On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:37:55 +0200, nestork
wrote:

When I Google "District of Columbia", I get a map of a square-ish
looking chunk of ground on the border between Maryland and Virginia.

... a few historical maps...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/historic-washington-DC-maps/images/washington-DC-map-1860.jpg

http://www.dcvote.org/trellis/character/maps/18.jpg

http://dc.lostsoulsgenealogy.com/maps/1800.jpg