Munsey's Magazine, Vol. XLVI, No. III

Munsey's Magazine, Vol. XLVI, No. 2 (December 1911) features "The Development of the City on the Potomac into One of the World's Noblest Capitals and Finest Residential Communities" by Isaac F. Marcosson. This extensive non-fiction article traces Washington's founding and growth. Marcosson describes the contentious site selection resolved through Jefferson's dinner-party diplomacy (Southern capital votes exchanged for Northern support of Hamilton's debt assumption). He discusses French engineer Major Peter Charles L'Enfant's visionary urban plan—radiating avenues from the Capitol as a hub, broad malls, parks, and public buildings—based on European capitals. L'Enfant's removal and subsequent bitter decline receives sympathetic treatment. The article details Washington's "ugly duckling" period through the Civil War, when it remained undeveloped despite its magnificent plan's potential. Marcosson's narrative is richly illustrated with photographs of completed structures and architectural visions.