Washington, D.C., whose proper title is "the District of Columbia", and which is commonly known simply as "D.C." is the capital district of the United States. In 1790, the new 13 United States approved the creation of a capital district which would be in what was then a swamp along the Potomac River. The Constitution states that this federal district is under the exclusive control of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state.
The federal district was named in honor of George Washington. The City of Washington was founded in 1791 with the sole purpose of being the new national capital.
Just under 700,000 people live in D.C., but the City and District are now just part of a large urban area that reaches into the states of Maryland and Virginia, giving a realistic metropolitan area of 5.8 million. This makes it the seventh-largest urban area in the country.
The government is divided into three branches: Congress; President and Supreme Court. They are all based in D.C.
Because D.C. represents the nation as a whole, many national monuments are here, including the Lincoln Memorial. The Major ones are situated along or near to the broad avenue between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial called the National Mall.
D.C. was made up of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, in the form of a square with sides of 10mi/16km, thus making 100 square miles.
The federal district was named Columbia, the romantic name for the United States used by the Patriots of the time. Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.
Planning for the District began in 1791 when President Washington appointed Pierre Charles L'Enfant to draw up a plan for the new city.
His first idea was a grid centered on the United States Capitol, which would stand at the top of Jenkins Hill and so dominate the surroundings. The early drawing at the top of this page gives the idea.
Superimposed on this grid were to be broad avenues, called boulevards, which would be named after the founding states. There were also to be open spaces in circles and plazas. These have since been named named after notable Americans.
The biggest boulevard was a road flanked by gardens. This is where the National Mall now stands. Another avenue (Pennsylvania Avenue) was to link the Capitol with the White House, the residence of the President. Pennsylvania Avenue is now the capital's main thoroughfare.
Remember the land was originally a swamp, and so it was designed with a pattern of canals.
Arguments followed over the extravagant design and it was altered to the basic plan we have today.
The city did not get off to a very good start. In the Anglo-American war of 1812-14, the British sailed up the Potomac and burned the Capitol.
In 1901, the Senate Park Improvement Commission, known as the (the "McMillan Commission" developed a plan for improving the National Mall. Just before this time, several European cities, such as Paris, had been redeveloped and slums cleared out of the way. This is what the McMillan Commission planned to do. This was when the capital got its new public monuments and government buildings. The Lincoln Memorial was the finishing touch, completed in 1922.
