Indianapolis is aplanned city. On January 11, 1820, theIndiana General Assemblyauthorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital, appointingAlexander RalstonandElias Pym Fordhamto survey and design a town plan for Indianapolis. Ralston had been a surveyor for the French architectPierre L'Enfant, assisting him with theplan for Washington, D.C.Ralston's original plan for Indianapolis called for a town of 1 square mile (2.6km2), near theconfluenceof theWhite RiverandFall Creek.[112]