Pierre Charles L'Enfant

US Capitol

Pierre Charles L'Enfant — the architect and urban planner responsible for designing Washington, DC — was born on this date in 1754. L'Enfant was born and studied in Paris, but he chose to fight in America's Revolutionary War, arriving as a military engineer, under Marquis de Lafayette. After the war, he was commissioned to design a new Federal Hall in New York. President George Washington was so impressed with his work that he hired L'Enfant to plan the capital city's layout. L'Enfant was difficult to work with and, having antagonized members of Congress and key people on his project, he was dismissed from his position. Some 75 years after his death, in 1901, Washington, DC, was built largely according to the plan that L'Enfant had drafted.

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From our Archives: Today's Highlights, August 2, 2008