From
www.culturaltourismdc.org;
This park and fountain memorialize Benjamin Banneker, the nation's first black man of science, who assisted Andrew Ellicott in surveying the 10-mile square that became the District of Columbia.
Banneker's key role in surveying the District lines in the spring of 1791 make him a major figure in the history of Washington, DC, and in the history of the city's African American community.