Editing Pennsylvania Avenue (section)

===19th century===
[[File:11th_&_Pennsylvania_Avenue,_NW_-_Washington,_D.C..jpg|thumb|The intersection of 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., in 1921]]
In 1832, in an effort to tame dust and dirt on Pennsylvania Avenue, it was paved using the [[macadam]] method. But over the years, other pavement methods were trialed on the avenue: [[cobblestone]]s in 1849 followed by [[sett (paving)|Belgian blocks]] and then, in 1871, wooden blocks.

Pennsylvania Avenue once provided an unobstructed view between the White House and the Capitol. The construction of an expansion to the [[Treasury Building (Washington, D.C.)|Treasury Building]] blocked this view, and supposedly President [[Andrew Jackson]] did this on purpose. Relations between the president and Congress were strained, and Jackson did not want to see the Capitol out his window,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/About-Treasury/Pages/building.aspx |title=FAQs: Main Treasury Building |publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]] |access-date=2013-09-07 |archive-date=2013-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513021358/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/About-Treasury/Pages/building.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> though in reality the Treasury Building was simply built on what was cheap government land.

In 1876, as part of an initiative begun by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] to see the city's streets improved, Pennsylvania Avenue was paved with [[asphalt concrete|asphalt]] by [[American Civil War|Civil War]] veteran [[William W. Averell]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwarprofiles.com/william-averell-paves-the-way-to-the-white-house-literally/ |title=William Averell Paves the Way to the White House, Literally |access-date=2013-12-19 |last=Lively |first=Mathew W. |date=2013-04-08 |work=Civil War Profiles |archive-date=2013-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219234345/http://www.civilwarprofiles.com/william-averell-paves-the-way-to-the-white-house-literally/ |url-status=live }}</ref> using [[Pitch Lake|Trinidad and Guanoco lakes asphalt]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McNichol |first1=Dan |title=Paving the Way: Asphalt in America |chapter=Chapter 4: Asphalting the Avenues |publisher=National Asphalt Pavement Association |year=2005 |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=38–55 |isbn=0-914313-04-5}}</ref>