L'Enfant was born in Paris, France, on August 2, 1754, as the third child and second son of Pierre L'Enfant (1704–1787), a painter and professor at Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture known for his panoramas of … See more

Post–Revolutionary War
Following the American Revolutionary War, L'Enfant established a successful and highly profitable civil engineering firm in New York City. He achieved some fame as an architect by redesigning the City Hall in New York for the See more

In 1901 and 1902, the McMillan Commission under the leadership of Senator James McMillan, (1838–1902), of Michigan, modified L'Enfant's plan within a report that recommended a partial redesign of the capital city. Among other things, the … See more

L'Enfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to serve in the American Revolutionary War in the United States. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, and served as a military engineer in the Continental Army with Major General Lafayette. … See more

Although the United States Congress had paid him for his work on the design of the City of Washington, L'Enfant died in poverty on June 14, 1825. He was originally buried at … See more

• In 1942, an American cargo-carrying Liberty ship in World War II, named the S.S. Pierre L'Enfant was launched, part of a series of almost 2,000 ships mass-produced in an … See more

1. ^ "Though today he is commonly referred by his French birth name, Pierre, L’Enfant referred to himself as “Peter,” the anglicized version … See more