History of Washington, D.C.
Georgetown was established in 1751 when the Maryland legislature purchased sixty acres of land for the town from George Gordon and George Beall at the price of £280, while Alexandria, Virginia was founded in 1749. Situated on the fall line, Georgetown was the farthest point upstream to which oceangoing boats could navigate the Potomac River. The strong flow of the Potomac kept a navigable channel clear year-round; and, the daily tidal lift of the Chesapeake Bay, raised the Potomac's elevation in its lower reach; such that fully laden ocean-going ships could navigate easily, all the way to the Bay. Gordon had constructed a tobacco inspection house along the Potomac in approximately 1745. Warehouses, wharves, and other buildings were added, and the settlement rapidly grew. The Old Stone House, located in Georgetown, was built in 1765 and is the oldest standing building in the District. It did not take long before Georgetown grew into a thriving port, facilitating trade and shipments of tobacco and other goods from colonial Maryland. With the economic and population growth of Georgetown came also the founding of Georgetown University in 1789, at its founding drawing students from as far away as the West Indies.
Thomas F. Mulledy
With the steady increase in the number of students during his presidency, Mulledy oversaw construction of a new building in 1831, which came to contain a refectory, chapel, study hall, and dormitories. Erection of this building was enabled by a loan of $7,000 from the widow of Stephen Decatur. During Mulledy's presidency, "the Walks," which were a serious of scenic paths through the backwoods of the campus, were created. They were the result of Joseph West, a Jesuit brother's, purchase of the land for the College. Following Congress' grant of land to Columbian College in 1832, Georgetown requested similar benefits. The legislature eventually awarded Georgetown lots across the city worth $25,000, title of which was transferred to the college on February 20, 1837.
Mulledy had a reputation for being relatively lax in enforcing discipline at the college. In 1833, a rebellion was staged whereby a group of several plotted to ambush and assault the prefect of studies. This was in response to the prefect's reporting of a student who imbibed to the point of intoxication at taverns when the class took a trip to the Capitol. This plot was discovered and thwarted, and Mulledy responded by expelling several students. In March 1833, Pope Gregory XVI chartered Georgetown College as an ecclesiastical university, the first such institution in the United States. This authorized it to grant canonical degrees in philosophy and theology. The college narrowly escaped destruction by fire on December 10, 1836, when a carpenter's shed near the Walks became engulfed in flames. All the students and faculty worked to contain the fire and prevented it from spreading to the nearby dormitory.