are aware of is the so-called “Cornerstone of DC”, which marks the southernmost point of the original federal district. It is in a small park that sits on the Potomac River virtually underneath the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the 10 lane monstrosity that carries I-95 and I-495 (the southern part of the Beltway) over the river. It is the only bridge in the USA that is in three jurisdictions; the drawspan is actually inside present-day DC.
Alexandria, at the time the county seat of Fairfax County, was part of the federal district; it actually remained the county seat until 1805 when it moved to present day Fairfax city. When it was part of DC, present day Arlington County was known as Alexandria County, and most of it was farm and forest largely owned by the family of the wife of George Washington. In the 31+ square miles in the VA portion of the federal district, there were probably 5,000 people circa 1800 (today that number is about 400,000, 240k in Arlington and 160k in Alexandria).
In 1790, there probably were fewer than 3,000 people in the 68+ square miles in the Maryland part of the federal district. Interestingly, the entire Potomac River adjacent to the District is part of the District, because when Lord Calvert was given proprietary ownership of Maryland in 1632 by the Crown, the southern boundary of Maryland was the mean high water mark of the Potomac on the Virginia side, giving Calvert ownership of the fishing rights in the river.
In 1790, Georgetown was the only village (there may have been a settlement in Anacostia, but it was insignificant). Georgetown University was founded in 1789 by the Most Rev. John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the USA (the Diocese of Baltimore, which included the 13 former colonies, was “erected” in 1786). During the 19th century, the federal district actually had three municipalities: Georgetown; the city of Washington (which was everything between Rock Creek and the Anacostia River and south of present day Florida avenue; and then Washington County, which was mostly farmland and mostly owned by the Riggs family, who were the founders of the famous Riggs National Bank (it arranged for the money paid to the Czar in 1867 to purchase Alaska, for example) (Riggs is now part of PNC).
Someone said that the definition of the newly reconstituted federal district described in the House DC Statehood bill is a 90-sided box. This will be a disaster.
And guess what? Not only Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa will probably also become states if the ‘Rats win this election. (I’m not sure what the situation is in the Trust Territory of the Northern Marianas). We will become a one party dictatorship.
Didnt Texas entry come with a stipulation that they could subdivide into 5 if they wanted to?