Where do we live in D.C.?
We live 3 blocks from Washington Circle, one of the many circles that dot the traffic landscape of D.C.
Circles are one of the features of the original plan for the city created in 1791 by French officer, engineer and artist Pierre L'Enfant. L'Enfant modeled According to the National Park Service: "L'Enfant developed a Baroque plan that features ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues, while respecting natural contours of the land. The result was a system of intersecting diagonal avenues superimposed over a grid system." An image of the 1791 plan appears below.
Circles are one of the features of the original plan for the city created in 1791 by French officer, engineer and artist Pierre L'Enfant. L'Enfant modeled According to the National Park Service: "L'Enfant developed a Baroque plan that features ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues, while respecting natural contours of the land. The result was a system of intersecting diagonal avenues superimposed over a grid system." An image of the 1791 plan appears below.
L'Enfant's plan provided that streets would be laid out in a north/south-east/west grid. Broader avenues diagonally crossed the streets of the grid and intersected streets at circles and squares. The circles and squares on L'Enfant's plan were intended to be parks and ceremonial places for statues and public events.
Washington Circle was an unnamed circle on L’Enfant’s 1791 plan. In the image below, the red arrow marks Washington Circle at the intersection of K and 23rd Streets, Northwest, and Pennsylvania and New Hampshire avenues.
So, how did the unnamed circle become Washington Circle?
Next Up: General Washington arrives 77 years late.
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