David Burnes Plantation

The epicenter of present-day downtown Washington DC, including the White House, was built on the site of a former tobacco plantation owned by David Burnes. Burnes was a Scottish proprietor who enslaved at least a dozen people and owned nearly 350 acres of farmlands when he agreed to sell this land to the federal government in 1791. George Washington pictured this land as the potential site for the President’s Home and in a letter describing his success at acquiring the lands to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson dated March 31, 1791, he referenced the “obstinate Mr. Burns” (sic), who had previously refused to sell. The majority of Burnes’ properties bordered Tiber Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. Burnes and his family lived in a small cottage, located close to today’s Constitution Avenue and is the present location of the Pan American Union Building.

References and Further Reading
Mann, Lina. “Before the White House.” The White House Historical Association. 26 September, 2019. Before the White House - White House Historical Association (whitehousehistory.org)

Wikipedia

History of Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia