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Building the Nation's Capital is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how Washington, D.C. was planned and grew from fields into a capital, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.5.3-5. It prints 6 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 14 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Building the Nation's Capital

D2.Geo.5.3-5

NameDate

Read the information text and answer its questions, then circle the best answers.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

L'Enfant's Plan for the Capital

An information text written for this worksheet. In 1790 Congress decided to build a new capital city beside the Potomac River. President George Washington chose the exact place and asked Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, a French-born engineer who had fought in the American Revolution, to design it. At the time the land was mostly farms, fields and woods. In 1791 L'Enfant drew a plan. He placed the Capitol, where Congress meets, on a hill, and the President's House about a mile and a half away, joined by a wide avenue. Streets ran north to south and east to west like a grid, and wide avenues crossed them on a slant, meeting at circles and squares. A long open park, now the National Mall, stretched west from the Capitol. Enslaved workers, as well as free workers, did much of the work of building the Capitol and the President's House. L'Enfant argued with the leaders in charge of the city and was dismissed in 1792, but the city was later built mostly on his plan.

  1. 1. What was the land like before the city was built?
  2. 2. Where did L'Enfant place the Capitol?
  3. 3. How did L'Enfant's streets run?
  4. 4. Why might L'Enfant have put the Capitol on a hill?
2.How has Washington, D.C. changed since 1791?
  • A.It grew from fields and woods into a large city
  • B.It moved to another river
  • C.It shrank into a small village
3.In what year did Congress first meet in the new city of Washington?
  • A.1800
  • B.1776
  • C.1865
4.Why did the United States build a new capital city in the 1790s?
  • A.To make a new state
  • B.To build a whaling port
  • C.To have one permanent home for the national government
5.Why is Washington, D.C. not part of any state?
  • A.It belongs to Canada
  • B.It was set up as a federal district for the national government
  • C.No one lives there
6.Who is the city of Washington, D.C. named after?
  • A.Washington State
  • B.A river in Maryland
  • C.George Washington, the first President

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Building the Nation's Capital

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Mostly farms, fields and woods. 2. On a hill. 3. North to south and east to west like a grid, with wide avenues crossing on a slant. 4. So the building where Congress meets could be seen from far across the city.
  2. 2.It grew from fields and woods into a large city
  3. 3.1800
  4. 4.To have one permanent home for the national government
  5. 5.It was set up as a federal district for the national government
  6. 6.George Washington, the first President

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.5.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.