Getting Around DC - Part 1 - A Bit of DC History
First, I’d like to start with a bit of history about the original layout and design of Washington DC.
As the new federal capital was being planned in the early 1790s, U.S. Army Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant, urban planner and architect, was appointed by George Washington to design the initial street plan of a Capitol or Federal City – now called Washington DC.
He previously served on General Washington’s staff as well as with him at Valley Forge during the infamous winter of the American Revoliution in 1777-8. He was later promoted to Major in the Corp of Engineers in 1783 due to some rather noteworth accomplishments in building and design.
Washington appointed L’Enfant to turn the rolling plantation lands, woods and swampy areas which were then part of Virginai and Maryland into the Federal City. L’Enfant’s concept was to design a city that allowed for growth of the capital as the nation grew. He planned for a rather grand main 400 foot wide street connecting The Capitol and The White House with ample space for expansion (now The Mall). Thomas Jefferson however reportedly preferred a smaller, less grand city plan, with traditional narrow streets.
L’Enfant’s initial plans were approved but opposition started almost immediately (some things never seem to change). City commissioners wanted to initially build only part of the city and spend some of the limited budget on government buildings as well, in lieu of streets while L’Enfant wanted to build the entire city’s infrastructure.
He stuck to his plan and was became so inflexible and uncompromising that he was eventually fired by President Washington and forced to leave the project in disgrace, and also unpaid.
Ultimately, his plan was only partially completed and L’Enfant spent much of his remaining life unsuccessfully petitioning Congress to pay him for the work he had done to design and build the District. He died in poverty in 1825.
In 1909, almost 80 years after his death, the Senate Park Commission, the government body responsible for beautifying the city recognized the brilliance of L’Enfant’s plan calling it “intelligent and yet simple and straightforward scheme.” The same year, his grave was relocated from Maryland to a place of prominence in Arlington National Cemetery.
Today, his accomplishments in designing the layout of Washington DC are recognized and acknowledged by modern urban planners
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[...] For a bit of additional info on DC’s original design plan, check out my earlier post. b5 media, DC, DC getting around, DC history, DC layout, DC map, DC streets, getting around DC, local attractions, site seeing, The DC Traveler, tourist information, travel, vacation, Washington, Washington DC, Washington DC map, Washington DC streets, Washington DC travel Add to: October 20th, 2006 | Permalink | No Comments » [...]
[...] Persistent rumors that George Washington used the building as his office when he was determining the site of the new Federal City and that Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant used it as the Engineering Office when designing the city’s layout have never been proven. Yet perhaps… Washington may in fact have slept here! [...]
Benjamin Banneker, the DC-Baltimore native was hired to come in and fix/finish L’Enfant’s efforts to map the City.