Background
Etienne Hallett was born in 1755 in France.
Etienne Hallett was born in 1755 in France.
About 1782 he arrived in Philadelphia, and while there prepared a plan for the competition on the proposed Capitol building in Washington. While William Thornton won the first prize, Hallett received the second award. Later however Mr. Hallett was commissioned to revise his original design and supervise the work on the structure. His contract provided a salary of four hundred pounds, and after receiving the last payment on June 13, 1795, he disappeared from public life in Washington, and nothing further was known of his life or activities.