Mount Rainier began its history as an incorporated town in<br>1910, with the merging of several subdivisions that straddled<br>Bunker Hill Road, a major route between the ports of Georgetown<br>and Bladensburg. Before the Civil War, Thomas and Anna Clemson<br>owned a 100-acre farm that fronted on that important road. Their<br>family letters provide some of the earliest writings about the area. In<br>1891, Elizabeth and Estcourt Sawyer purchased the Clemson farm<br>and named their subdivision Mount Rainier. In 1899, the real estate<br>became especially attractive to commuters when the District of<br>Columbia's streetcar system was extended through the heart of the<br>present-day city; that route, now known as Rhode Island Avenue, later<br>became part of US Route 1.