Class. 
 Book. 
 
 
/ 
 
 Problems in the 
 Development of Washington 
 
 Bv CHARLES MOORE 
 
 Chairman o\ the National Commission of Fine Arts 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
 
 THE OCTAGON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 MAY, 1917 
 
 9>J 
 
•Ms 
 
 Never Was Th,- (ii.„iuois I)„„k M„rp Rkaitifim. Than ov Thi^ Sixth Dav of April, 1917 
 
^-Un,.:' ■j'.ii.K'"- 
 
 V4- 
 
 
 virvv 
 
 CITY OF WASHINCTOr 
 
 
 
 ,.r\-.\^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Land Selected by President Washington as the Site for the Federal City. — By Courtesy of the Library of Congress 
 
 Problems in the Development of Washington 
 
 By CHARLES MOORE 
 Chairman of the National Commission of Kine Arts 
 
 AS the development of Washington proceeds 
 according to the original plan ot the city 
 made by L'Enfant in 1790 and extended 
 by the Commission of 1901, certain special 
 problems arise which require decision in accord- 
 ance with the general lines of the plan. 
 
 The Capitol Group 
 
 The House and Senate office buildings 
 have been constructed with the view of 
 creating about the Capitol a group of 
 buildings more or less connected with the 
 legislative branch of the Government. Lands 
 between the Capitol and Union Station have 
 been purchased, and these lands have been 
 
 cleared of most of the buildings that formerly 
 occupied them. The present conditions are 
 unsightly. Congress should decide as to how 
 this space shall be utilized, whether to enhance 
 the dignity and impressiveness of the approach 
 to the Capitol by creating a series ot splendid 
 gardens, or to provide sites tor public build- 
 ings. When this main question shall have been 
 decided, a plan should be made for this im- 
 portant area. Congress should also determine 
 whether the stoneyards and insigniticant build- 
 ings shall be cleared from the spaces south and 
 west of the Capitol grounds, so as to put an 
 end to the squalid conditions now existing 
 about that great national building. 
 
 213 
 
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
 
 The Supreme Court shows no disposition to 
 urge Congress to build a building for its own 
 special use. When the increase in its working 
 force and the consequent demands for space 
 shall compel the Court to quit the Capitol, a 
 building corresponding with the Library of 
 Congress should be built. It is a question as to 
 whether the Maryland Avenue axis should be 
 blocked by this building as the Pennsylvania 
 Avenue axis has been blocked by the Library 
 of Congress, or whether two buildings should 
 occupy the space between North Capitol Street 
 and B Street North, thus leaving Maryland 
 Avenue free. 
 
 The Mall 
 
 Last year the Senate passed a bill to extend 
 the present Botanic Gardens by taking in an 
 additional section of the Mall. The bill tailed 
 in the House, but it has been reintroduced in 
 the Senate, where it has the backing of two 
 influential Senators. Should the bill become a 
 law, the proper development of the Mall will 
 be retarded for many years. 
 
 To secure such development the Government 
 paid the Pennsylvania Railroad Ji, 500,000 to 
 remove its tracks from the Mall, and when he 
 consented to such removal, President Cassatt 
 expressly stated that he did so in order that the 
 Mall plan might be carried out. 
 
 Also, to provide for carrying out the Mall 
 plan, the Agricultural Department buildings 
 were relocated after the excavations for founda- 
 tions had been begiin; and the buildings have 
 been constructed so as to require the lower 
 grades involved in the plan. 
 
 The National Museum has been located with 
 reference to the new Mall axis; likewise the 
 Freer Gallery. Trees have been planted, and 
 grading has been begun in accordance with the 
 Mall design. 
 
 Congress located the Grant Memorial at the 
 head of the Mall in such manner as to force the 
 removal of the present Botanic Garden to a 
 new and adequate site. The two occupancies are 
 inconsistent in extreme. The Botanic Garden 
 in any location between the Capitol and the 
 Washington Monument cannot be more than a 
 
 
 ■•:*i«r w- iTCJ 
 
 Jf==^^="— --rrr ^• 
 
 ■'m' 
 
 ^-c:m:?=-^^, - ^^^.,, 
 
 
 Jtnahb^iU.lmu. >« 
 
 \ • 
 
 ,:^^ ,X 
 
 
 — ■ 
 
 i 
 
 i,..^.,[.ll...i- -J-v-vN. 
 
 KPKRP.>'rrft. 
 
 ih.^ 
 
 <f 
 
 l.ii-'nriT.ii 
 
 # 
 
 .J*]in.o ft !»^ 
 
 Plan Prepared bv Peter Chari.es L'Enfant Under the Direction of President Washington and Secretary Jefferson 
 FOR THE Federal City.— By Courtesy of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds 
 
 214 
 
Development of the Central Composition of the L'Enfant Flan by the Commission of 1901. — Shows the Capitol sur- 
 rounded by buildings related to legislative activities, and the White House surrounded by departmental buildings; the main axis 
 beginning with the Capitol, extending through the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial; the White House axis beginning 
 with the White House, extending through the Washington Monument gardens, and ending with a site for a great memorial yet to be 
 determined upon; also shows the proposed memorial bridge to Arlington and the location of public buildings south of Pennsylvania 
 Avenue. — Courtesv of the National Commission ot Fine Arts. 
 
 Photograph of the Model Prepared to Show the .Arrangement of Buildings about the Capitol, and Open .Approach 
 to the Capitol from the West Where the Botanic Garden now Stands, and the Arrangement of Museum Buildings along 
 THE Mall. — Courtesy of the National Commission of Fine Arts. 
 
 215 
 
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
 
 makeshift as a garden, but it can play the part 
 ot dog in the manger and delay a systematic 
 development of the space as a great park con- 
 nection between the Capitol and the White 
 House. 
 
 It is essential that this question be settled 
 right and at once. 
 
 The Monument Grounds 
 
 Nothing has been done to open the White 
 House cross axis of the Mall or to create an 
 appropriate setting for the Washington Monu- 
 ment. This is a subject which may well receive 
 attention from the Washington Monument 
 Association at its annual meeting on January i, 
 next. There is no need of haste in carrying out 
 the plans, but at least the subject should be 
 discussed as one of the things to be done in the 
 future. As the landscape treatment leading to 
 the Lincoln Memorial progresses, the necessity 
 tor an adequate setting tor the Monument will 
 be forced on the attention of the public — and 
 the plan for the terraced gardens shown in the 
 plan ot I go I will become apparent. 
 
 The Executive Group 
 
 When plans were prepared for buildings to 
 accommodate the departments of State, Jus- 
 tice, and Commerce, the area along Fifteenth 
 Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue and B 
 Street North, was found to be too small for the 
 three buildings. Consequently, the State De- 
 partment was forced over into the Mall. This 
 location never was sanctioned by Congress; 
 and it never should be. The buildings along the 
 Mall should be of a museum character — struc- 
 tures housing collections in which the public 
 primarily is interested. 
 
 The plan of 1901 calls for the location of 
 departmental buildings on three sides of Lafay- 
 ette Square, thus surrounding the White House 
 with structures devoted to executive work. At 
 one time plans were prepared for a building for 
 the combined use of the departments of State and 
 of Justice, to be located on the square west of 
 Lafayette Square, but there was opposition to 
 any combination. Each department desired its 
 own building. The State Department build- 
 ing, as recently planned, would occupy this 
 entire block, and then would accommodate 
 functions too large for the White House. This 
 location should be adhered to for reasons of 
 
 convenience, both to the department in its 
 intimate relations to the White House and to 
 the people having business therewith, whether 
 callers or members of the clerical force. Such 
 has been the uniform opinion of State Depart- 
 ment officials. The Government already owns 
 the old Corcoran Art Gallery and occupies 
 other property situated in this square. The 
 character of the occupancy of the remainder 
 is now such as to enable its purchase on favor- 
 able terms. The project should be started at 
 once. 
 
 Again, the Government owns the corner on 
 Pennsylvania Avenue and Madison Place, 
 opposite the Treasury Department, and such 
 is the pressure for building-space that probably 
 the site will be built up before long. Any build- 
 ing erected on this site should be designed in 
 such manner as both to preserve the dominance 
 of the White House and also to become a por- 
 tion of a single building to occupy the entire 
 frontage extending from Pennsylvania Avenue 
 to H Street. 
 
 If the Government should now take over the 
 site of the Arlington Hotel and erect thereon a 
 temporary building, in time it could obtain the 
 other frontage along H Street to Sixteenth. 
 In any event, the scheme for a group of execu- 
 tive buildings around Lafayette Square always 
 should be kept in mind. 
 
 The Area South of Pennsylvania Avenue 
 
 Pennsylvania Avenue will always remain the 
 great thoroughfare of Washington. That por- 
 tion of the Avenue between the Capitol and the 
 Treasury Department offers appropriate loca- 
 tions for the many buildings which maintain 
 relations with both the legislative and the 
 executive branches of the Government. The 
 market site is fixed by the conditions imposed 
 at the time the market was created, and in case 
 the market shall be removed the land will 
 revert to the heirs ot the original owners. It 
 would be unwise, perhaps, to change these con- 
 ditions. B Street North, however, should be 
 extended with its full width from Sixth Street 
 to Pennsylvania Avenue, thus giving the Mall 
 its proper outlines. 
 
 The Lincoln Memorial 
 
 The main planting between the Washington 
 Monument and the Lincoln Memorial has been 
 
 216 
 
1 
 
 View from the Smithsonian Tower about 1878. — Shows the uncompleted Washington Monument and the overflowed lands 
 which have been filled in to make Potomac Park — about 740 acres in all. The view shows the grounds of the then Bureau of Agriculture 
 in the foreground. Courtesv of the National Commission of Fine •■^rts. 
 
 View Showing the Grant Memorial, the Botamc Garden, and the Bartholdi Fointain. — In order to give a proper set- 
 ting to the Grant Memorial, both greenhouses and fountain must be removed to other locations. The vista from the Capitol to the 
 Washington Monument is yet to be developed. Courtesy of the National Commission of Fine Arts. 
 
 217 
 
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
 
 put in, but it will take several years before the 
 trees obtain a sufficient growth to impress the 
 public with the general scheme of treatment. 
 The design for the grounds calls for a reflecting 
 basin extending from Seventeenth Street to the 
 Lincoln Memorial, a distance of 2,300 feet. This 
 basin, when completed, will be one of the most 
 charming features of the Mall system. It is 
 essential to the beauty of the plan, and the 
 sooner it is created the more pleasure the present 
 generation will get from the composition. In the 
 erection of memorials in this portion of Poto- 
 mac Park, extreme care should be exercised in 
 order that no design inharmonious with the 
 great monument to Lincoln shall be permitted 
 in its proximity. This harmony should be his- 
 torical as well as artistic. 
 
 The Memorial Bridge 
 
 Very serious problems arise in the treatment 
 of the proposed bridge to connect the Lincoln 
 Memorial with Arlington. There is a question, 
 for example, as to whether the bridge should 
 extend on the axis of the Washington Monu- 
 ment and the Lincoln Memorial, reaching a 
 terminus above Arlington. There is another 
 question as to whether the bridge proper should 
 end at Analostan Island and not be brought 
 to the main land. The channel between Analo- 
 stan Island and the Virginia bank of the 
 Potomac carries very little water and is in pro- 
 cess of being filled up. If the bridge is con- 
 structed for so great a length as from the Lin- 
 coln Memorial to the Virginia shore, it will 
 require a very elaborate treatment on the 
 slopes of Arlington in order to make a proper 
 termination. On the other hand, if the bridge 
 is kept comparatively short, only a simple and 
 naturalistic treatment of the Virginia approach 
 would be required. 
 
 Potomac Parkways 
 
 Congress has provided for the connection 
 between Potomac Park and Rock Creek Park 
 along the river to Rock Creek and thence up the 
 Creek to the Zoological Park. Most of the 
 difficulties in the way of this improvement 
 have been overcome, and the long-cherished 
 hopes of the citizens of the District interested 
 in the development of lower Rock Creek are 
 about to be realized. The machinery is in such 
 good working order at the present time that 
 
 Congress may safely increase the appropria- 
 tions, with the assurance that the money will be 
 economically and efficiently spent. 
 
 The Washington Channel Boulevartl 
 
 Serious indeed is the problem of a boulevard 
 connection along the bank of the Washington 
 Channel from Potomac Park to the War College 
 and thence along the Anacostia to the new water 
 park now under construction. This connection 
 was indicated but was not adequately worked 
 out in the plan of 1901, because of uncertainties 
 as to ownership of the waterfront. The Govern- 
 ment now has undisputed title to the entire 
 frontage on the Washington Channel, and 
 nothing but the will of the powers-that-be 
 stands in the way of creating on the east a 
 parkway connection quite as necessary to the 
 proper development of Washington as is the 
 Potomac Park and Rock Creek Parkway on the 
 west, for which Congress is spending several 
 millions of dollars. Indeed the creation of the 
 latter makes inperative the construction of the 
 Washington Channel Boulevard, in order to 
 complete the parkway circuit on the south. 
 Now that a comprehension of this tact is spread- 
 ing among persons concerned with new projects 
 in this locality, there are indications of certain 
 revisions of plans in order to accommodate these 
 large considerations. No structure should be 
 permitted along this waterfront which is so 
 located as to encroach upon Water Street or so 
 designed as to be unsightly from the sports- 
 fields and driveways in East Potomac Park. 
 
 Memorials in Washington 
 
 During the first half-century of Washington 
 the city got along without any out-of-door art. 
 It was in 1853 that General Jackson mounted his 
 charger in front of the White House. This is the 
 oldest equestrian statue in the United States. 
 The conclusion of the War of Secession brought 
 about the rapid development of the city of 
 Washington. Also, the time had come when the 
 glad hearts of the people were in the mood to set 
 up memorials to recent heroes. As a conse- 
 quence, circles and squares were quickly popu- 
 lated by bronze soldiers on foot and on horse- 
 back. 
 
 As the improvement of Washington proceeds, 
 almost every group of men with a hero desires 
 to find a place for him in Washington. Portrait 
 
 218 
 
\ lEW ui ;Hi, Mall Svmem. iiliuu;. the actu.il relations existing between the Capitol, Wabhington Monument, and Lincoln 
 Memorial, and between the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Memorial Site to be developed; also showing the Ana- 
 costia Water Park on the right, the connection between Potomac Park and Rock Creek Park on the left, and the proposed memorial 
 bridge across the Potomac. 
 
 East Potomac Park, Created by Dredging the Potomac River and Now Awaiting Develotment. — The view shows the 
 Tidal Basin, a portion of West Potomac Park, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on the left, and the White House projiagating 
 gardens and greenhouses in the foreground. Taken from the top of the Washington Monument. — Courtesy of the National Commis- 
 sion of Fine Arts. 
 
 219 
 
From a Photograph of the Model Showim. ihi I'ltornsFn Dk^mopment of 
 
 I MiiN SoiARE. — I he proposed approach to the Capitol from the west. A study based on L'Enfant's plan of 1791 approved by 
 I'resident Washington. The Botanic Garden at present occupies this area. Courtesy of the National Commission of Fine Arts 
 
 220 
 
)TOMAC • K.I YL)^. 
 
 East Potomac Park. — Design prepared by the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds 
 
 View of the Moni'Ment Gardens. — The central pool in front of the iii(Hiunit.nt is on the axis of the White House. In 1901 the 
 axis of the Mall was changed to bring the Washington Monument in line with the dome of the Capitol and to bring the Monument 
 gardens into proper relations with the White House. The National Museum, the Agricultural Department Buildings, Freer .Art Gallery, 
 and the Lincoln Memorial, have been located in accordance with the new axis. Courtesy of the National Commission of Fine Arts, 
 
 221 
 
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
 
 statues, like portrait paintings, are interesting 
 to the family, but are rarely works of art. The 
 rule should be laid down, and vigorously 
 enforced, that no statue or memorial shall be 
 located in Washington unless such statue or 
 memorial is a distinct contribution to the general 
 scheme of the development of the city and adds an 
 artistic element thereto. 
 
 Washington needs fountains, just as Rome 
 did, and a memorial may properly and with 
 advantage take the form of a fountain. There 
 are now two such fountains in Washington, and 
 soon there will be a third and perhaps a fourth. 
 Both are in themselves works of art and en- 
 hance the attractiveness ot the city as well as 
 honor the men whose names are connected 
 with them.. Memorials may also take other 
 forms that express artistic conceptions. The 
 
 subjects of these memorials should be limited, 
 however, to persons whose reputations are 
 national in character and high in quality. 
 Congress should be very jealous as to the ad- 
 mission of candidates for this particular form 
 of immortality. 
 
 The foregoing are some ot the problems which 
 readily suggest themselves in connection with 
 the development of Washington. It would be 
 quite easy to multiply the number several times. 
 
 The one object to be kept in mind constantly 
 and rigorously is the ideal development of the 
 National Capital, typifying the aspirations of 
 the people, and the achievements of the Na- 
 tion, so expressed as to make the city of W'ash- 
 ington a unified, dignified, and impressive work 
 of art. 
 
 Memorial Founimn 1 niarKK in McMillan Park, 
 Washington 
 Erected by citizens of Michigan in honor of James McMillan, 
 Senator from Michigan, 1 889-1 902. Herbert Adams, Sculptor; 
 Ch.-irles A. Piatt, Architect. The design of the fountain was 
 passed upon by the Commission of Fine Arts. A type of 
 memorial suited to the development of the District of Columbia. 
 
 The Ml;.!i)i.i..i. 10 Francis Davis Millet anu 
 
 Archibald W. Butt 
 
 h. type of memorial adapted to the adornment of the 
 
 National Capital. Daniel C. French, Sculptor; Thomas Hastings, 
 
 Architect. — Courtesy of the National Commission of Fine .^rts. 
 
 222 
 
New Hampshire Avenue in Early Spring 
 
 223 
 
Magnolias, Ivorv-VVhite and Coral-Fink, with a Background of Delicate Poplar Green 
 
 224 
 
The Enchantress of Washington is Springtime, Who Wraps the Capitol in a Cloud of Shimmering Green 
 
 225 
 
The Mansion in Georgetown Known as Tudor Place. — Designed by Dr. William Thornton, the architect ot the Capitol and 
 
 1)1 the Octagon House. 
 
 226 
 
On the Stucco Walls of Tudor Place the Morning Sun Weaves a Fleeting Pattern of Branch and Twig 
 
 227 
 
The Simple Dignity of the iJ.ws when Georgetown Ijiored across Kdck Creek to Where Washington Was to 
 
 Rise from the Sloping Plain beside the Potomac 
 
 228 
 
There Are a Hundred Frames of Leaf and Bough in Which One May Set the Capitol 
 
 229 
 
Changeless, Yet Ever Changing! Wonderful bv Day— More Wonderful on a Starry Night! 
 
 230 
 
Solemn, Dignified, Serene! Sometimes it Seems the Symbol of an Infinite Patience with the 
 
 Transient Vanities of Men 
 
 231 
 
Like a Beneficent Sentinel Recalling Men to the Loftiness of Ihat Pukpose Which a Grateful 
 
 Nation Has Here Enshrined 
 
 232 
 
\