Pierre Charles L'Enfant (2 August 1754; Paris, France – 14 June 1825; Prince George's County, Maryland) was a French-born American architect and urban planner. L'Enfant designed the street plan of the Federal City in the United States, now known as Washington, D.C. He came to the American colonies as a military engineer with General Lafayette and became closely identified with the United States, adopting the name Peter.[1]
He was wounded at the Siege of Savannah in 1779, but recovered and served in General Washington's staff for the remainder of the Revolutionary War.
He made sure there was a star in the middle of the city
Following the war, he achieved some fame as an architect by redesigning Federal Hall in New York City. He designed coins, medals, furniture and houses of the wealthy. He was a friend of treasurer Alexander Hamilton. Shortly thereafter, as a result of his connections, L'Enfant was appointed by George Washington to design a new federal capital. The layout was begun in 1791.
Because of his temperament and insistence on the city being realised as a whole, L'Enfant's plan for the Federal City was only partially executed during his lifetime. The District commissioners wanted to direct the limited funds available into the construction of the federal buildings; in this, they had the support of Thomas Jefferson. L'Enfant was dismissed from the execution of the project. The plan was put in the hands of the surveyors, Andrew and Joseph Ellicott who had conducted the original surveys of the Federal District of Columbia with the assistance of Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician. L'Enfant was not paid for his work and fell into disgrace, spending much of the rest of his life trying to persuade Congress to pay him what he felt he was owed. He was offered a position as Professor of Engineering at West Point, in 1812, but declined. L'Enfant died in poverty and was buried at the farm of a friend in Prince George's County, Maryland.
In 1901, the McMillan Commission used the original design of L'Enfant as the cornerstone of its 1902 report, which laid out a plan for a sweeping National Mall. His adopted nation finally recognizing his genius, L'Enfant was reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, in 1909, and honored with a monument at his grave in 1911. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a hill overlooking the city he designed.
L'Enfant's decade-long relationship with Richard Soderstrom began in 1794. While historians debate the sexual nature of the partnership, at a minimum the two shared living quarters near Philadelphia and collaborated in business. In 1801, Soderstrom billed L'Enfant for his share of their living expenses, and a legal dispute followed
In 1942, a United States Liberty ship named the SS Pierre L'Enfant was launched. In 1970, she was wrecked, then abandoned.
References
- ^ Bowling, Kenneth R., Peter Charles L’Enfant : vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic. George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 2002.