Today’s entry was researched by “Tales from Buzzard Point” Series Editor David Rusk.
In reading David McCulloch’s The Wright Brothers, I ran across the fact that the failed launching of Prof. Samuel P. Langley’s experimental airplane on December 8, 1903 had occurred at “Arsenal Point.” I knew immediately that “Arsenal Point” was actually “Buzzard Point.” For a couple of decades at the turn of the last century official Washington had adopted the designation “Arsenal Point” in reference to its proximity to the Washington Arsenal (now Fort McNair). However, clearly the junction of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers was popularly known as “Buzzard Point,” as attested by the editorial cartoon The Evening Star ran on its front page the next day.