Paul McGehee "Old Georgetown by Moonlight" Card

A classic note card by the award-winning artist Paul McGehee. Georgetown, one of the most beautiful and interesting areas in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., was also one of the original ports of our United States, going back to colonial days. In the early years, it was a major tobacco port, but it was the coal trade that attracted the big three- and four-masted coastal schooners in the twilight days of the age of sail a century ago. Overlooking the old Aqueduct Bridge, close to the location of the present-day Key Bridge, is the University and the stone towers of Healy Hall, completed in 1879, which are a prominent feature of the Georgetown skyline to this day. Francis Scott Key, who wrote what would become our National Anthem, had his residence between Bridge Street (now M Street) and the C&O Canal...his house is visible in this striking moonlit 1886 waterfront panorama. "Old Georgetown by Moonlight" accurately captures a bygone era...the busy wharves along Water Street, the canal barges that would bring coal from West Virginia, the waterfront mills and warehouses, and graceful sailing vessels...now but a memory. This scene is a unique look through a window to the past...an important moment in our history, and our heritage, preserved for future generations. Each card comes with envelope.