Plan of the City of Washington
This Plan of the City of Washington dates from March 1792 and is the first printed plan of the city. It is based on Major Andrew Ellicott’s version of Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s plan for the new capital city. L’Enfant, a French architect and military engineer who had fought for the Americans during the Revolutionary War, served on General Washington’s staff as a Captain of Engineers during the latter part of the war. After the war he founded a successful civil engineering practice in New York City.
After winning its freedom, the new nation of the โUnited Statesโ faced the problem of locating a site for its capital. New York and Philadelphia were obvious contenders, but each presented problems, as did other possible sites, so it was decided to create an entirely new city along the Potomac River.
LโEnfant wrote to President Washington and was accepted as the architect of the new city. But he was later dismissed due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed by Washington to supervise the construction. According to some writers, this changed (for better or for worse) the outcome of the project. LโEnfant would not release his plan and the survey notes, so Ellicott had to reconstruct the plan from his own notes and recollections of LโEnfantโs plan. Fortunately, Ellicottโs brother Benjamin, a draftsman who had worked with LโEnfant, had additional survey material and drawings. It is uncertain which elements of the final plan are from the original unfinished plan by LโEnfant and which are from Ellicott. Two firms were chosen to engrave the map – the team of Thackara and Vallance from Philadelphia and that of Samuel Hill from Boston. While engraving the plan each company took the opportunity to engrave and publish a smaller version. Thus, the first published engraved plan of Washington, DC was this present 10-inch wide by 8-inch high plan published by Thackara and Vallance in March 1792 and simply called โPlan of the City of Washingtonโ. Hillโs small plan was not far behind โ May, 1792 and it, too, was of the same size and name. The larger engraving by Samuel Hill was finally issued in October, 1792. The even-larger plan by Thackara and Vallance, published in November, 1792, became known as the โofficial planโ.
The City of Washington was constructed near the center of the newly created โDistrict of Columbiaโ on lands donated by Maryland and Virginia on opposite banks of the Potomac River. The plan for Washington rests entirely on land donated by Maryland so Virginiaโs land was retroceded in the mid-1800s. Georgetown, Maryland, which had been established in 1751 just below the fall line in the Potomac River, was used as a base of operations for the construction of the new city; it is shown in outline at the upper left. Georgetown is now a residential neighborhood of Washington, DC. The President’s House (soon to be called the White House) and the Capitol are the only two buildings named. A bridge spans the Eastern Branch (of the Potomac River), now called the Anacostia River. A canal through the city provided fresh water for the project and the new residents and for limited transportation.
Tales from the Rare Map Cabinet
Luke A Vavra
Stock Number E7019
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