Alexander Robey Shepherd

The Man Who Built the Nation’s Capital

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Architecture, History, Modern, 19th Century, Americas, United States
Cover of the book Alexander Robey Shepherd by John P. Richardson, Ohio University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John P. Richardson ISBN: 9780821445891
Publisher: Ohio University Press Publication: October 15, 2016
Imprint: Ohio University Press Language: English
Author: John P. Richardson
ISBN: 9780821445891
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Publication: October 15, 2016
Imprint: Ohio University Press
Language: English

With Alexander Robey Shepherd, John P. Richardson gives us the first full-length biography of his subject, who as Washington, D.C.’s, public works czar (1871–74) built the infrastructure of the nation’s capital in a few frenetic years after the Civil War. The story of Shepherd is also the story of his hometown after that cataclysm, which left the city with churned-up streets, stripped of its trees, and exhausted.

An intrepid businessman, Shepherd became president of Washington’s lower house of delegates at twenty-seven. Garrulous and politically astute, he used every lever to persuade Congress to realize Peter L’Enfant’s vision for the capital. His tenure produced paved and graded streets, sewer systems, trees, and gaslights, and transformed the fetid Washington Canal into one of the city’s most stately avenues. After bankrupting the city, a chastened Shepherd left in 1880 to develop silver mines in western Mexico, where he lived out his remaining twenty-two years.

In Washington, Shepherd worked at the confluence of race, party, region, and urban development, in a microcosm of the United States. Determined to succeed at all costs, he helped force Congress to accept its responsibility for maintenance of its stepchild, the nation’s capital city.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

With Alexander Robey Shepherd, John P. Richardson gives us the first full-length biography of his subject, who as Washington, D.C.’s, public works czar (1871–74) built the infrastructure of the nation’s capital in a few frenetic years after the Civil War. The story of Shepherd is also the story of his hometown after that cataclysm, which left the city with churned-up streets, stripped of its trees, and exhausted.

An intrepid businessman, Shepherd became president of Washington’s lower house of delegates at twenty-seven. Garrulous and politically astute, he used every lever to persuade Congress to realize Peter L’Enfant’s vision for the capital. His tenure produced paved and graded streets, sewer systems, trees, and gaslights, and transformed the fetid Washington Canal into one of the city’s most stately avenues. After bankrupting the city, a chastened Shepherd left in 1880 to develop silver mines in western Mexico, where he lived out his remaining twenty-two years.

In Washington, Shepherd worked at the confluence of race, party, region, and urban development, in a microcosm of the United States. Determined to succeed at all costs, he helped force Congress to accept its responsibility for maintenance of its stepchild, the nation’s capital city.

More books from Ohio University Press

Cover of the book The Midwestern Native Garden by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Cases of Circumstantial Evidence by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Don’t Come Back by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Postcards from Stanland by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Secular Scriptures by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book The Trial of Sören Qvist by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Replotting Marriage in Nineteenth-Century British Literature by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Patrice Lumumba by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book South Sudan by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Virginia Hamilton by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Modernism and the Women’s Popular Romance in Britain, 1885–1925 by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Healing the Herds by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book African Soccerscapes by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Resilient Memories by John P. Richardson
Cover of the book Child Slaves in the Modern World by John P. Richardson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy