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1791: Capital City Chosen & L'Enfant's Plan

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1791: Capital City Chosen & L'Enfant's Plan

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Washington, DC is chosen as nation's capital; Pierre L'Enfant's plan is drafted, but he is fired before his plan can be realized. His thoughts lay the groundwork for all further development of the National Mall, but they are adapted and changed several times over.
https://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/documents/mallpaavhistory.pdf

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1792: President's House Construction Begins

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1792: President's House Construction Begins

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L'Enfant begins construction on the President's house before he is fired later in the year.

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1812: President's House and White House burned in the War of 1812

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1812: President's House and White House burned in the War of 1812

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When the War of 1812 first broke out, the fighting centered on the border between the United States and Canada, then a British colony. Before long, however, other fronts had opened up, including the Chesapeake Bay, where a British squadron led by Rear Admiral George Cockburn spent much of 1813 terrorizing coastal communities. After spending the winter in Bermuda with his troops, the brash-talking Cockburn returned in February 1814 with his eyes set on Washington, D.C., telling a superior that the city "might be possessed without difficulty or opposition of any kind."

In order to further along his scheme, Cockburn built a base on Tangier Island in the middle of the Chesapeake and distributed a proclamation inviting all slaves to join with the British. Meanwhile, in April 1814, Napoleon abdicated the French throne, freeing up boatloads of battle-hardened British troops to cross the Atlantic Ocean. About 4,000 arrived in the Chesapeake in mid-August, along with numerous frigates, schooners, sloops and other warships, whereas an even bigger force went to Canada.

By that time, President Madison had established a new military district for the D.C. area for which he wanted at least 2,000 U.S. Army regulars, plus 10,000 to 12,000 militiamen ready in reserve. Yet only a fraction of this force was ever rounded up, in part because Secretary of War John Armstrong insisted until the last possible moment that the British would not attack the capital. Not even an anonymous letter detailing Cockburn's invasion plans spurred the administration to action, nor did a plea from Washington's mayor, who called the city "defenseless."

While the Americans dawdled, the British got moving, with their main fleet setting sail for the Patuxent River on August 17. At the same time, diversionary forces headed for the Potomac River, a more direct route to Washington, and for the northern Chesapeake above Baltimore. Although the British initially struggled with adversarial tides and winds in the Patuxent, they soon began making reasonable progress. A few of the bigger warships dropped out as the river became narrower and shallower, but the majority made it to Benedict, Maryland, where approximately 4,500 troops disembarked.

The following day, August 20, a makeshift scouting party led by Secretary of State James Monroe reached the outskirts of Benedict but, having forgotten a spyglass, couldn't gauge the size of the invading force. The British then marched north on a road running parallel to the Patuxent, with a fleet of small ships keeping pace. Over the next couple of days, the British briefly exchanged fire with a few Americans, including Monroe's party, but overall faced virtually no resistance. They also managed to corner a flotilla commanded by Commodore Joshua Barney, forcing the Americans to blow up their own gunboats rather than hand them over to the enemy.

As the British drew closer, the panicked residents of Washington began to depart in mass, and clerks began whisking important papers out of town, such as the Declaration of Independence. Finally, on August 24, after a series of disorganized maneuvers, American forces hastily dug in outside of Bladensburg, Maryland, a crossroads town six miles northeast of the Capitol. Borrowing a pair of pistols from his treasury secretary, Madison rode out to witness the battle, as did most of his cabinet. In fact, the president nearly galloped right into the British lines until a scout stopped him and directed him to safety.

With about 6,000 troops, the Americans at Bladensburg outnumbered the British, and they also had a distinct advantage in terms of cavalry and artillery. Moreover, the British had just marched 15 miles through heat so stifling that several men fell victim to sunstroke. Yet when they charged over a bridge at the Americans, militiamen started fleeing almost immediately. Additional militiamen were sent up to restore the breach, but they too were scared off, due largely to the intimidating but notoriously inaccurate Congreve rockets being fired their way. "I could never have believed that so great a difference existed between regular troops and a militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day," Madison purportedly said.

The lone bright spot for the Americans came courtesy of Commodore Barney. Originally assigned elsewhere, he had rushed to the scene of the battle after personally pleading with Madison to let him go. But although he and his 520 seamen briefly put a halt to the British advance with artillery fire and a downhill charge, it proved too little too late. As the American militia retreated around them, Barney took a bullet to the thigh and was captured by the British, who, impressed by his bravery, paroled him right then and there. "They have given us the only fighting we have had," Cockburn declared of the seamen. Madison, meanwhile, sent ahead a messenger to his wife, Dolley, who consented to leave the White House only after arranging for the safety of a full-length George Washington portrait.

On the heights overlooking D.C., the commander in charge of the city's defense considered making a second stand. But with his troops scattered in all directions, he ultimately decided to leave Washington at the mercy of the British. They arrived around sunset, prompting a U.S. captain to order the Washington Navy Yard set ablaze, including two warships, much timber and a sawmill. Around the same time, the British burned down a private residence from which some Americans had just fired at them. For the most part, though, the British left private property alone, focusing their attention instead on the city's government buildings.

Seeking revenge for the sacking of York (present-day Toronto), the British first stopped at the still-uncompleted Capitol, where they piled up furniture in both the House and Senate wings, mixed in rocket powder and applied the torch. Within minutes, flames were shooting out through the windows and roof, damaging not only the congressional chambers, but also the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, which were located inside. Next, about 150 men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, then better known as the President's House. Upon consuming food and wine that had been set out for 40 people, they stole some souvenirs, like Madison's medicine chest, and started a new inferno that left the structure a charred mess. The adjacent Treasury building was also burned, although much to their disappointment, the British found no money inside. As they camped that night on Capitol Hill, the glow from the fires could be seen as far away as Baltimore.

More destruction occurred the following day, when the British torched what remained of the Washington Navy Yard and the Treasury building, along with the brick home of the State, War and Navy departments. They also smashed the presses of a newspaper Cockburn disliked and desecrated a monument dedicated to veterans of the First Barbary War. Lastly, they headed to an arsenal two miles south of the Capitol. But as they were destroying the gunpowder there, an accidental explosion killed at least a dozen British soldiers and injured many more. That evening, right after a violent thunderstorm, the British withdrew from the city rather than face a potential counterattack, retracing their steps to the fleet at Benedict.

A few days later, the British diversionary force on the Potomac forced the surrender of Alexandria, Virginia (then part of Washington), and seized a large quantity of provisions there. Within a couple of weeks, however, the British had squandered their momentum, losing important battles at Lake Champlain and Baltimore. Their negotiators dropped a demand for a Native American buffer state between the United States and Canada, and on December 24, 1814, the two sides signed a peace treaty in which they agreed to return all conquered land to each other. With the British no longer a threat, reconstruction then began on the Capitol and White House.
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The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago

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When the War of 1812 first broke out, the fighting centered on the border between the United States and Canada, then a British colony. Before long, however, other fronts had opened up, including the Chesapeake Bay, where a British squadron led by Rear Admiral George Cockburn spent much of 1813 terrorizing coastal communities.

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Various canals & bridges are built around DC to realize George Washington's vision of a major port city for the capital.

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26 Sept 1833: Washington Nat'l Monument authorized

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26 Sept 1833: Washington Nat'l Monument authorized

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Washington Nat'l Monument Society is created to oversee construction of the Washington Nat'l Monument (WNM). https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=2805493&id=CC647F47-1DD8-B71C-07DB5CA656C6D7D0&gid=CC377732-1DD8-B71C-072375FE4F401A15

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Cornerstone of the Washington Monument is laid & construction is begun. https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=2805493&id=CC647F47-1DD8-B71C-07DB5CA656C6D7D0&gid=CC377732-1DD8-B71C-072375FE4F401A15

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1850: Renewed Interest in the Mall (Andrew Jackson Downing Plan)

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1850: Renewed Interest in the Mall (Andrew Jackson Downing Plan)

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In 1850, with public interest in the mall renewed, Andrew Jackson Downing is hired to make the mall the national park, incl. lots of natural landscaping. (https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php/Andrew_Jackson_Downing)

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1852: Andrew Jackson Downing dies and plan is abandoned

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1852: Andrew Jackson Downing dies and plan is abandoned

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Downing is killed in 1852 and his plan is only followed in the rebuilt President's House and the Smithsonian. None of the manuscripts for other parts of the plan survive.

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Various land reclamation plans are proposed to turn mudflats around the rivers into park space.

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2 Aug 1876: Washington Nat'l Monument Changes Hands

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2 Aug 1876: Washington Nat'l Monument Changes Hands

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Congress takes over construction of the Washington Nat'l Monument after the WNMS stalls out on its construction several times over.

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Dredging & reclamation of areas around the Potomac River begins and will persist for over thirty years, during which river navigation and sanitation are both majorly updated.

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6 Dec 1884: Washington Nat'l Monument Completed

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6 Dec 1884: Washington Nat'l Monument Completed

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The Washington National Monument is completed fifty years after it is initially authorized. (https://www.nps.gov/wamo/learn/historyculture/index.htm)

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3 Mar 1897: Reserving Land for Public Use

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3 Mar 1897: Reserving Land for Public Use

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Congress passes bill to reserve the land that would later become the Eastern and Western Potomac Parks "for the recreation and pleasure of the people" and

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1900: The Civil War Memorial is Presented (John Paul Jones Park)

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1900: The Civil War Memorial is Presented (John Paul Jones Park)

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In 1900, the John Paul Jones Park begins life as a Civil War memorial.

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L'Enfant's plan is officially replaced by the McMillan Plan for the Nat'l Mall, which reserves the land for memorial use and has a heavy emphasis on more traditional architecture.

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The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was written in 1902 by the Senate Park Commission. The commission is popularly known as the McMillan Commission after its chairman, Senator James McMillan of Michigan.

The McMillan Plan proposed eliminating the Victorian landscaping of the National Mall and replacing it with a simple expanse of grass, narrowing the Mall, and permitting the construction of low, Neoclassical museums and cultural centers along the Mall's east-west axis. The plan proposed constructing major memorials on the western and southern anchors of the Mall's two axes, reflecting pools on the southern and western ends, and massive granite and marble terraces and arcades around the base of the Washington Monument. The plan also proposed tearing down the existing railroad passenger station on the National Mall and constructing a large new station north of the United States Capitol building.

Additionally, the McMillan Plan contemplated the construction of clusters of tall, Neoclassical office buildings around Lafayette Square and the Capitol building, as well as an extensive system of neighborhood parks and recreational facilities throughout the city. Major new parkways would connect these parks as well as link the city to nearby attractions.

Never formally adopted by the United States government, the McMillan Plan was implemented piecemeal in the decades after its release. The location of the Lincoln Memorial, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Union Station, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Building are due to the McMillan Plan. Proposals to construct Arlington Memorial Bridge received a major boost from the plan as well. The McMillan Plan continues to guide urban planning in and around Washington, D.C., into the 21st century, and has become a part of the federal government's official planning policy for the national capital.

Beginning around 1880, a series of articles appeared in the local D.C. and national press which were highly critical of the mediocre architecture and poor-quality public spaces and accommodations in the District of Columbia. In addition, a highly influential meeting of the American Institute of Architects was held in Washington in December 1900, during which not only were the city's shortcomings extensively discussed but plans proposed for rectifying them. The plan presented at that meeting by Washington-based architect Paul J. Pelz anticipates several decisions in the eventual McMillan Plan, including the grouping of Congressional office buildings around the Capitol, the development of Federal Triangle, and the location of the National Archives Building.

The Senate Park Commission was formed by the United States Senate on March 8, 1901, to reconcile competing visions for the development of Washington, D.C., and especially the National Mall and nearby areas. McMillan Commission members included architect Daniel Burnham, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and architect Charles F. McKim. Charles Moore, Senator McMillan's chief aide, became secretary of the commission. Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens joined the commission as its last member in August 1901 at the suggestion of McKim.

The commission members (excluding Saint-Gaudens, who was ill with cancer) and Moore departed for Europe on June 13, 1901, to tour the continent's great manor homes, gardens, and urban landscapes. By the time the commission returned to the United States on August 1, Moore had become a de facto member of the commission.

The commission sponsored a major exhibit about their proposals at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on January 15, 1902, the same day the report was released to the public. President Theodore Roosevelt attended the exhibit's opening. The exhibit was dominated by two vast models of the District of Columbia, one showing it as it existed in 1901 and the other showing the changes proposed by the Senate Park Commission.

Seventy-one of the report's pages discussed proposals for the National Mall, while the remaining 100 pages discussed improvements for the park system in and around the city. The proposals for the National Mall received the greatest attention from the commission, and were the most detailed. The proposals for the city's parks, beaches, and recreational facilities (ostensibly the reason for its existence) were treated in more general ways. Scattered throughout the plan were references to streets, boulevards, parkways, and various other connections between District and regional parks and the District and the surrounding cities and undeveloped areas.

The National Mall and the "monumental core"

The report proposed turning the National Mall into the core of the growing city. A cruciform design for the Mall was proposed. The United States Capitol building anchored the east end of the east-west axis, and the White House the north end of the north-south axis. In the center was the Washington Monument. The recently completed West Potomac Park would be the anchor for the west end of the east-west axis. The commission suggested the recently authorized Lincoln Memorial be sited in the park, while proposing that the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial be moved to a new plaza to be constructed directly west of the Capitol. The recently created East Potomac Park would anchor the southern end of the north-south axis, and be occupied by a vast complex of recreational facilities ("Washington Commons") as well as a possible new memorial (to the Founding Fathers or great inventors, the report suggested). Andrew Jackson Downing's winding Victorian landscape design on the National Mall would be replaced with an open vista of grass flanked by formal rows of trees similar to the landscape design at Vaux-le-Vicomte and the Palace of Versailles in France. The width of the Mall, determined after extensive on-site measurements, would be narrowed to just 300 feet (91 m). The north and south sides of the National Mall were to be lined with low public office buildings, museums, and cultural attractions (such as theaters). The plan also suggested constructing a low, Beaux-Arts bridge linking West Potomac Park with Arlington National Cemetery. Around the base of the Washington Monument, new formal gardens and terraces would help to frame the base of the monument. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Baltimore & Potomac (B&P) Railroad Passenger Terminal, located on the National Mall at what is today New Jersey Avenue NW and Constitution Avenue NW, would be torn down and a new, modern train station with a grand court and massive passenger waiting and service areas would be constructed north of the Capitol. Two new reflecting pools (or "canals") would be constructed on the National Mall. One (cruciform in shape) would extend from West Potomac Park to the Washington Monument. The other would extend from East Potomac Park north to the Washington Monument. The Ellipse would remain open space in order to preserve the vista from the White House south to the Washington Monument and the Potomac River.

The L'Enfant Plan's diagonal streets formed the great boundaries of the city's new "monumental core". Pennsylvania Avenue NW, already an important thoroughfare, formed the northeast boundary linking the Capitol with the White House. The report asked the federal government to tear down the vast slum Murder Bay and replace it with a group of monumental federal office buildings similar to Westminster in London or the Louvre Palace in Paris. Lafayette Square north of the White House would also be razed, and new federal office buildings in the Neoclassical style built there. New York Avenue NW would be extended in a southwesterly direction past the White House to link with the new memorial in West Potomac Park. Maryland Avenue SW, extending from the Capitol to East Potomac Park, would form the southeastern boundary of this new monumental core, while the Potomac River formed the southwestern boundary. The commission suggested that taller federal buildings and museums be constructed in areas not immediately adjacent to the National Mall.

The city park system and parkways

The park system proposed by the McMillan Plan drew heavily on the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston (also designed by Olmsted). The commission proposed establishing large numbers of neighborhood parks throughout the city, especially in those areas outside the old "Federal City" boundaries. Public bathing and swimming facilities, gymnasiums, and playgrounds were an integral part of each proposed park, and the commission's report provided extensive drawings of "model parks". The commission's goal was to transform parks from places where the wealthy promenaded for purposes of social mobility into places where the average citizen could reap the advantages of physical exercise while enjoying the moral uplift provided by a natural setting within an urban area. Of critical importance to the commission was the development of the Anacostia Flats along the Anacostia River. The flats (like West and East Potomac Parks) had recently been reclaimed by dumping dredged material along the riverbank to eliminate marshes. The commission suggested building roads to provide access to the Anacostia River, and constructing a large water park for boating, bathing, swimming, and other uses to draw development to the area.

Linking the more important parks would be a series of parkways, designed to allow citizens in carriages (the automobile not having come into widespread use) to become emotionally refreshed by viewing nature. Parkways were envisioned along the south side of the Potomac River from Arlington National Cemetery down to Mount Vernon, and from West Potomac Park through Rock Creek Park to the National Zoological Park. Another parkway (known as "Fort Drive"), nearly circumferential around the city, would link newly created parks designed to preserve the historic Civil War forts which circled the District of Columbia.

Implementation of the McMillan Plan was opposed by the powerful Speaker of the House, Joseph Gurney Cannon. Cannon was angry that the Senate had bypassed the House in creating the commission, and he was strongly opposed to spending the enormous sums that it would take to complete the plan. Although Moore had implemented a carefully planned public relations campaign to win congressional and public support for the McMillan Plan, it was clear that seeking formal approval of the plan from Congress was out of the question due to Cannon's opposition. Instead, members of the commission worked strenuously to ensure that the plan was not encroached upon, while waiting for a more opportune time to seek its implementation. Backers of the plan in Congress regularly called upon commission members to testify before Congress and in public hearings to defend the plan.

One of the most important goals of the McMillan Plan was to demolish the B&P Railroad Passenger Terminal. This proposal had generated widespread support in Congress for years, and on May 15, 1902, legislation was passed authorizing construction of a new Union Station. Although extensive disagreement broke out in the House over reimbursing the Pennsylvania Railroad for the cost of moving its tracks, legislation providing this reimbursement passed in 1903. The terminal was demolished in 1908.

The first major threat to implementing the McMillan Plan came in 1904. A new United States Department of Agriculture building had long been proposed for the south side of the National Mall between 7th and 14th Streets SW. The Department of Agriculture wanted to use all the space allotted to it, but McMillan Plan advocates argued that agriculture headquarters should be set back from the center of the National Mall by 300 feet (91 m). Department of Agriculture officials, however, pointed out that the 300-foot (91 m) setback from the mall's center-line was already violated on the south side of the mall by the Smithsonian Institution Building. President Theodore Roosevelt gave his approval for construction of a new agriculture building in line with the Smithsonian headquarters, only to later learn that his decision violated the McMillan Plan (which he also supported). Agriculture officials then argued that, if they had to accept a smaller plot of land, they should be permitted to construct a taller building to compensate for the loss of space. Extensive disagreement broke out between Agriculture officials, members of Congress intent on keeping costs low, McMillan Plan advocates, and others not only about where the building should be placed but also how tall it should be. The new Agriculture Building was eventually built according to the McMillan Plan's 300-foot (91 m) setback line, and slightly lowered into the ground to accommodate the building's taller height.

The next major test of the McMillan Plan came with the siting of the Lincoln Memorial. A Lincoln Memorial Commission was authorized by Congress in 1910, and the commission immediately began wrestling with the many competing proposals for the memorial's location. Concurrently, members of the disbanded McMillan Commission were tiring of the constant demands on their time and the unpaid nature of their role. President Roosevelt agreed that a permanent commission on the arts should be created to help guide decisions regarding art and architecture in accordance with the McMillan Plan. Roosevelt established a commission by executive order shortly before he left office, but President William Howard Taft dissolved it and won congressional approval for a statutory United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) in 1910. Several members of the McMillan Commission were appointed to the CFA, as were many McMillan Plan supporters. When the Lincoln Memorial Commission found itself riven by disagreement over the new memorial's site, it sought out the advice of the CFA. Together, the Lincoln Memorial Commission and CFA worked together to approval West Potomac Park as the site for the new monument. The site for the Lincoln Memorial was approved in June 1911.

Over the years, other decisions were made which helped reinforce the status of the McMillan plan as the "official" development plan for the District of Columbia. These included the siting of the Freer Gallery of Art in 1923, the creation of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1926 (which was formally charged with implementing the McMillan Plan), enactment of legislation authorizing the enlargement of the Capitol grounds in 1929 (in accordance with the McMillan Plan), and passage of the Capper-Cramton city park act (which sought to implement the McMillan Plan's park program). Arlington Memorial Bridge was authorized in 1925 after President Warren G. Harding got caught in a three-hour traffic jam during the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A lengthy fight over the location of the bridge occurred, but the CFA won the battle and the bridge's construction (in the low, classical style advocated by the McMillan Plan) was authorized by Congress on February 24, 1925. The Public Buildings Act of 1926 authorized the razing of the Murder Bay slum and the construction of Federal Triangle in 1926, and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway was authorized in 1928. Although construction of a massive terrace around the base of the Washington Monument proven unfeasible (it would have destabilized the monument's foundations), the National World War II Memorial was constructed at the eastern end of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in 2004.

Recent implementation efforts

The McMillan Plan continues to provide the underpinning for planning in the national capital in the 21st century. In 1997, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) issued a report entitled Extending the Legacy: Planning America's Capital. The planning document was an attempt to update the McMillan Plan for the 21st century. It redefined the monumental core, and established new guidelines for locating museums, memorials, and federal buildings throughout the city. A second major report, Monumental Core Framework Plan: Connecting New Destinations with the National Mall, was issued in April 2009. Written jointly by the NCPC and CFA, the planning document extends the McMillan Plan's values and planning concepts through the city. It proposed the creation of new "federal centers" through the city (away from the monumental core) and proposed redevelopment of the Washington Channel and Anacostia River waterfronts. A second planning effort, CapitalSpace, was also launched in 2009. A joint initiative of the NCPC, the National Park Service, and the government of the District of Columbia, CapitalSpace is designed to implement six of the major unfinished proposals of the McMillan Plan. These include linking the Fort Circle Parks with trails and parkways, improving recreational facilities, enhancing and maintaining neighborhood parks, establishing new and repairing existing playgrounds and school play yards, ensuring the protection and restoration of natural areas within and near the city, and transforming small and underutilized parks into vibrant new neighborhood centers.

In late 2012, work began on two billion-dollar projects to implement Extending the Legacy: Planning America's Capital were announced. The first project, named "The Wharf", is a $1.45 billion redevelopment of the waterfront roughly between 9th and 7th Streets SW along the Washington Channel. The project will build 10 mixed-use buildings each 130 feet (40 m) high. A privately owned cultural center and new public park will be included in The Wharf. A total of 3,200,000 square feet (300,000 m ²) will be built, with about two-thirds of that built in the first phase. Maine Avenue SW will be remodeled, Water Street SW will be decommissioned and demolished, a pedestrian promenade built where Water Street was, and two new piers (for both private and commercial use) will be constructed. The second project announced is a $906 million project to replace and realign the aging Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and build new interchanges between the bridge and Suitland Parkway, the bridge and Potomac Avenue SW, Suitland Parkway and Interstate 295, and Suitland Parkway and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue. The current four-lane bridge will be replaced with a six-lane bridge and brought into a more north-south alignment from its current northwest-southeast alignment. The cost of the bridge replacement is estimated at $573.8 million. A traffic circle with a large field (to be used for public gatherings, and suitable for several new memorials) will connect the north end of the bridge with Potomac Avenue SW. A second massive traffic oval on the south end of the bridge will help connect it to Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, and help expand the city's "monumental core" into Anacostia. Reconstruction of the two interchanges is estimated to cost $209.2 million. The remainder of the budgeted funds will help remodel South Capitol Street into an urban boulevard from an industrial corridor, and renovate New Jersey Avenue SE.

Several elements of the McMillan Plan remained unbuilt.

One major element was the large system of granite and marble terraces, steps, and arcades ("Washington Monument Gardens") proposed for the grounds around the base of the Washington Monument. It was later determined that construction of these features would require the removal of large quantities of earth. This would have destabilized the monument's foundations, however, and none of the proposed elements were built. The Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service sponsored a design competition in 2011 to revitalize the Mall as part of a $700 million plan to transform it into a world-class park. The design partnership of Weiss/Manfredi + OLIN won a portion of the competition to redesign the Washington Monument grounds and the nearby Sylvan Theater. If implemented, the plan would lightly terrace the grounds of the Washington Monument, while creating deep terraces at the Sylvan Theater to create seating.

Another unbuilt major element was a collection of tall, Neoclassical office buildings around Lafayette Square. This proposal went unbuilt as the federal government struggled to complete the Federal Triangle complex. The cost of constructing the office complex during the mid to late 1930s, and the lack of materials and manpower during World War II and the Korean War, kept the complex from being built. Although a major effort was made in 1960 to begin razing the historic homes around Lafayette Square, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy opposed their destruction and successfully lobbied Congress and the General Services Administration to retain the structures. Mrs. Kennedy persuaded President John F. Kennedy to allow architect John Carl Warnecke to design a plan to allow the construction of two federal office buildings behind the smaller, historic structures. Warnecke's plan led to the construction of the New Executive Office Building in 1965 and the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in 1967. They were the only two large office buildings constructed near Lafayette Square, and neither was Neoclassical in design.

A third major unbuilt recommendation of the McMillan Plan involved the extensive "Washington Commons" recreational area on East and West Potomac Parks along the southern side of the Tidal Basin. The McMillan Plan envisioned extensive public bathing and swimming facilities along the Potomac River's edge here, as well as a number of athletic fields, several gymnasiums, and a stadium. Additionally, a major new Neoclassical or Beaux-Arts memorial would be constructed along the White House-Washington Monument axis to serve as the southern anchor of the cruciform National Mall plan. The Washington Commons was to have been built after the Washington Monument terraces and arcades. After it was determined that the Washington Monument grounds project could not be built, attention turned to Washington Commons. But by then the Great Depression was under way, and funds to complete the Tidal Basin in the form envisioned by the McMillan Plan no longer were available. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed construction of a memorial to Thomas Jefferson on the south side of the Tidal Basin. Although the memorial was opposed by the CFA, President Roosevelt ordered its construction and the Jefferson Memorial was completed in 1943.

The proposed "Fort Circle Drive" is another unbuilt part of the plan. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy began pushing Congress to build Fort Circle Drive. But civic leaders and the National Park Service openly questioned whether the plan had outgrown its usefulness. They argued that the city had grown past the ring of forts that protected it a century earlier, and city roads already connected the parks (albeit not in the linear route envisioned by the McMillan Plan). The plan to link the city's Civil War fort-parks via a grand drive was quietly dropped in the years that followed.

A final unbuilt recommendation of the McMillan Plan was the concept of grouping a large number of executive branch office buildings around the United States Congress. The concept was two-fold: To complement the existing United States Botanic Garden (built in 1867), Library of Congress Building (built in 1897), Cannon House Office Building (built in 1908), and Russell Senate Office Building (built in 1909) to create a symmetrical look to the Capitol environs; and to reduce the time and trouble it took for executive branch workers to serve the needs of Congress. No executive branch office buildings were ever constructed. A number of buildings were constructed nearby, but they were not in the symmetrical siting or design advocated by the McMillan Plan. These structures included the Longworth House Office Building (finished in 1933), the United States Supreme Court Building (finished in 1935), and the John Adams Library of Congress Building (finished in 1939). The Longworth and Adams buildings were both on the House side, and no attempt was made to purchase the land bounded by Maryland Avenue NE, 1st Street NE, and Constitution Avenue NE. This property was quickly developed with private office buildings without reference to the McMillan Plan. Yet another building, the Rayburn House Office Building, was built on the House side in 1965. This left the United States Capitol Complex unbalanced. Only in 1972 was the relatively small Dirksen Senate Office Building completed on the Senate side. Thus far, all the buildings constructed were within the Beaux-Arts or "stripped Neoclassical" style. But in 1976, construction on the James Madison Library of Congress Building was completed in the southeast corner of the Capitol Complex. Not only was this building on the House side (again), but it was Modernist in style and did not fit well architecturally with the other structures. This was followed in 1982 with the Modernist Hart Senate Office Building, whose primary concession to the Beaux-Arts style was a marble exterior.

Although many neighborhood parks were created in the District of Columbia pursuant to the McMillan Plan, the scope of expansion contemplated by the plan was not achieved. Implementation of the neighborhood park, playground, and recreational facilities program was left to the D.C. government, which lacked the extensive resources of the federal government to implement the McMillan Plan. Few areas beyond the old "Federal City" boundary were purchased for park or recreational land. As the city rapidly expanded, this land dramatically increased in price and the city found itself unable to obtain as much land as it wished. The inability of the city government to implement the scope of the McMillan Plan's park proposals is considered the largest failure the plan faced.

Bednar, Michael J. (2006). L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801883180.

Hagner, Alexander (1904). "Street Nomenclature of Washington City". Records of the Columbia Historical Society: 237-261.

Hawkins, Don Alexander (Spring-Summer 1991). "The Landscape of the Federal City: A 1792 Walking Tour". Washington History: 10-33.

National Capital Planning Commission (1965). Fort Park System: A Re-evaluation Study of Fort Drive. Washington, D.C.: National Capital Planning Commission.

Rybczynski, Witold (2008). "'A Simple Space of Turf': Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.'s Idea for the Mall". In Glazer, Nathan; Fields, Cynthia R. (eds.). The National Mall: Rethinking Washington's Monumental Core. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801888052.

Thomas, Christopher A. (2002). The Lincoln Memorial and American Life. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691011943.

Tompkins, Sally Kress (1993). A Quest for Grandeur: Charles Moore and the Federal Triangle. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 9781560981619.

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The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.

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1907, 1912: QOL Updates for the Nat'l Mall

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1907, 1912: QOL Updates for the Nat'l Mall

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Various QOL updates to the mall are made in this time frame, incl. new motorized vehicle roads and the first cherry trees.

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The first 3,000 cherry trees, and cherry trees thereafter along the Tidal Basin, would not be there today without the influence of former first lady Helen Taft.

Helen Taft had traveled extensively with William Taft, who was Secretary of War under president Theodore Roosevelt. The former first lady lived in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, and in Japan during Taft's appointment who had gone on a goodwill tour. It was soon after Taft's inauguration as the 27th President in 1909 that Helen Taft began considering plans for the development of the recently dredged Potomac flats, 720 new acres of federal parkland.

She was inspired by the parks in Manila and wanted to create a similar atmosphere for the residents of Washington D.C.:

"In her memoir, Helen Taft wrote that she wanted 'to convert Potomac Park into a glorified Luneta where all Washington could meet, either on foot or in vehicles, at five o'clock on certain evenings, listen to band concerts and enjoy such recreation as no other spot in Washington could possibly afford."

Travel journalist Eliza Scidmore had a vision as well for this new land and the man-made Tidal Basin. She wrote to Helen Taft encouraging her to plant Japanese cherry trees.
The White House, Washington April 7, 1909 Thank you very much for your suggestion about the cherry trees. I have taken the matter up and am promised the trees, but I thought perhaps it would be best to make an avenue of them, extending down to the turn in the road, as the other part is still too rough to do any planting. Of course, they could not reflect in the water, but the effect would be very lovely of the long avenue. Let me know what you think about this. Sincerely yours, Helen H. Taft
On March 27, 1912, first lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted two cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin.

A bronze plaque commemorates those two trees that still bloom today.

Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2012/03/26/cherry-tree-planting-in-march-1912-shaped-public-face-of-washington-d-c/ https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/march-27/

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The Women Who Planted The Cherry Trees on the National Mall - Trust for the National Mall

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As our community comes together to celebrate the cherry blossom season, the Trust for the National Mall is celebrating Women's History Month , recognizing the women who aligned their strengths to enrich the National Mall with our iconic cherry trees.

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12 Feb 1914: Lincoln Memorial Construction begins

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12 Feb 1914: Lincoln Memorial Construction begins

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Library of Congress

Ground was broken for the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial on February 12, 1914. The work was divided into two parts, a sub- and an upper-foundation. Because the memorial was to be built on drained and filled land, extra care had to be taken with the foundation for such a massive structure.

The sub-foundation is made up of 122 solid, poured concrete piers with steel reinforcing rods anchored in bedrock. The upper-foundation is a second series of piers resting on the primary columns. The top piers are all joined together by poured concrete arches that form the floor of the memorial, later covered with a sheathing of marble.

All foundation work was completed in May 1915. Earlier that year work had started on the main structure itself and fill was brought in to build up the the circular mound that would be the landscape setting for the memorial. Work continued at a steady pace until April 1917, when the United States entered World War I. Work slowed considerably because of labor and material shortages but never came to a halt. In 1918, after all parties agreed that the statue of Lincoln would have to be doubled in size so that it would not appear lost in the building, steel struts were added beneath the floor to support the added weight from the larger statue.

From the chamber of the memorial, one can appreciate the different stones used in its construction. The terrace walls and lower steps comprise granite blocks from Massachusetts - the upper steps, outside facade, and columns contain marble blocks from Colorado - the interior walls and columns are Indiana limestone - the floor is pink Tennessee marble - the ceiling tiles are Alabama marble - and the Lincoln statue comprises 28 pieces of Georgia marble. These building materials may seem random, but Henry Bacon specifically chose each one to tell a very specific story. A country torn apart by war can come together, not only to build something beautiful, but also explain the reunification of the states.

Once the roof was on, decorative murals were painted on the tops of the south and north walls and the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural were carved into the stone beneath the paintings.

In December 1919 and January 1920 the statue of Lincoln was assembled and completed. Periodically during the project, the structure was inspected for settling. When necessary, repairs were made and walls and foundations strengthened. Throughout 1921 roadways and walks were built. Trees and shrubberies were planted, lawns seeded, and huge, old boxwoods were transplanted to the memorial grounds.

Work began, too, on the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. By the time of the dedication on May 30, 1922, all the work was done except for completing the pool and the interior lighting which were finished within the next few years.

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Construction of the Lincoln Memorial - Lincoln Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)

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Ground was broken for the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial on February 12, 1914. The work was divided into two parts, a sub- and an upper-foundation. Because the memorial was to be built on drained and filled land, extra care had to be taken with the foundation for such a massive structure.

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1916: The Revolutionary War Memorial (John Paul Jones Park)

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1916: The Revolutionary War Memorial (John Paul Jones Park)

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In 1916, the park containing the Civil War memorial (that would later become the John Paul Jones Park) is expanded to include a Revolutionary War memorial thanks to a naval-battle-related donation from the Long Island DAR.

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31 Aug 1916: John Ericsson Memorial authorized

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31 Aug 1916: John Ericsson Memorial authorized

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A memorial to the inventor, engineer, and Civil-War-era naval genius is authorized.

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1922: Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Dedicated

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1922: Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Dedicated

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The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is dedicated. It owes its existence to the McMillan plan, which suggested its current placement. (https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/ulysses-s-grant-memorial)

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The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated eight years after construction began and is mostly complete upon opening.

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Library of Congress Photo.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and titan of our national heritage, grew up as a poor boy on the frontier. Reading books by candlelight, after long hours at school or on the farm, proved invaluable to young Lincoln. He later served as a store clerk, a river trader, and a "rail-splitter" used to hard physical labor. A plain speaker for plain folks, Lincoln blended his love of the written word with a strong work ethic and pursued a legal career, then a political one from the Illinois state legislature to the U.S. Congress. Here was a man who aspired to lead a nation.

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History & Culture - Lincoln Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)

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Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and titan of our national heritage, grew up as a poor boy on the frontier. Reading books by candlelight, after long hours at school or on the farm, proved invaluable to young Lincoln.

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1926: Thomas Jefferson Memorial is Authorized

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1926: Thomas Jefferson Memorial is Authorized

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Congress introduces a resolution to authorize construction of a Thomas Jefferson memorial (TJM).

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29 May 1926: John Ericsson Memorial dedicated

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29 May 1926: John Ericsson Memorial dedicated

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(https://www.nps.gov/nama/planyourvisit/john-ericsson-memorial.htm)

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1931: Dover Patrol Naval War Memorial (John Paul Jones Park)

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1931: Dover Patrol Naval War Memorial (John Paul Jones Park)

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The park that would later be known as the John Paul Jones Park is expanded again, now including the Dover Patrol Naval War Memorial.

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After the original architect for the TJM (John Russel Pope) dies, the project is handed to his associates and construction is started. https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=2946803&id=0A1E128B-1DD8-B71C-075152D2B46094CA&gid=096A7661-1DD8-B71C-07FCAE0DED5F4FC1

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The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is officially dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. Over the coming years it will be put under construction several times to deal with various structural issues.

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1965: Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Preservation is authorized and a New Plan is ushered in

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1965: Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Preservation is authorized and a New Plan is ushered in

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With both L'Enfant and McMillan plans falling out of public favor and various historical monuments falling into disarray under the rapid metropolitanization of post-WWII DC, a new plan for the National Mall - referred to as the NPS Master Plan - began. (https://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/documents/mallpaavhistory.pdf)

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1969: The John Paul Jones Park is created

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1969: The John Paul Jones Park is created

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Due to the variety of naval-based monuments and memorials on park grounds, the park's name is officially changed to John Paul Jones Park to honor the man considered to be the father of the American navy. (https://www.nycgovparks.org/photo_gallery/full_size/19050.jpg)

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1971: Navy Tempos removed and Constitution Gardens authorized

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1971: Navy Tempos removed and Constitution Gardens authorized

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During WWI, the American Navy established temporary offices in the National Mall; these were ordered removed in 1971 by Richard M. Nixon, who then authorized a park to be built there. This would later become the Constitution Gardens.

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Constitution Gardens is a living legacy to the founding of the republic as well as an oasis in the midst of a city landscape. The 50 acres of the park were originally beneath the Potomac River. Near the end of the nineteenth century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated a dredging project that created the land that became Potomac Park.

Beginning in World War I, the government maintained "temporary" office buildings on this site for use by the United States Navy and the Munitions Department. Nicknamed "Tempos," these structures remained until the 1970s when President Richard M. Nixon ordered their removal. After the Navy finally withdrew from them, the buildings were demolished in 1971. President Nixon then directed that a park be laid out on the land, leading to the creation of Constitution Gardens.

The Gardens were dedicated in May of 1976 as an American Revolution Bicentennial tribute. On July 2, 1984, the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence was dedicated on the small island in the lake.

On September 17, 1986, in honor of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation making Constitution Gardens a living legacy tribute to the Constitution. Visitors enjoy the park all year as the home for a wide array of urban wildlife. Constitution Gardens has been a separate park unit since 1982.

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History & Culture - Constitution Gardens (U.S. National Park Service)

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Constitution Gardens is a living legacy to the founding of the republic as well as an oasis in the midst of a city landscape. The 50 acres of the park were originally beneath the Potomac River. Near the end of the nineteenth century, the U.S.

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2 July 1984: Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence dedicated

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2 July 1984: Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence dedicated

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On a small island in the lake of the Constitution Gardens, a memorial to all those who signed the Declaration of Independence is dedicated.

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The Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence is located in Constitution Gardens on the National Mall. In April 1978, Congress passed an act "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to memorialize the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in Constitution Gardens in the District of Columbia." The memorial was dedicated on July 2, 1984, 208 years after the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence.

Constitution Gardens are located on the north side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, near the World War II Memorial. A gift of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, the semi-circular Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence is located on a small island in a lake, accessible by a wooden bridge.

The stone set into the ground at the end of the bridge is engraved with the title and in the style of the engrossed and signed parchment. Just before the entrance to the memorial, the last sentence of the Declaration in Timothy Matlack's hand is replicated in stone, calling visitors to remember the pledge the signers were making to each other.

The memorial was created by sculptor Joseph Brown, whose famous sculpture of young Benjamin Franklin at a printing press can be seen across from City Hall in Philadelphia. For each signer, there is an angled block of granite engraved with the person's name, profession, and hometown. Each stone also has the man's signature, enhanced with gold leaf. The stones are grouped by state, with Pennsylvania's nine signers splitting the entrance to the memorial. The state labels are inlaid in the ground.

The National Mall is home to a number of memorials and museums. The Memorial to the 56 Signers is quite simple by comparison, crowded with more geese than people. But the memorial's quiet island provides a unique view of the Washington Monument, and respite from the busyness of the capital.

Plan Your Visit

Location: National Mall, between Constitution Avenue and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Washington, D.C.

Hours: Open 24 hours

Admission: Free

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Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

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The Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence is located in Constitution Gardens on the National Mall. In April 1978, Congress passed an act "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to memorialize the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in Constitution Gardens in the District of Columbia."

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1986: Korean War Veterans Memorial authorized

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1986: Korean War Veterans Memorial authorized

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Under a panel of 12 veterans of the Korean War appointed by Reagan, a memorial honoring the veterans of the "Forgotten War" is authorized.

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14 June 1992: Korean War Veterans Memorial construction begins

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14 June 1992: Korean War Veterans Memorial construction begins

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Ground is broken for the memorial after one plan was chosen out of over 500 submitted to the memorial's advisory panel.

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27 July 1995: Korean War Veterans Memorial Dedicated

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27 July 1995: Korean War Veterans Memorial Dedicated

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The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in 1995, on the 42nd anniversary of the war's armistice.

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A plan to incorporate the McMillan and L'Enfant plans with the modernization of the NPS Master Plan is proposed. (https://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/documents/mallpaavhistory.pdf)

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The George Mason Memorial is dedicated on 9 Apr 2002 to honor the founding father who wrote the first draft of the Declaration, then withheld his signature from the final draft because it didn't abolish slavery.