Dumbarton

Coordinates: 55°57′00″N 4°34′00″W / 55.95°N 4.566667°W / 55.95; -4.566667

Dumbarton (/dʌmˈbɑːrtən/; from Scottish Gaelic Dùn Breatann or Dùn Breatainn, meaning "fort of the Britons"pronounced [t̪umˈpɾʲɛʰt̪ɪɲ]) is a town and burgh which is the administrative centre of the council area of West Dunbartonshire, and formerly of the historic county of Dunbartonshire, in the West-Central Lowlands of Scotland. The town lies on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. As of 2006, the town had an estimated population of 19,990 and forms a conurbation with Alexandria, Bonhill and Renton with a combined estimated population of 44,690.

Dumbarton functioned as the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Alclud, and later as the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire. Dumbarton Castle, sitting on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a Royal burgh between 1222 and 1975.

Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However these industries have since declined, or demised altogether, and Dumbarton today increasingly functions as a commuter town for the major City of Glasgow which is 13 miles (21 km) east-southeast. Dumbarton F.C. is the burgh's local association football club.

Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of Robert Woods Bliss (1875–1962) and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss (1879–1969).

The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection was founded here by the Bliss couple, who gave the property to Harvard University in 1940. The research institute that has emerged from this bequest is dedicated to supporting scholarship in the fields of Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and garden design and landscape architecture studies, especially through its research fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications. Dumbarton Oaks also opens its gardens and museum collections to the public, and hosts public lectures and a concert series.

History

Early History

The land of Dumbarton Oaks was formerly part of the Rock of Dumbarton grant that Queen Anne made in 1702 to Colonel Ninian Beall (ca. 1625-1717). About 1801, William Hammond Dorsey (1764–1818) built the first house on the property (the central block of the existing structure) and an orangery, and in the mid-nineteenth century, Edward Magruder Linthicum (1787–1869) greatly enlarged the residence and named it The Oaks. The Oaks also was the Washington residence of U.S. Senator and Vice President John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) between 1822 and 1829.