The Mall--Not the One in Holyoke

Washington is different than most cities and most (maybe all) other capital citites because it was all planned out before it was built. Instead of taking a city that was already big and busy and making it into the capital, the location of the American capital all planned out before it was built. George Washington oversaw the selection of the site and hired Pierre L'Enfant to design the city, and Andrew Ellicott and his amzing African American assisstant to survey the land. What's amazing to me is to think about men in 1791 imaging that the capital of this little struggling republic still on the frontier of Western civilization should be built on such a huge scale as Washington DC is.

The Mall is the long (really long) open, grassy space stretching from the Capital building to the Lincoln Memorial. I think it's almost two miles long, but I can't seem to find the exact size any where at the moment.

This picture from August looks from what they call the West front of the Capital toward the Washington Monument and you can see just little bit of the Lincoln Memorial peeking out on the right. The swearing in will happen a little to the left of where this picture was taken, a few hundred thousand people will have seats in the first grassy area and a few more hundred thousand people with tickets will satnd just beyond the reflecting pool.
The parade will head right down the long road that heads off to the right--Pennsylvania Avenue--to the White House.