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Pierre L’Enfant

Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t[he] United States : projected agreeable to the direction of the President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress, passed on the sixteenth day of July, MDCCXC, "establishing the permanent seat on the bank of the Potowmac"

Full-Color 1791 Manuscript Plan for Washington

  • June 18, 2014
Here is a terrific old map of the plan for the federal city. Source: Library of Congress
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC

Constitution Avenue Almost Renamed Franklin or L’Enfant Avenue

  • February 6, 2014
We wrote a while ago about the history behind Constitution Avenue. Doing a little more digging, we have come up with a great addendum to that post, with a little more backstory on the...
The Jefferson Pier

Why Is It Named Meridian Hill?

  • February 1, 2013
This is a great bit of Washington trivia for everyone to commit to memory … especially if you live anywhere along 16th St. NW. Pierre L’Enfant had originally planned the City of Washington around...
1791 L'Enfant Plan of the new city

Why Is There No J Street in DC?

  • January 30, 2013
In the English alphabet, the letter J looked too much like the letter I. The alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, and there is no letter J in Latin.