Building Washington

Engineering and Construction of the New Federal City, 1790?1840

By: Robert J. Kapsch

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Hardcover | 14 July 2018

At a Glance

Hardcover
384 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
22.4 x 28.7 x 3.9

Hardcover

$183.75

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A richly illustrated behind-the-scenes tour of how the nation's capital was built.

In 1790, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson set out to build a new capital for the United States of America in just ten years. The area they selected on the banks of the Potomac River, a spot halfway between the northern and southern states, had few resources or inhabitants. Almost everything needed to build the federal city would have to be brought in, including materials, skilled workers, architects, and engineers. It was a daunting task, and these American Founding Fathers intended to do it without congressional appropriation.

Robert J. Kapsch's beautifully illustrated book chronicles the early planning and construction of our nation's capital. It shows how Washington, DC, was meant to be not only a government center but a great commercial hub for the receipt and transshipment of goods arriving through the Potomac Canal, then under construction. Picturesque plans would not be enough; the endeavor would require extensive engineering and the work of skilled builders.

By studying an extensive library of original documents--from cost estimates to worker time logs to layout plans--Kapsch has assembled a detailed account of the hurdles that complicated this massive project. While there have been many books on the architecture and planning of this iconic city, Building Washington explains the engineering and construction behind it.

Industry Reviews

""Kapsch, a historian of engineering, focuses principally on the decades between the passage of the Residence Act of 1790, which selected the site for the new nation's capital, and the repair and reconstruction efforts that followed the burning of public buildings by British troops in 1814. The narrative centers on the transition from an eighteenth-century mode of construction led by ""gentleman planters"" to one orchestrated by professionally trained ""architect-engineers."" Along the way, Kapsch examines the supply chains, building techniques, financial expedients, and political wrangling that went into making the city.""

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