Seven essays on various aspects of the Park Commission Plan (popularly known as the McMillan Plan), by authors well-known in their fields. Many illustrations, some taken from the Park Commission’s Report (1902) and color illustrations of the remaining water color renderings owned by the Commission. With this current volume, the Commission has chosen to explore its origins with a look into the events and people leading up to the creation of the Senate Park (McMillan) Commission in 1901 and the resulting plan for the redevelopment of the city. It commemorates the recent centennial of the Park Commission Plan as well as bringing to light aspects of and insights into the plan not generally or clearly understood by the public. The plan was and still is a work in progress. Its creation was a lofty endeavor born of the spirit of the times in a political and social climate that seemed to frown on any enterprise that required the spending of public funds or called for a change in the accepted appearance of the Capital. The participants faced formidable obstacles not unlike those that reverberate today whenever a change to the familiar is contemplated. These essays have been compiled to serve the people of Washington and all who find the creation of cities a subject of fascination.