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