George Washington Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-21-02-0311

To George Washington from William Thornton, 14 February 1797

From William Thornton

Washington [D.C.] Feby 14th 17971

Sir

I imagine there will not be a full Board for two or three weeks,2 and, as I consider the Subject of extending the reservations to the areas which are formed by the Intersection of several Streets & Avenues as very interesting I thought it would border on neglect were I to fail to lay them before you, although I with great unwillingness intrude again upon your time.3

When the Subject of appropriations & reservations was before the Board, & preparations were making to lay the same before the Executive for his final Determination I was desirous of obtaining an Insertion of the Squares which we marked on the map accompanying this Letter,4 but though the Board approved of the Plan, yet they thought it might be deferred; for they imagined the Proposition would, at any time, accede to the Proposal which I then made. If the Idea be approved by the President, I shall make it my Business to wait on the several Proprietors, & represent his Inclination to them: then they will not hesitate to adopt the plan, and nothing afterwards interfere with the measure.

On the map many areas of considerable extent appear to be omitted, but I have marked them from the large map, as the grounds are entirely laid out by the Surveyors, & I have neither omitted these that appeared too insignificant to be retained, nor have I left out any that appeared worthy of attention.

I shall state the quantities, and submit them to your consideration, with great respect.

No. 1. At the intersection of Pennsyl. & New Hampshire Avenues, admitting a Street of 160 feet in front of the surrounding Square, will leave an area or Circle of 1815 feet square containing 25,820¾ Sq. feet.

No. 2. At the intersection of Massa. New Hampshire & Constitutional Avenues admitting a Street of 160 feet in front of the surrounding Square will leave an area or Circle of 186 feet Diamr containing 27471¾ Sq. feet.

No. 3. At the intersection of ⟨illegible⟩ Rhode Island Avenue & 16th Street W. admitting a Street of 140 feet in front of the surrounding Square will leave an area or parallelogram of 520 feet by 99 5/12 feet containing 51,696½ Sq. feet.

No. 4. At the intersection of Massa., & Vermont Avenues admitting a Street of 120 feet in front of the surrounding Square, will leave an Area or Circle of 120 feet Diamr containing 11,309¾ Sq. feet.

No. 5. At the intersection of Vermont & Rhode Island Avenues admitting a Street of 160 feet in front of the surroundg Sq. will leave an Area or Circle of 184 feet diamr containg 26590½ Sq. feet.

No. 6. At the intersection of New York and Massa. Avenue admitg a Street of 160 feet in front of the surroundg Sq: leaves an Area or Parallelogram of 751/6 feet by 498⅔ contg 37,480 Sq. feet.

No. 7. at the Inter: of Maryl: & Virga Aven: Admitg a Street of 100 feet in front of the surroundg Sq. will leave an Area or Paralm of 497⅓ by 147 3/7 contg 73481 Sq: feet.

No. 8. At the inters: of Massa: & Maryl. Aven. admitg a Street of 160 feet in front of the sur[roundin]g Sq. will leave an Area or Paral. of 131 10/12 by 370⅓ contg 48,822½ Sq. feet.

No. 9. at the inters: of north Carol: & Pennsyl: Aven. admitg a Street of 160 feet in front of the surroundg Sq. will leave an Area or Paral. of 370⅓ f: by 1311/6 feet contg 48,575 Sq. f.

No. 10 At the junction of Kentucky with the inters: of North Car. & massa. Avenue admitg a Street of 160 feet in front of the surroundg Sq. will leave an Area or Parallel. of 686½ by 191½ feet contg 131, 465 Sq. f.

The whole is 482,420 Sq. feet = 11 [acres] 0 [rods] 12 [perches] at £25 pr Acre = £276.17.6.5

Some of these areas will serve for Fountains, Obelisks, Kiosks, Temples, &c. &c.—or will be amply sufficient for handsome Churches public readiness &c. and most of them may be ornamented with grass-plats, gravel walks, trees &c. the whole will not only add to the beauty but general ⟨illegible⟩ of the City.6 The expence of paving the whole of these areas would greatly spread the price of purchasing them, which will, as seen above require too small a sum to be an objection. In London and some other Cities, Squares are laid out in this manner, and being adorned, are considered as objects of the greatest beauty, enhancing very much the value of the surrounding property.7 I am sir with Sentiments of the highest respect your Sincere & affectionate Friend

W.T.

ALS (retained copy), DLC: William Thornton Papers. Part of the letter may be in Anna Maria Thornton’s writing (see Harris, William Thornton Papers description begins C. M. Harris, ed. Papers of William Thornton: Volume One, 1781-1802. Charlottesville, Va., 1995. description ends , 407–11).

1A notation on the manuscript, “Letter to the president—dated Feby 12. 1797,” suggests that the recipient’s copy may have carried that date. GW indicated that the letter he received from Thornton was dated 12 Feb. (see GW to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 27 Feb.).

2According to the D.C. commissioners’ book of proceedings, Thornton and Gustavus Scott formed a board without fellow commissioner Alexander White from 14 Feb. to 3 March 1797. White’s attention to his law practice near Winchester, Va., was the likely cause for his nonattendance at board meetings (see DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Proceedings, 1791–1802; see also White to GW, 15 Dec. 1796; and 11 and 18 Jan. 1797).

3For the executive order describing the public reservations in the Federal City, see Commissioners for the District of Columbia to GW, 31 Jan., and n.1 to that document.

4The map with Thornton’s markings has not been found. It probably was based on James Reed Dermott’s Appropriation Map or other section maps that Dermott formulated from surveyors’ returns. For more on the map that was to accompany the description of public reservations, see Commissioners for the District of Columbia to GW, 31 Jan., and n.1 to that document; see also Harris, William Thornton Papers description begins C. M. Harris, ed. Papers of William Thornton: Volume One, 1781-1802. Charlottesville, Va., 1995. description ends , 410.

5The preceding data pertains to the ongoing dispute between the proprietors and commissioners over the spaces created by the intersections of streets and avenues (see Commissioners for the District of Columbia to GW, 30 Nov. 1796, and n.7 to that document; see also GW to the commissioners, 27 Feb., and n.5).

6Thornton was not alone in his vision for public squares. In his original 1791 manuscript plan of the Federal City, Pierre Charles L’Enfant had envisioned fifteen squares adorned with obelisks, statues, and other decorative objects (see Stephenson, L’Enfant’s Plan of the City of Washington description begins Richard W. Stephenson. ”A Plan Whol[l]y New”: Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s Plan of the City of Washington. Washington, D.C., 1993. description ends , 58).

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