"Georgetown Snowfall - Wisconsin Avenue in 1920" by Paul McGehee. The view looking north from one of the Nation's Capital region's most iconic intersections, at Wisconsin Avenue and M Street N.W. The town was officially incorporated in 1789 and was originally a part of the State of Maryland. A crossroads of commerce since the early days of our country, Georgetown was positioned at the upstream limit of the Potomac River that was still deep enough to accept large oceangoing sailing ships. That waterfront activity, plus the transacting of goods such as coal transported on the barges on the C & O Canal, made Georgetown an important gathering place for merchants and townspeople alike, visiting its many markets, eateries and public houses. George Washington is said to have frequented Suter's Tavern in Georgetown to meet with others formulating the plans for the layout of the future Nation's Capital of Washington, D.C. When the Capital was officially established, Georgetown became a part of the District of Columbia with a land transfer deal in place to grow the Capital's boundaries, but Georgetown was still to have its own independent municipal government. In 1871 it was finally absorbed by the D.C. government by an act of Congress. It was at this point the old street names of Georgetown were changed to follow the pattern set by the alternating alphabetical and numerical streets and avenues of Washington. By the time of this scene, depicting Christmastime in 1920, Georgetown was a bustling, growing city, crisscrossed with traction streetcar tracks and automobiles vying for space on the streets alongside the old horsedrawn vehicles. The popular old O'Donnell's Drug Store building in the middle was soon to be replaced by the gold-domed Farmers and Merchants Bank Building, which for many years was the home to Riggs Bank. Georgetown was growing and building as more and more people moved there to live since many had jobs on nearby Capitol Hill. As several of the older buildings depicted in this scene were eventually razed over the ensuing decades, in 1967 the entire Georgetown Historic District was placed upon the protective list of National Historic Landmarks, an honor bestowed upon just a handful of sites around the Nation's Capital. Thankfully, because of this action, the quaint charm of Georgetown's old buildings are preserved for us to enjoy today. "Georgetown Snowfall - Wisconsin Avenue in 1920" is faithfully reproduced from Paul's original color pencil and acrylic artwork in a limited edition of 2,000 hand-signed prints. Print image size: 10 7/8" x 12". (When hung alongside its companion piece "Georgetown Snowfall - M Street in 1920", this print becomes the left-hand side of a decorative diptych pair forming a complete panorama of the intersection of Wisconsin and M a century ago.)