I’m slowly making my way through Nancy Isenberg, Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr.

On page 215, she writes:

When Albert Gallatin arrived in Washington in early January 1801, he immediately perceived just how unhealthy and claustrophobic the city was. Nearly all the elected officials inhabited the same eight boarding-houses near the Capitol.

Wow! This gives a perspective on just how wealthy we are relative to those who lived two centuries ago. And remember that the politicians who lived in boarding houses were not typically among the poorest Americans.