Nacotchtank was an enormous village that once occupied much of what is today the southwest quadrant of Washington D.C. It has been described as a 17th-century Atlantic City, and was the most important trading hub in the mid-Atlantic prior to the arrival of Europeans.

The village lost it's importance after a trading post was set up on Kent Island in the Chesapeake and, after a series of raids, the village was abandoned.

Very few of Washington D.C.'s current residents realize that beneath the concrete of Bolling Air Force Base and the Pepco Powerplant lie the remains of one of the greastest ancient cities of the east coast.



Photo: Beyond the imposing gates of Bolling Air Force Base once stood the massive village of Nacotchtank.