Editing Federal Triangle (section)

===Plan===
[[File:James McMillan.jpg|thumb|[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[James McMillan (politician)|James McMillan]], who led the commission that authored the [[McMillan Plan]], published in 1902, which provided guidance for the development of [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Aerial Photograph of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC including the District Building and the Post Office Building, 1923.jpg|thumb|A 1923 photograph of Federal Triangle, including [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] (on left), the [[John A. Wilson Building|District Building]] (in foreground), the [[Old Post Office Pavilion|Post Office building]], and [[Center Market, Washington, D.C.|Center Market]] (in background)]]
The Senate Park Commission, also known as the [[McMillan Commission]], was formed by the [[United States Congress]] in 1900 to reconcile competing visions for the development of [[Washington, D.C.]], and especially the [[National Mall]] and nearby areas.<ref name="Peterson">Peterson, Jon A. ''The Birth of City Planning in the United States, 1840–1917.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-8018-7210-3}}</ref> The commission's plan for development, the [[McMillan Plan]], proposed to replace the residences and other buildings on [[President's Park#Lafayette Park|Lafayette Square]] with tall, [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] office buildings with facades of white [[marble]] for [[Executive (government)|executive branch]] offices.<ref name="Peterson" /><ref name="Luria">Luria, Sarah. ''Capital Speculations: Writing and Building Washington.'' Durham, N.H.: University of New Hampshire Press, 2006. {{ISBN|1-58465-502-X}}</ref> Demolition proceeded on some nearby buildings: notably, the [[Hay–Adams Hotel|Hay-Adams Houses]], Corcoran House, and a portion of the [[Decatur House]] grounds.<ref name="Luria" /><ref name="Goode">Goode, James W. ''Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings.'' 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2003. {{ISBN|1-58834-105-4}}.</ref> But the rapid expansion in the size and number of executive-branch agencies in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s made the McMillan Plan's development of Lafayette Square impractical,<ref name="Luria" /><ref name="Bednar">Bednar, Michael J. ''L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington.'' Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8018-8318-0}}</ref> and Congressional and local support for the project waned.<ref name="Luria" /><ref name="Bednar" /> 

Over the next few years, the president and Congress established several agencies to supervise the approval, design, and construction of new buildings in the District of Columbia: The [[United States Commission of Fine Arts|Commission of Fine Arts]] in 1910 to approve designs, the Public Buildings Commission in 1916 to make recommendations about the housing of federal agencies and offices, and the [[National Capital Planning Commission|National Capital Parks and Planning Commission]] in 1924 to oversee planning.<ref name="Cannadine">Cannadine, David. ''Mellon: An American Life.'' Reprint ed. New York: Random House, Inc., 2008. {{ISBN|0-307-38679-1}}</ref> In the mid-1910s, Congress appropriated and the government spent $7 million to acquire land on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 14th and 15th Streets NW and several blocks south.<ref name="Wide" /> No demolition or construction took place during that period, and the government merely collected rent from the tenants in the area.<ref name="Wide" /> In 1924, the Public Buildings Commission recommended that a new series of federal office buildings be built near the [[White House]].<ref name="Worthy">Gutheim, Frederick Albert and Lee, Antoinette Josephine. ''Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission.'' 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8018-8328-8}}</ref> The plan called for a complex of buildings to be built at [[Murder Bay]], a muddy, flood-prone, malaria-ridden, poverty-stricken region lacking in paved roads, sewer system, and running water and almost exclusively home to numerous [[brothel]]s and an extensive criminal underclass.<ref name="Worthy" /><ref name="Spot">Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; Ackerman, S.J. ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.'' 3d rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: Capital Books, 2008. {{ISBN|1-933102-70-5}}</ref><ref name="Dinginess" /><ref>Lewis, Nancy. "If Only the Soil Could Talk: Dig May Reveal Way of Life in Murder Bay." ''Washington Post.'' September 20, 1988.</ref>