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.
George Mason University
George Mason University (GMU, Mason, or George Mason) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia. Initially founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1949, it became an independent institution in 1972. The university is named after the founding father George Mason, a Virginia planter and politician who, most notably, authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights. Mason currently operates four campuses located in Virginia, the main campus being in Fairfax, with a fifth campus in Songdo, South Korea, inside the Incheon Free Economic Zone. Three of the four Virginia campuses are within Northern Virginia, part of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The university recognizes 500 student groups as well as 41 fraternities and sororities. In 2016, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education released new listings that included George Mason in the “Highest Research Activity” (R1) category.