Existing comment:
A Changing Landscape:
In 1791, Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed a new capital city along the Potomac River.
When they arrived in 1800, President and Mrs. John Adams (1797-1801) found a village of a few hundred houses surrounding unfinished government buildings. As the capital slowly grew during the 19th century, a series of proposals refined L'Enfant's original design while retaining his vision of the city as a symbol of government power. Under the 1901-02 McMillan plan, Washington truly became L'Enfant's monumental city. The plan called for reshaping the city's landscape by reclaiming parkland, erecting monuments, and creating vistas around the White House and Capitol. |