Antecedents

The 1909 Plan of Chicago (see next panel for more details) referenced the 19th century transformations of Paris by Baron Haussmann under Napoleon III; Vienna under Francis Joseph; and the Aldwych and Kingsway plan for London.  European models of broad, tree-lined avenues leading to civic monuments were envisioned for the seats of America’s emerging imperial power.  The order of Paris, classicism of Rome, and the formalism of the Beaux Arts style would be imposed on the swamps of Washington, frontier grid of Denver, and Gold Rush disorder of San Francisco.