Benjamin Banneker and Suter's Tavern

In 1791, when President George Washington commissioned Andrew Ellicott to mark the boundaries of the nation's capital, Ellicott chose Benjamin Banneker as his assistant. One of Maryland's most illustrious free African Americans, Banneker was a mathematician and astronomer. The first plans for the federal city were delivered to Washington at Suter's Tavern on this site, also known as the Fountain Inn, making it the birthplace of the nation's capital. Ellicott and engineer Pierre L'Enfant made the inn their headquarters while planning the city, and the first auction of lots to raise money for the federal buildings took place here, grossing a little over $2,000, while slave auctions were occasionally held outside. Rather than lodging in Suter's, Banneker slept in a tent at the surveyors' camp and worked on the first of his six almanacs. He sent one to Thomas Jefferson as proof of the intellectual ability of African Americans.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States