Alexander Robey Shepherd

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Alexander Robey "Boss" Shepherd

Alexander Robey Shepherd (1835-1902), better known as Boss Shepherd, was governor of the territory of the District of Columbia from 1873 to 1874. He was head of the DC Board of Public Works from 1871 to 1873. He is known, particularly in Washington, D.C., as "The Father of Modern Washington.

Shepherd was a member of the territorial government appointed to oversee the District in 1871 by President Ulysses S. Grant. Harry Cooke was appointed governor of that territorial government; Shepherd, however, was appointed head of the city's five-man Board of Public Works, the most powerful wing of the new government. Shepherd asserted himself as a leader to such an extent that he often did not bother to consult the other members of the Board before making decisions and taking sweeping action.

Shepherd's major contribution was a modernization of the city, in its infrastructure and facilities. At the time, Washington was a backwater hamlet of dirt roads and wooden sidewalks, surrounded by farmland and ravaged by the U.S. Civil War. During Shepherd's tenure with the Board of Public Works, he placed 157 miles of paved roads and sidewalks, 123 miles of sewers, 39 miles of gas mains, and 30 miles of water mains. Under his direction the city also planted 60,000 trees, built the city's first public transportation system in the form of horse-drawn streetcars, installed streetlights, and had the railroad companies refit their tracks to fit new citywide grading standards for the District (which at the time consisted of the three separate precincts of Washington City, Washington County, and Georgetown.

The massive public works project continued (and intensified) during Shepherd's term as governor of the District of Columbia. However, the cost of the modifications was excessive, mounting up to $20 million by 1874; the Public Works budget during that three-year period was $4 million. In 1874, Congress conducted an audit of the territorial government and discovered that it was in bankruptcy. Shepherd was investigated for financial misappropriation and mishandling, during which time it was discovered that in addition to his overspending, Shepherd had given preference to neighborhoods and areas of the District in which he held financial interests. He was summarily fired and the government was abolished.

Shepherd declared personal bankruptcy and, once his accounts were settled, moved with his family to Batopilas, Mexico, where he made a fortune in silver mining and instituted many of the same reforms he had championed in the District of Columbia.

A statue of him is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in front of the John A. Wilson Building, which serves as Washington, D.C.'s City Hall. Additionally, the D.C. neighborhood of Shepherd Park, where Shepherd once lived, is named for him.