The National Mall was constituted in two brilliant plans. The first was envisioned by Pierre L’Enfant a French architecture who served under President George Washington. After the commissioning by President George Washington in 1971 for Pierre to draw a plan that would be regarded as the new seat of government by the United States, he designed the plan for the capital as a geographical realization of the constitution of the United States (Fairfield, 2018). In his plan there were three distinctive features, the Capitol building, the president’s house and the masterpiece of his vision the National Mall. The National Mall connected the Capitol Building with the president’s house with avenues that connected to other state buildings and public squares. Unfortunately, the plans were ignored for the most of the 19 th century. In 1850, President Millard Fillmore requested Andrew Jackson, a prominent landscaper to draw a new plan for the White House and the National Mall. His plan contrasted sharply with that of Pierre L’Enfant and upon his untimely death in 1852 his plan were abandoned. The land where the mall had been planned to be erected descended into slums, unpaved roads and industrial buildings during the 1860s.
The second plan was the McMillan plan of 1902. It was proposed by Senator James McMillan in an attempt to beautify and improve the social standards of the city in commemorating its 100 years since inception. The McMillan plan largely borrowed ideas from the L’Enfant plans and put new additions to make it big and better. Senator James McMillan went ahead to convene a commission that would go for a benchmark to learn how public parks and gardens in the plans were faring in other countries and how they had achieved to beautify their cities. A prominent figure in the commission was Charles Moore who was the clerk of the Senate committee together with a team comprising of an architecture, a sculptor and a director of constructions. Following a successful benchmark the team came up with a plan for developing the city into its next magnificence and prominence. The McMillan commission plan doubled the size of the mall.
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The focus of the plan was on the Mall. The McMillan plan steadily fell into shape as devised starting from the National Mall. As years passed by it was modernized starting with removing trees that were of the old century. Buildings that had been erected during World War I and II were demolished paving war for new buildings and infrastructure. The McMillan commission plan had already started to take in the 1970s witnessing the brilliance and vision of the commission (Peterson, 2018). During the 1980s memorials for the events that happened in the 19 th and 20 th were constructed despite not being in the original plans of the McMillan plan (Peterson, 2018). The memorials resulted in Washington D.C. become a most visited tourist destination from within the United States and the whole world at large.
Additions of memorials and museums in the National Hall has made it a very popular place to visit. The museums hold a lot of artifacts collected during and after wars such as World War I and II. For people who want to learn more about the history of the American people, it is the best place to start due to its vast resources. Moreover, it holds a significant role in the democracy of the Americans as it served as a staging point for many of the most famous rallies and protest in the history of America. It served the vision of L’Enfant as he referred to it as the place of the people. The numerous public grounds it had provided the space for demonstrations and protest during the fight for democracy. Prominent people like Martin Lurther King Jr., Martin Anderson and president Barrack Obama held public rallies there. All these events have made it become an iconic place to the American people and a tourist destination to many other people.
In order for the realization of the McMillan plan, the neighborhoods around the area where the mall was to be put up had to be cleared. The area was blooming with shanty housing and industrial buildings. Most of the families had to be relocated from that area for the proposed plan to take effect. Families that were affected consisted of poor workers that provided labor to the industries there and the relocation was a big blow to them. While some people view the National Hall as a national heritage, to some it is a constant reminder of the livelihood that was snatched from them. The National Hall is one of the cleanest places in Washington D.C. The process of cleaning the area involves using leaf blowers due to the many trees that are there hence a lot of noise pollution. Residents have complained of the nuisance caused by the leaf blowers and some have even taken action against the authorities responsible.
The National Hall remains an inspiration to many American citizens as well as visitors from round the world. With its iconic monuments, beauty, public open spaces and the power it is symbolizes with its design it remains to be a significant place to the people of America for many years to come. The history surrounding it is great as it can be attributed many events that have happened over the course of years. From the fight for democracy, fight for civil rights, fight for equality and the lives of the black people to the inauguration of president Barrack Obama. The National Hall will remain the greatest plan that ever happened to the American people.
References
Fairfield, J. D. (2018). The City Beautiful Movement, 1890–1920. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History .
Peterson, J. A. (2018). The city beautiful movement. In Introduction to Planning History in the United States (pp. 40-57). Routledge.
