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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.

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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.

Measuring the Edges of the Capital

An information text written for this worksheet. Before a city can be built, its edges must be measured and marked. In 1791 Andrew Ellicott, a surveyor, was hired to measure the boundary of the new federal district, a square ten miles on each side. He hired Benjamin Banneker, a free African American astronomer and mathematician from Maryland, to help. Banneker watched the stars at night with a telescope to fix exact points, and he looked after the clock used for the measurements. The team placed 40 boundary stones, about one every mile along the edges of the square. Banneker worked on the survey for about three months before returning home, where he wrote and published almanacs. Many of the boundary stones still stand today.

  1. 1. What shape was the new federal district?
  2. 2. How did Banneker fix exact points?
  3. 3. Why can people still see this survey's work today?
  4. 4. Who hired Benjamin Banneker?
2.Who lived on the land where Washington, D.C. now stands, long before the city?
  • A.Settlers from Spain
  • B.American Indian peoples, such as the Nacotchtank
  • C.French soldiers
3.What is the National Mall today?
  • A.A long park lined with museums and monuments
  • B.A farm for growing wheat
  • C.An indoor shopping center
4.Why did the United States build a new capital city in the 1790s?
  • A.To have one permanent home for the national government
  • B.To make a new state
  • C.To build a whaling port
5.Why do people remember L'Enfant and Banneker today?
  • A.They wrote the Constitution
  • B.They were the first two Presidents
  • C.Their plan and survey shaped the nation's capital
6.How has Washington, D.C. changed since 1791?
  • A.It shrank into a small village
  • B.It grew from fields and woods into a large city
  • C.It moved to another river

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Building the Nation's Capital

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A square ten miles on each side. 2. He watched the stars at night with a telescope. 3. Many of the boundary stones still stand. 4. Andrew Ellicott, a surveyor.
  2. 2.American Indian peoples, such as the Nacotchtank
  3. 3.A long park lined with museums and monuments
  4. 4.To have one permanent home for the national government
  5. 5.Their plan and survey shaped the nation's capital
  6. 6.It grew from fields and woods into a large city

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