"Plan of Washington Exhibiting Water Street
on the Eastern Branch"
By Nicholas King for the Board of Commissioners of the City of Washington,
1797
Ink and wash on paper
18" x 24"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office
of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital
Nicholas King's Wharfing Plans, Washington,
D.C.
Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the city of Washington
did not provide adequate guidance for the development of the city's land-water
boundary. To correct this problem, Nicholas King, as Surveyor of the City
of Washington, submitted to the city's Board of Commissioners a set of
12 drawings known as the "Nicholas King Wharfing Plans of the City of
Washington." King's plans redrew the land-water boundary, realigned Water
Street, and established regulations for the orderly building of wharves
that allowed for street access to the Potomac River and the Eastern Branch
(Anacostia River) at set intervals. King was also interested in protecting
river navigation channels. His plan covered the Washington waterfront
from the point in Northwest where Rock Creek empties into the Potomac
River and continued around to the Eastern Branch as far as G Street in
Southeast. In King's drawings, the original course laid out for Water
Street is marked in black, and his improved course is annotated in red.
Two of King's 12 drawings for this project are included in this exhibit