top of page

Visualizing the Early
Washington D.C.​

1814

Washington DC was first formed in the mid-1700s with the construction of the Georgetown neighborhood.  After eight different capital cities under the Continental Congresses, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution, the nation’s capital finally settled in Washington DC permanently.  George Washington brought in Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design the city.  L’Enfant’s plan is famous for the grid pattern with diagonal streets that created vistas of prominent buildings and 15 public squares.  Additionally, L’Enfant laid out a canal system to bring water to the buildings in the city as well as a garden lined grand avenue that is now the National Mall.  After a falling out with Washington and some other contributors to the city’s design, L’Enfant left the city and adjustments were made to his plan.  L’Enfant’s plan took decades to be executed and many of his original ideas have not been included but the grid pattern with diagonal streets layout remains today.



After much expansion and addition of land in the 19th century, the city stepped back at its centennial and revisited many of L’Enfant’s original ideas and designs.  The McMillian Plan of 1901 was created to elevate and celebrate the nation’s capital and it fit perfectly with the City Beautiful Movement which was moving through the United States during that time.  One of the plan’s critical elements was the focus on neoclassical architecture and the idea of grand architecture.  The planners wanted the city to be grand and have a monumental core with a central axis, the National Mall, surrounded by multiple educational and cultural buildings.  Many popular architects and planners of the time, such as Daniel Burnham, were brought in to work on the city.  The neoclassical architecture evoked permanence and history which then symbolize the power of the national government.



Going into the 21st century, Washington DC was losing residents consistently, having problems with crime rate, housing stock and quality, and transportation solutions, and preparing for more expansion.  Since 1950, the city has lost almost 250,000 residents as many have moved out towards the suburbs following their jobs and higher quality housing.  Since the late 1800s, building heights have been strictly limited to only 14 stories tall which gives the city a low visual profile.  The city also has several historic districts and thousands of historic structures that limit the extent of growth and contribute to sprawl into surrounding areas.  Washington DC also has one of the top transit systems in the country however many transit stops are reaching capacity and the city’s automobile traffic is one of the worst in the nation.  In the coming years, the city will improve several aspects of daily life from creating more family housing to keep more families in the city to adding new forms of mass transportation to lighten the stress on the current infrastructure to improving environmental aspect of the city such as making the Anacostia River fishable and swimmable by 2025. The city has had some issues over the past century dealing with the changes but the city is set up to succeed in the coming years.  The city put a new comprehensive plan into effect in 2006 that will solve the city’s major problems while maintaining its symbolic status and a guide for the country into the future.

bottom of page