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1787
Exclusive Power
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress power "To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever" over the federal District.
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1790
The Residence Act
The Residence Act established the District of Columbia at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers and declared it the seat of the United States Government. George Washington selected Pierre L'Enfant to plan the capital city.
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1791
L'Enfant Plan
In 1791 Pierre L'Enfant set out to create a "magnificent city, worthy of the nation, free of its colonial origins, and bold in its assertion of a new identity." His design proposed an orthogonal, gridded street network with diagonal avenues visually and physically connecting key civic buildings and spaces.
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1792
Ellicott Plan
After L'Enfant's resignation, city surveyor Andrew Ellicott produced the "official city plan" for Washington with streets and lots. He straightened or eliminated some radial avenues, and numbered the blocks to facilitate the sale of lots.
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1814
The Burning of Washington
In August 1814, the British burned various government facilities, including the White House and U.S. Capitol, as part of a brief occupation of Washington, DC during the war of 1812. James Hoban, the original architect of the White House, oversaw its rebuilding, while Benjamin Latrobe oversaw major repairs to the damaged U.S. Capitol. The Marine Corps Commandant's Quarters at 8th and I Streets, SE was one of the few buildings that was not damaged when the British burned Washington, DC and it remains the one federal building to be in continuous use since that time.
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1836
Obstructed Views
Construction of the U.S. Treasury Building adjacent to the White House blocked views along Pennsylvania Avenue between the "President's House" and the "People's House."
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1846
Retrocession
The return to the state of Virginia of the land it ceded to the federal government to create Washington, DC, the national capital. The area, formed in 1790 under the name of "District of Columbia," initially consisted of 100 square miles ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia in accordance with the Residence Act.
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1848
National Mall Development
In 1848, construction began on the Washington Monument. However, partially due to a lack of funds, it was not completed until 1884, following a period of no construction that lasted from 1856-1876. Construction began on the Smithsonian Castle in 1849.
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1861
Civil War
As a wartime capital, Washington's population grew dramatically during and after the Civil War, from 75,000 to 130,000. It was a place of refuge for many African-Americans, particularly following President Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. During the war the federal government constructed a 37-mile circle of fortifications, including 68 forts and 93 detached batteries, for the capital's defense. The McMillan Plan later proposed turning these defenses into a system of public parks that are known today as the Fort Circle Parks. NCPC acquired much of the land connecting the major parks.
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1871
Post-Civil War
After the Civil War, Washington's infrastructure was in sad shape and did not keep up with growth. President Grant appointed Alexander Robey "Boss" Shepherd as governor to oversee improvements to the Territory of Columbia (then, the combined cities of Washington and Georgetown and the County of Washington). During his tenure, hundreds of miles of sewers, water mains, gas lines, sidewalks and paved roads were completed, the Washington Canal covered, and street trees planted. Controversy led to the creation of a three-commissioner government, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assumed responsibility for infrastructure.
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1893
Permanent System of Highways
Congressionally legislated, the Permanent System of Highways was intended to create an orderly framework for development beyond the L'Enfant City as Washington continued to grow. Frederick Law Olmstead, Sr. contributed to this plan.
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1894
Protest Marches
The tradition of protest marches on Washington and the National Mall began with Coxey's Army. They have since grown in number and size. Protests and demonstrations for causes such as women's suffrage, voting rights, war protests, and civil rights continue.
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1898
Potomac River Dredging
The U.S. Congress authorized dredging of the Potomac River and reclamation of the Potomac Flats. Potomac Park was constructed on reclaimed land.
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1902
McMillan Plan
Senator James McMillan established the Senate Park Commission to restore the grandeur of L'Enfant's vision. The McMillan Plan, released in 1902, made a distinctive imprint on the city's architecture and public spaces, particularly on the National Mall's open greenway, the monumental core of federal buildings, and the comprehensive public park system.
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1910
Height of Buildings Act
Passed by Congress, the act was key in establishing the national capital's horizontal character by setting maximum building heights generally controlled by street widths. The height limit on residential streets is 90 feet. Height limits on commercial streets is the width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet, with a general maximum height limit of 130 feet (except for 160 feet along portions of Pennsylvania Avenue).
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1910
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
Congress created the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts to function as the guardian of the McMillan Plan. The Commission remains today as a sister organization to NCPC, and it reviews proposed designs for new or renovated federal buildings, memorials, coins, medals, and some privately owned land in Washington (under the Shipstead-Lucy and Old Georgetown Acts) with a focus on design and aesthetics.
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1914
World War I
Wars continued to shape the city's built environment. Following the United States' entry into the war in 1917, construction of the Main Navy and Munitions Building in 1918 on the National Mall provided temporary quarters for the military. The buildings remained until the 1970s.
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1924
National Capital Park Commission
Federal legislation created the National Capital Park Commission to develop a comprehensive plan for the park, parkway, and playground systems of Washington.
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1926
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
The organization, renamed the National Capital Park and Planning Commission (NCPPC), had its duties expanded to include consideration of all elements of city and regional planning, such as land use, major thoroughfares, systems of parks, parkways, and recreation, mass transportation, and community facilities. NCPPC had comprehensive planning authority for "proper elements of city and regional planning" while coordinating plans of federal district departments. This included overseeing housing reform, responding to traffic issues, and planning for commercial and industrial development.
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1926
Federal Triangle
The Public Buildings Act authorized construction of the 70-acre complex of buildings known today as the Federal Triangle. Construction of 10 buildings, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Archives, continued through 1938.
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1927
Regional Planning
Creation of planning bodies at the county and state level, including the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Established by the state in 1927, it has authority in both Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Federal agencies worked together with these state and local agencies on planning initiatives throughout the following decades.
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1928
Potomac River Parks
The National Capital Park and Planning Commission issued the Plan for Potomac River Parks, covering the area from Mount Vernon to Great Falls.
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1930
Capper-Cramton Act
The Capper-Cramton Act authorized NCPPC to acquire land for a regional park and parkway system, including coordinated acquisition of stream valley parks with Maryland and Virginia planning authorities. Funds from this act acquired land for the George Washington Memorial Parkway, an extension of Rock Creek Park into Maryland, and an extension of the Anacostia Park System.
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1930s
Great Depression
New Deal federal programs sought to address unemployment and poverty, and the federal workforce in Washington grew. The ideas of Rexford Tugwell, an advisor to President Roosevelt, led to the development of Greenbelt, Maryland.
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1933
Mall Development Plan
Congress funded the plan, initially authorized in 1929, which instructed the modernization of the National Mall in accordance with the L'Enfant and McMillan Plans and modifications recommended by NCPPC. It resulted in the National Mall as we know it today.
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1938
National Airport
President Roosevelt decides to construct a new federal airport at Gravelly Point, between the 14th Street Bridge and Alexandria, Virginia. The airport opened for passenger service on June 16, 1941.
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1939
World War II
Construction of the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, began in September 1941 (prior to the U.S. entering the war in December) and lasted until 1943. At 6.5 million square feet, it is one of world's largest office buildings. The wartime economy brought thousands of people to Washington.
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1945
District of Columbia Redevelopment Act
This act began the process of urban renewal in the city. Renewal plans ultimately cleared 400 acres in the city's southwest quadrant that resulted in the development of new apartment buildings and federal offices, but at the cost of the forced removal of 23,500 people and the destruction of numerous historic buildings.
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1950
Population Peak
Washington's population peaked at just over 800,000. Government jobs and the Great Migration from the South attracted African-Americans. Washington became a majority black city from the 1950's through 2011.
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1950
First Comprehensive Plan
NCPPC produced the Comprehensive Plan, primarily covering the District of Columbia but also addressing regional issues. The National Capital Regional Planning Council, a federal agency that operated between 1952 and 1966, issued a "Regional Development Guide" in 1966. NCPC issued new Comprehensive Plan drafts in 1965 and 1967.
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1950
Highways
Freeway planning followed the increasing use of private cars, and the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System brought funding and additional impetus. The Capital Beltway made its first formal appearance on regional planning documents when it appeared on maps and in a one-sentence reference in the Comprehensive Plan.
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1952
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Act renamed NCPPC as the National Capital Planning Commission and clarified its role as a federal agency. The Act established NCPC as the central planning agency for the federal government in the National Capital Region. NCPC and the District of Columbia jointly shared responsibility for creation of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital.
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1953
Urban Renewal
The Redevelopment Land Agency's invitation to developers to submit plans for Southwest Washington began the process of land assembly, building demolition, site preparation, and land disposal that resulted in the displacement of thousands of Washingtonians and the destruction of numerous historic structures.
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1950s
Suburban Campus Development
New federal campuses were located in suburban Maryland and Virginia, consistent with private sector campuses, the new highway systems, and Cold War concerns about nuclear attack that promoted dispersal of federal facilities into the region. Coincided with a post-war suburban residential boom, made possible by the automobile.
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1955
Mass Transit
One of the important early steps in the future Metro system's development was the congressionally directed Mass Transportation Study conducted by NCPC. Begun in 1955, the resulting A Transportation Plan for the National Capital Region recommended, among other things, the creation of a 33-mile rapid transit system.
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1961
Wedges and Corridors
NCPC and the National Capital Regional Planning Council produced the influential Year 2000 Plan, proposing a model for long-term regional growth. M-NCPPC then incorporated and expanded on this recommended model in its own comprehensive plan, titled On Wedges and Corridors. Central Washington is the region's focus and developed corridors separated by wedges of open countryside extend out, linking major development centers.
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1964
Capital Beltway
The I-495 Capital Beltway was completed when its final Maryland segment opened to traffic on August 17, 1964. The Southeast Freeway, including the section planned as I-295 to Pennsylvania Avenue, was built in the late 1960s. Plans for other interstates in Washington were canceled in 1977 after much opposition.
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1968
Year of Change
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led to widespread rioting in Washington and major damage to the U Street, NW and H Street, NE corridors.
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1970
Master Plans
In preparation for the nation's Bicentennial, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, on behalf of the National Park Service, prepared master plans for the National Mall. This resulted in the development of Constitution Gardens, locations for new museums, and plans for Pennsylvania Avenue.
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1972
International Chancery Center
Congress passed the International Center Act, leading to development of the center on a 47-acre site in Northwest Washington that formerly housed the National Bureau of Standards. The U.S. Department of State developed it into a campus for foreign embassies that formally opened in 1972. The People's Republic of China embassy, completed in 2008, occupied the last available site.
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1972
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation
Established in 1972 with a goal to "develop Pennsylvania Avenue in keeping with its historical and ceremonial role," the corporation oversaw the redevelopment of the avenue into a grand urban boulevard. Congress dissolved the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation in 1996 and delegated responsibility for the avenue to NCPC, the General Services Administration, and the National Park Service.
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1973
Home Rule
Pressure had built for home rule in the District of Columbia, including reconsideration of the appropriateness of NCPC's role as Washington's local planning agency. The federal Home Rule Act of 1973 designated the District of Columbia's elected mayor as the planner for the District government, a power exercised through the DC Office of Planning. NCPC's role was re-defined to focus primarily on federal property in Washington and the region.
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1976
Metro Opens
During the 1950s, NCPPC and NCPC studies demonstrated the need for a regional mass transit system, leading to the federal authorization of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in 1965. Construction on the Metrorail system began in 1969, and in 1976, the first Red Line segment opened to the public from Farragut North to Rhode Island Avenue.
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1977
Worthy of the Nation
Commissioned by NCPC as part of its Bicentennial program and written by Frederick Gutheim, this book was the first comprehensive look at almost 200 years of planning in the nation's capital. In 2006 NCPC guided and edited a second edition that described the transformation of Washington into one of the country's most vibrant cities.
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1970s
Modernist Federal Architecture
The late 1960s/early 1970s saw construction of several major federal offices downtown, including buildings for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968), Federal Aviation Administration (1963), FBI (1974), Hirshhorn Museum (1974), U.S. Department of Labor (1975), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (1976).
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1980s
Comprehensive Plan
A new comprehensive planning effort began in the 1970s, leading to the publication of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital during the mid-1980s. This plan, a joint effort of NCPC and the District of Columbia government, contained Federal Elements, addressing federal concerns throughout the region, and District of Columbia Elements, addressing matters of local concern. The Federal Elements also work in conjunction with the comprehensive plans adopted by the various counties and cities of the region. This shared responsibility for the Comprehensive Plan remains the model for planning in the National Capital Region.
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1982
Vietnam Veteran's Memorial
The memorial design, initially controversial, proved to have a lasting influence on commemorative form. Other war memorials followed on the west side of the Mall, including the Korean War Veterans Memorial (1995) and the World War II Memorial (2004). NCPC reviewed all these projects.
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1986
Commemorative Works Act
Passed by Congress, the act specifies the requirements for the development, approval, and location of new memorials and monuments in the District of Columbia and its environs.
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1997
Extending the Legacy
In the 1990's, realizing that great cities can't rest on their laurels and concerned that new memorials and museums were crowding the National Mall, NCPC began planning for the next 50-100 years. Building upon the L'Enfant and McMillan Plans, this groundbreaking effort proposed a redefinition of Washington's monumental core by shifting the perceived center of the city to the U.S. Capitol and directing federal development outward into all city quadrants. It also focused on integrating the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers into the city's public life and protecting the National Mall and the adjacent historic landscape from future building.
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2000
Anacostia Waterfront Initiative
Initiated in 2000, the 30-year, $10 billion Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) is transforming the shores of the Anacostia River into a world-class waterfront. Led by the District of Columbia government and embraced by 19 regional and federal agency partners, the study area straddles the Anacostia River and stretches from the Tidal Basin to the city's northeast border. AWI promises a clean river environment, new parks and other recreational facilities, more job-creating commercial centers, revitalized residential neighborhoods, and multi-modal transportation options. NCPC is an active participant, and the agency's Legacy Plan and 1999 Washington Waterfronts report sparked interest in a connected, renewed waterfront.
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2001
Memorials and Museums Master Plan
Advancing the vision for Washington's monumental core expressed in the Legacy Plan, NCPC, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission identified 100 potential sites for future memorials and museums and provided general guidelines, siting criteria, and implementation strategies. The plan proposed creation of a ‘reserve' or no-build zone, on the Mall, a concept Congress made into law in 2003. To date, it guided six memorials to sites beyond the National Mall.
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2002
Security in the Nation's Capital
In response to the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11, the nation's capital saw the installation of numerous ad-hoc, temporary, and ugly security measures. To address these and show how to combine appropriate security with good urban design, NCPC prepared the National Capital Urban Design and Security Pla. The plan, amended in 2004 to include site-specific solutions and improved guidance to sub-mitting agencies, provided guidance for the design of contextually sensitive physical security features in the city's monumental core.
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2003
The Reserve
Congress amended the Commemorative Works Act to establish a Reserve, or "no-build" zone (highlighted in red), on the National Mall. In response to this expanded reserve, in 2006 NCPC formally removed four sites from future consideration for new commemorative works.
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2004
Comprehensive Plan Update
This Federal Elements update was linked by three guiding principles: (1) accommodating federal and national capital activities while accounting for the changing impact of the federal government in the region; (2) reinforcing smarter, more coordinated growth and sustainable development principles; and (3) supporting coordination with local and regional governments in the National Capital Region to promote mutual planning and development objectives.
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2005
BRAC
The Base Realignment and Closure action significantly affected the Washington region. U.S. Department of Defense facilities moved out of leased space, primarily in northern Virginia. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington closed, and its functions relocated to Maryland and Virginia. Several installations, such as Fort Belvoir, received significant growth, new facilities such as the Intelligence Community Campus in Bethesda, were built, while others were closed.
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2005
South Capitol Street
One of the prime axials leading to the U.S Capitol, for many years it was a bleak stretch of thoroughfare strewn with empty lots and abandoned businesses. NCPC's vision to transform it began with the Legacy Plan, and continued with 2003's South Capitol Street Urban Design Study. In 2005, the South Capitol Street Task Force released recommendations to transform the corridor into a grand urban boulevard and waterfront gateway with spectacular views to and from the U.S. Capitol, green space, mixed-use development, new commemorative works, and a beautiful new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
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2009
St. Elizabeths
NCPC approved the master plan for the consolidation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Headquarters at the historic St. Elizabeths campus in southeast Washington for a total development of 4.5 million gross square feet. The U.S. Coast Guard headquarters facility opened in 2013 and the Center Building, rehabilitated to house the offices of the DHS Secretary, opened in 2019. Amendments to the master plan are currently in the review process.
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2009
Monumental Core Framework Plan
Diving deeper into the Legacy Plan's goal of infusing the civic quality of the National Mall with the vitality of the city, this NCPC and U.S. Commission of Fine Arts led effort targeted four predominantly federal precincts around the National Mall. The goal–provide guidance for the creation of vibrant and accessible mixed-use destinations to work, commemorate, visit, and live that are linked with the National Mall, the waterfront, and the city's urban design.
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2009
CapitalSpace
Washington, DC is a city of parks, with more green space per person than any other American city of its size. However, the wide variety of parks, quality, and capacity, along with shared jurisdictional responsibility, resulted in their not meeting the needs of residents, workers, and visitors. CapitalSpace, the first comprehensive planning analysis of Washington's parks and open space in almost 40 years, provided a vision for a beautiful, high quality, and unified park system through six big ideas. The plan was a joint initiative of NCPC, the National Park Service, and the District of Columbia.
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2012
Height Master Plan
Following a request by the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives, NCPC and the District of Columbia undertook the Height Master Plan to examine the current relevance of the Height of Buildings Act and whether changes could benefit the city. Following extensive outreach, the study resulted in minor amendments to the Height Act that were consistent with NCPC's recommendations. These included allowing human occupancy in rooftop penthouse structures and maintaining the current 1:1 setback. President Obama signed a bill on May 16, 2014 amending the Height Act.
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2013
SW Ecodistrict Initiative
The first component of the Monumental Core Framework Plan that received a more detailed analysis was the Southwest Rectangle, a 110-acre predominantly federal precinct. The initiative proposed to not only improve connections between the National Mall and the Southwest Waterfront, but to yield greater economic benefits by using district-scale practices to integrate land use, transportation, and resource planning with high performance buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure.
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2016
Comprehensive Plan Update
This Comprehensive Plan update included a new Federal Urban Design Element that incorporated NCPC's extensive technical analyses of the viewsheds, public realm, and physical form that contribute to the capital’s unique identify and character. The update also reflected ongoing interagency and public coordination that identified emerging issues and changing regional conditions.
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2016
Memorials for the Future
To explore how to broaden commemorative opportunities beyond the traditional approach to permanent commemoration, NCPC and the National Park Service collaborated with the Van Alen Institute on Memorials for the Future, an ideas competition that aimed to rethink the way we develop and experience memorials. The resulting report advanced multiple key findings related to adaptive, ephemeral, interactive, and virtual commemoration approaches.
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2022
Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative
Pennsylvania Avenue, the iconic corridor between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, stands as one of the most recognizable landmarks in the nation. Changing economic, physical, and land use conditions significantly impacted the corridor since the last major investments in the 1970s. Building on several years of background studies and coordination between federal and District partners, NCPC released a new vision and three conceptual ideas that reimagine Pennsylvania Avenue as America’s Stage, meeting the needs of a modern city while preserving its symbolic and civic role. Each idea proposed different ways to beautify public space, improve efficiency and balance use of the street, and upgrade the Avenue’s infrastructure. The initiative’s outcome is a New Pennsylvania Avenue Plan currently under development.
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2023
Beyond Granite
Building on the Memorials for the Future initiative, NCPC, the National Park Service, and the Trust for the National Mall advanced several recommendations in a pilot exhibition in the summer of 2023. Beyond Granite: Pulling Together, curated by Monument Lab, featured installations from six leading contemporary artists that respond to a central curatorial question: What stories remain untold on the National Mall? The installations were experienced together with a variety of events, public outreach materials, and activities encouraging interaction. Post exhibition a Key Findings report was published that lays out lessons learned from the exhibition that can inform future iterations. Through in-person surveys, the public responded positively and thoughtfully to the use of temporary artworks to tell more of America’s stories in the nation’s capital.
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2024
Workplace Planning
Teleworking accelerated during the pandemic, altering where people work and commute. While this trend is playing out across the country, the National Capital Region has a unique set of challenges, as its largest single employer is the federal government. NCPC, in partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, joined together to develop a scenario-based study to better understand how this trend might impact the region and its individual jurisdictions. The Workplace Scenario Planning Study considered three scenarios and analyzed each scenario’s impact on the region’s federal real estate, federal workforce, where federal workers live, and public transportation and commuting patterns.
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2024
NCPC Centennial
NCPC’s Centennial provided a unique opportunity to reflect on more than the agency’s history. Through Planning Washington: Capital and Community, a physical and online exhibit, and numerous events, NCPC examined the evolution of planning in Washington, DC and the National Capital Region, impacts created by past planning practices, and considered lessons learned to inform future planning.
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An official U.S. government website Here's how you know
The Federal Planning Agency for America's Capital
Washington, DC is a planned city, intended to serve as the nation's capital. Throughout the city's history, major plans and significant local and national events have shaped its design and growth. Timelines highlighted in blue indicate NCPC specific historical significance.
The National Capital Planning Commission is the federal government's planning agency for the National Capital Region.
The 12-member Commission meets monthly to adopt, approve, or provide advice on plans and projects that impact the nation's capital and surrounding areas.
