1. DC History
Wednesday, January 31, 2018

2. Warm-Up: Design a Capital City
You will need:
A sheet of notebook paper and a sheet of computer paper
A pencil and a ruler (optional: colored pens/markers)
Instructions
1) On your sheet of notebook paper, make a list of all of the buildings/structures that you will need in your capital city
2) Next, make a list of other man-made features that you would like to have in the city (parks, etc.)
3) Decide where your capital will be located geographically, and any natural features that will be located in or near the city
4) Make a map of the city on your sheet of computer paper:
Decide on the location of the city relative to any natural features
Draw the natural features and the city’s borders
Design the layout of the streets, and draw the streets on your map
Decide on the location of major buildings/structures and other man-made features, and place those on your map
Make a key to explain any symbols on your map

3. Life and Government in the Early City

4. Designing the District
Principal Designers
Pierre L’Enfant—sketched the original plan of the city
Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker—continued the design and oversaw initial construction in the city after L’Enfant’s dismissal in 1792

5. Key Elements of the L’Enfant Plan
The Capitol Building and the President’s House (White House) were the central features
These structures were connected by Pennsylvania Ave, and by what would become the National Mall
Diagonal avenues radiated from these two buildings, crossing grid-like streets
Streets were much wider than in most cities

6. Construction Begins
Construction proceeded in a much more haphazard manner than L’Enfant intended
The White House—designed by Irish Immigrant James Hoban
The Capitol—designed by Dr. William Thornton and James Hoban
1800—The Federal Gov’t moves from Philadelphia to Washington
Neither the Capitol nor the White House had yet been completed

7. The First City Government
1801—Congress divides the District into two counties: Alexandria County and Washington County
1802—Washington City is granted a municipal charter by Congress
Voters (white male property owners)—elected a City Council
A Mayor was appointed by the President
First Mayor: Robert Brent
1812—a new charter provided for election of the mayor by an expanded 20-member council

8. Early Neighborhoods Navy Yard Capitol Hill City Center F Street
Inhabited by construction workers in the Navy Yard and Marines in their barracks
Churches, markets, taverns
Capitol Hill
Inhabited by Congressmen and their staffs
Boardinghouses, small shops and service businesses
City Center
Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House
Brick houses and commercial buildings
F Street
Residential area for the city’s elite
Rested on a ridge above swampy Penn Ave. and the Mall
Georgetown
Still a separate city, but becoming more connected with official Washington

10. Early City Services
Sanitation was a severe problem in Washington’s early years
1832—Cholera epidemic sweeps the city, brought on by crowded, unsanitary conditions
There was no sewage system and no trash collection
Fire Departments—were voluntary associations, mainly staffed by young men
These men engaged in such activities as gang fights, false alarms, and setting fires for the fun of putting them out
Police—consisted of six constables in 1840 (for a city of 23,000)
These constables were ineffective at deterring violent crime, gang violence, and racial violence

11. Exit Ticket: Practice MCQ
Which of the following people was not involved in the design and/or construction of the District of Columbia?
A. Andrew Ellicott
B. Benjamin Banneker
C. Pierre L’Enfant
D. Robert Brent

12. Homework
City of Magnificent Intentions: “The Federal District”