2. The wide avenues and streets of the area included in the L’Enfant plan are appropriately referred to as outstanding proof of the value of proper planning. The merit of this generous street plan was never more widely appreciated than at present, when other cities are spending millions of dollars to have their streets widened to meet traffic requirements. 3. The dark days of the National Capital, as far as its circulation system is concerned, were those during which, outside the city planned by L’Enfant, streets were dedicated without reference to any comprehensive plan. This period was from about 1866 to 1893. The lack of authority to enforce a plan allowed land-owners, insensible to the superior qualities of the L’Enfant scheme, to do as they pleased. Prior to 1893 no city plan existed beyond the original city limits. Streets could be created entirely at the will of the subdivider by the simple recording of a plat, for there was no authority to control or coordinate subdivisions. Sixteenth Street was blocked at Florida Avenue, just as Seventeenth Street is today. Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Tennessee Avenues were ignored. Widths of important streets were reduced, and a method of land subdivision came into vogue wholly out of keeping with a capital city. 4. The reaction brought the so-called highway plan outside of the original city limits of Washington and Georgetown. It was in effect an extension of the plan of the original city to apply to all parts of the District of Columbia, with such changes as were influenced by the topography. All subdivisions subsequent to 1893 conform, by requirement of law, to this official plan. This highway plan, first made effective in 1898, was a belated but praiseworthy effort to extend the L’Enfant plan with its scheme of streets and avenues beyond the old city. Considering the period in which it was prepared, and the state of city-planning science at the time, it was a notable achievement. The work was done by a board on street extensions, with a membership entirely ex officio, known as the Highway Commission, established by the act of Congress of 1893. [Illustration: _Courtesy Army Air Corps_ WASHINGTON, LOOKING NORTH FROM THE WHITE HOUSE] [Illustration: _Courtesy Army Air Corps_ WASHINGTON, LOOKING SOUTH FROM SIXTEENTH STREET AND COLUMBIA ROAD]