Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.5
Site of Washington with the boundary lines of private properties
and amazing effi ciency he had completed the task by the end of August of the same
year and submitted the plan to Washington immediately. It was at the very begin-
ning that L'Enfant had spotted Jenkins Hill and realized that it was the perfect foun-
dation for the main buildings of the Federal Government. He thought of the site as
God-sent. These buildings together with the later additions and improvements com-
prised the strikingly magnifi cent and dignifi ed architecture of the present Capitol.
As to Jenkins Hill, it has long since been renamed “Capitol Hill.”
With Capitol Hill as the centre, L'Enfant designed the central axis in the plan of the
capital. The axis was 5.5 km long, starting from the eastern shore of the Potomac in
the west to the western shore of the Anacostia in the east. Along the western section
of the axis, that is, from the west of Capitol Hill to the east shore of the Potomac of
that time, a space was to be reserved as a large green lawn for the recess and recreation
of the people. This part, undergoing plans and development, was the famous “Mall”
today. The presidential offi ce and residence, that is, the present White House was
designed to be located to the north of the western part of the Mall rather than on the
axis—moved westward to its present site, which commands a wonderful view of the
wide expanse of the lower Potomac when one looks to the south. Linking the White
House and Capitol Hill is a broad thoroughfare running in a oblique line, which is the
