Columbus Circle, also known as Union Station Plaza or Columbus Plaza, is a

traffic circle A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...

at the intersection of Delaware, Louisiana and Massachusetts Avenues and E and First Streets,

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

in Washington, D.C. It is located in front of

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

right next to the grounds of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

and its access roads interrupt this circle on one side, forming an arc. The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building is located on the eastern side and the

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United ...

is on the western side of the plaza next to Union Station. Both buildings are on the northern side of Massachusetts Avenue NE.

History

In 1907, Union Station opened on the site of what was once a poor Irish neighborhood called Swampoodle. Most of the land around it had been leveled and all the houses razed. The area in front of the Station originally was called ''Union Station Plaza'' or the ''Plaza of Union Station''.''Street Railway Connections to Plaza of Union Station'' - The Washington Herald, Real Estate and Building Section - January 31, 1909 - Third Part, page 1 The plaza was put through a massive renovation between 2011 and 2013. File:Union Station Washington, D.C. 1906.tif, The Circle the Congressional appropriation leading to the Columbus Fountain (1906) File:Union Station Washington DC from the air.png, Columbus Circle with the fountain from the air in the 1920s File:Columbus_Fountain_(Smithsonian).jpg, The Columbus Fountain in 1919

Structures

The centerpiece of the circle is the

Columbus Fountain ''Columbus Fountain'' also known as the Columbus Memorial is a public artwork by American sculptor Lorado Taft, located at Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States. A centerpiece of Columbus Circle, ''Columbus Fountain'' serves as a trib ...

, flanked by three flagpoles, designed by

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...

and sculpted by

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860, in Elmwood, Illinois – October 30, 1936, in Chicago) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. His 1903 book, ''The History of American Sculpture,'' was the first survey of the subject and stood for deca ...

. It was unveiled on June 8, 1912 in a three-day celebration involving tens of thousands of people (including the US Army, Navy and Marines) and several dignitaries including President

William H. Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

and the Italian Ambassador to the United States. Parades, concerts and fireworks drow citizens of the city and many Knights of Columbus from around the country. It was not part of the original design of the Circle or of Union Station. This is when the plaza started to be called ''Columbus Circle'' due to the monument present in its center. Two small fountains on each side of the Columbus Fountain frame the circle along with several stone balustrades. These fountains are accessible by the two staircases located on both sides of the central fountain. The circle is ringed by flags of each of the 50 U.S. states in order of admission to the Union plus the flags of the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The flag poles are located on the southern side of the road.

Access

Columbus Circle being located in front of Union Station is very accessible with various means of transportation. Two streetcars lines used to circle on Columbus sharing tracks: the Capitol Traction Company and the Washington Railway & Electric Company. The Capitol Traction Company went down New Jersey Avenue NW, turning on Massachusetts Avenue NW and exiting on the opposite side of the Circle to F Street NE. Today the

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

stops on the opposite side of the station. Cars were always present but the traffic patterns changed over the years. In the early days, cars could park around the plaza. As cars started taking over, other alternatives had to be found and parking on or near the plaza was no longer possible. Union Station struggled with parking until the 1980s when a parking lot was built on the back of station. Today, cars can drive around the circle to continue on Massachusetts Avenue but parking or stopping is forbidden. Cars can drive between the station and the Columbus Fountain on two access roads but they can only drop off or pickup passengers from the station. Today, Columbus Plaza is mainly pedestrian with large walkways and several crosswalks providing access. On the station side, the crosswalk do not have lights due to the low speed of vehicles but on Southside, traffic lights offer a safer access for pedestrians. A

Capital Bikeshare Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system which serves Washington, D.C.; Arlington County, Virginia; the cities of Alexandria, Virginia and Falls Church, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Vir ...

station is located on the side of Union Station off of F Street NE. Bike racks are available in front of Union Station and in 2009, DDOT announced the construction of the Bikestation on the west side of Union Station right off the plaza where the bike lane ends.

References

External links

*http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8442 Squares, plazas, and circles in Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill Northeast (Washington, D.C.) {{WashingtonDC-geo-stub