Washington Street Map Poster

Washington, D.C. is the great American example of a planned city, and its street map is a deliberate work of design. This printable city map reveals Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 plan: a base grid overlaid with grand diagonal avenues — Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut — radiating from the Capitol and the White House and meeting at traffic circles and squares. The open green axis of the National Mall stretches west toward the Potomac River, anchored at each end by the Capitol and the monuments.

The interplay of the orderly grid, the sweeping diagonals and the riverside neighbourhood of Georgetown gives a street map of Washington, D.C. a uniquely ceremonial geometry that translates beautifully into minimalist wall art. The lettered and numbered streets crossed by state-named avenues make the layout both legible and rich in detail.

It is a meaningful print for a Washingtonian, a history buff, or anyone moved by the capital’s design. Explore the rest of our United States city maps, or hang it beside the Philadelphia map poster for two cities central to the nation’s founding. Every Washington, D.C. city map is a free, high-resolution, printable download.