The Washington Map Society has chosen
this early map (Courtesy Library of Congress,
Geography and Map Division, 21 x 26 cm., scale ca.
1:39,000, annotated in lead pencil on verso "1st
printed edition of the L'Enfant plan", G3850 1792
.L4 Vault) as its logo. The map portrays the
final version of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's
plan of the city of Washington, and is one
of the earliest printed maps of
Washington. The map, published in
Philadelphia in 1792, was engraved by
Thackara and Vallance. They published
this map several months before the November 1792 publication of their larger (53 x 74 cm.) Plan
of the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia that has become known as the official city
plan.
| Pierre Charles L'Enfant
(1754-1825)
L'Enfant was born in Paris where he trained to be an architect. He came to
America in 1777, and served George Washington as an engineer during the
Revolutionary War. In 1791 President Washington asked L'Enfant to design the
new capitol city in the District of Columbia. L'Enfant designed a city similar in
layout to the then French capitol city of Versailles. The Capitol in Washington
sits in a position similar to that of the palace in Versailles, the White House
(originally called the President's House) in the position of Grand Trianon, and
the Mall is like the Parc. The Commissioners of the City of Washington wanted to have a printed
copy of the plan when they began to sell building lots. L'Enfant irritated them by working slowly
and releasing only sketchy plans . On instruction from President Washington, Thomas Jefferson
on February 27, 1792 wrote a letter to L'Enfant dismissing him as city planner. L'Enfant died
penniless and was buried on a friend's estate. In 1909 his remains were moved to Arlington
National Cemetery on a hill overlooking the capitol city.
| L'Enfant | Ellicott | Thackara | Vallance | Washington Map Society | Top |
Andrew Ellicott
(1754-1820)
Ellicott, a Quaker, was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His father was a
prosperous miller whose family founded Ellicott City, Maryland in 1775.
Andrew Ellicott was trained to be a mathematician and surveyor. He conducted
several large surveys with David Rittenhouse, the Philadelphia astronomer,
mathematician, and clockmaker. President Washington in 1791 asked Ellicott
to survey the bounds of the District of Columbia. The following year Washington asked him to
complete L'Enfant's plan for the city. Ellicott made some changes to L'Enfant's plan. He changed
the alignment of Massachusetts Avenue, eliminated five short radial avenues, added two short
radial avenues southeast and southwest of the Capitol, and named the city streets. In less than one
month Ellicott had a plan ready for the engravers. A few months later Ellicott, like L'Enfant, found
himself at odds with the Commissioners and resigned from the project.
| L'Enfant | Ellicott | Thackara | Vallance | Washington Map Society | Top |
Thackara was eight months old when he and his parents came to Philadelphia from England. He apprenticed with Robert Scott and James Trenchard as an engraver from 1786 to 1789. In 1790 he married James Trenchard's sister Hannah. Thackara was curator for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1816 to 1828, and he is listed as an engraver in the Philadelphia City Directories from 1791 to 1833. His partnership with John Vallance is listed in the 1794 City Directory. He and his son William formed the firm of Thackara and Son in 1832. Thackara was elected Commissioner of the District of Southwark Philadelphia in 1797, and served as clerk of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1807 to 1810.
| L'Enfant | Ellicott | Thackara | Vallance | Washington Map Society | Top |
Vallance arrived in Philadelphia from Glasgow Scotland early in 1791. He quickly established his reputation as one of the best engravers in the city. During this period he developed a friendship with James Thackara. In 1791 Vallance married Elizabeth Trenchard, a niece of Thackara's wife Hannah. A partnership with Thackara was established. He engraved banknotes and documents. In addition he was one of the founders, in 1774, of the Association of Artists in America. His wife Elizabeth died in 1798 at the age of 28. Four years later he married again to Margaret Pratt.
| L'Enfant | Ellicott | Thackara | Vallance | Washington Map Society | Top |
Last Updated on March 22, 1997 by John W. Docktor