Pierre L’Enfant plan of Washington, D.C. Wikimedia Commons
Hoban’s name has been connected with public buildings
and plantation houses in the Charleston area, most notably
the historic Charleston County Courthouse and the William
Seabrook house. Another prominent building in Charleston,
actually documented as a Hoban design, was a 1,200-seat
theater on Savage’s Green that no longer survives.
The plan of Washington
In 1791 President George Washington appointed Pierre
Charles L’Enfant to design the new capital city. L’Enfant’s
plan was based on a grid, with streets traveling north-
south and east-west. Diagonal avenues, which came to
be named after the states, crossed the grid, intersecting
with the grid to form plazas. The overall effect aimed to
establish a city with direction and character.
To be connected in a straight line by an avenue
160 feet wide, L’Enfant selected two high spots – Jenkins Hill
for the “Congress House” and a second hill a mile and a
half away for the “President’s Palace”. The avenue,
though no longer a straight line, since an addition,
to the Treasury building in 1840 effectively blocked it,
became Pennsylvania Avenue.
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