George Washington Essay
On 16 July 1790, President George Washington signed the "Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States," commonly known as the Residence Act. This act established the District of Columbia on territory ceded by Virginia and Maryland, and it moved the seat of the federal government from New York City to Philadelphia, where it was supposed to remain until 1800. During the intervening period, the city on the Potomac River was to be made suitable for occupation by, at the very least, the three branches of government. The Residence Act also authorized Washington to appoint three commissioners to employ a team of surveyors for the district and supervise the construction of federal buildings. Among the commissioners top priorities were the construction of a residence for the president, called the President's House and the meeting place of congress the Capitol. On 22 January 1791, Washington appointed Daniel Carroll, Thomas Johnson, and David Stuart to be the first three commissioners of the District of Columbia (Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America.
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In March 1792, the D.C. Commissioners advertised a contest for the design of the presidential residence. They selected James Hoban's architectural plan in July 1792, and subsequently hired him to supervise its construction. The cornerstone of what was called the President's House was laid on 13 Oct. 1792 (see 13 Oct. 1792, DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Proceedings, 1791-1802).
One problem encountered in the building of the President's House was that the house, as designed by Hoban, did not fill the space allotted by Pierre Charles L'Enfant in his plan of the Federal City. The D.C. Commissioners turned to GW for advice. On 2 August 1792, GW, David Stuart, and Daniel Carroll visited the site of the proposed house, and Stuart and Carroll recorded GW's opinion in a letter to D.C. Commissioner Thomas Johnson, written the next day: "On the whole he has concluded that the North front of the Building, should be brought up to the post fixed by Majr L'Enfant for the center of the North front--Among other reasons, it will be most in View to the Diagonals, and on E.W. Street, tho not so much so, from the Capitol as might be wished" (Daniel Carroll and David Stuart to Thomas Johnson, 3 Aug. 1792, in DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Letters Sent, 1791-1867).
As it turned out, these changes promised to be quite expensive, and the commissioners told GW as much ( D.C. Commissioners to GW, 5 Jan. 1793 ) . For GW's reaction to the cost of adding to the President's House, see GW to the D.C. Commissioners, 3 Mar. 1793.
Soon after receiving this reply from GW, the commissioners wrote Hoban: "On reflecting on all Circumstances we believe it will be best to begin the Presidents House on the large plan with a present Intention of Dropping a Story in the Execution: It will according to your Idea described bring it on the whole, to much about the same Expence as in the smaller Length and Bredth, with the addition of the Story".
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