Massachusetts Avenue is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington, D.C., and the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

that includes part of it. Appearing in Peter Charles L'Enfant's original plan, Massachusetts Avenue crosses three of Washington's four quadrants. It intersects every major north–south street and passes numerous Washington landmarks. It is a landmark itself, long considered the northern boundary of the

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

as well as home of Washington's

Embassy Row Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C. with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded by ...

. Massachusetts Avenue is tied with

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...

as the widest road in the District, at . The two roads run in parallel through much of the city, Massachusetts about seven blocks north of Pennsylvania. Massachusetts Avenue was long Washington's premier residential street, as Pennsylvania was once its most sought-after business address. Both streets were named after states with prominent roles in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The historic district is an area that includes 150

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and 3

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1985. It includes multiple properties that are individually listed on the National Register.

Route description

The main section of Massachusetts Avenue begins at 19th Street

Southeast 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 sepa ...

, just to the west of the former

District of Columbia General Hospital The District of Columbia General Hospital was a hospital located in Washington, D.C. It was operational from 1806 to its controversial closing by mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2001, as the city was trying to cut costs while recovering from bankrup ...

site and one block north of

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

. At elevation with respect to the hospital, Massachusetts Avenue commands a view of the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Poin ...

. It proceeds in a northwesterly direction crosstown. At

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

the road enters Northeast D.C. and the neighborhood of

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

. After briefly converging with

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the ...

as it curves around

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 ...

, Massachusetts enters Northwest D.C. in a rapidly changing neighborhood which has transitioned from earlier blight and decay to in the 21st century developing numerous high-rise apartment complexes. In the tradition of the acronym

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

, realtors sometimes give this area the moniker NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue). It intersects with Interstate 395 (which runs underground at that point) at H Street NW, and passes over

Mount Vernon Square Mount Vernon Square is a city square and neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The square is located where the following streets would otherwise intersect: Massachusetts Avenue NW, New York Avenue NW, K Street NW, and 8th ...

in front of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Continuing northwest, Massachusetts enters an underpass below

Thomas Circle Thomas Circle is a traffic circle in Northwest Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Vermont Avenue NW, 14th Street NW, and M Street NW. It is named for George Henry Thomas, a Un ...

at 14th and M Streets NW, before curving around Scott Circle at 16th and N Streets NW; this is considered the starting point of

. Massachusetts Avenue passes through the inner ring of

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...

and curves north at

Sheridan Circle Sheridan Circle is a traffic circle in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Embassy Row. A number of embassies ring Sheridan Circle, including the former Turkish chancery, and the Romanian embassy on the southern side, and the Embassy of Pakist ...

, paralleling Rock Creek to Belmont Road NW. After crossing Rock Creek over the Charles C. Glover Bridge, it curves around the

United States Naval Observatory United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...

and

Number One Observatory Circle Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Located on the northeast grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory superintend ...

, the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

, which forms the southwest boundary of the

Massachusetts Heights Massachusetts Heights is a small neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC, dominated by the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral. The neighborhood is bounded to the north by Woodley Road, to the southwest by Massachusetts Avenue, to the ...

neighborhood. The

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

, located at the intersection of Mass and Wisconsin Avenues, is usually considered the end of Embassy Row. At

Ward Circle Ward Circle is a traffic circle at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues in Northwest, Washington, D.C. The circle, totaling , is owned and administered by the National Park Service through its Rock Creek Park unit. On three si ...

, Massachusetts delineates the American University Park neighborhood from Spring Valley, passing to the north of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...

. It crosses the Washington- Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

border at Westmoreland Circle. In Maryland, the road continues signed as State Highway 396, meandering through residential sections of Bethesda until terminating at Goldsboro Road (Maryland State Highway 614). Another section of Massachusetts Avenue, discontinuous from the one described above, lies on the east side of the Anacostia River. That section extends from 30th Street SE near District of Columbia Route 295, to Southern Avenue SE at the border between D.C. and

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrooks ...

. Other notable institutions located on Massachusetts Avenue include the

Postal Square Building The Postal Square Building (formerly the City Post Office) served as the main post office for the city of Washington, D.C., from the building's completion in 1914 to 1986. It now houses the National Postal Museum, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ...

(which houses the

Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of ...

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 ...

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presi ...

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

, the

Islamic Center of Washington The Islamic Center of Washington is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in Washington, D.C. It is located on Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue just east of the bridge over Rock Creek. When it opened in 1957, it was the largest mosque in the W ...

, the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

, the

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...

(SAIS), the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, the

Peterson Institute The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), known until 2006 as the Institute for International Economics (IIE), is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C. Fred Bergsten in 1981 and has been led by ...

, St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded i ...

. Numerous embassies and residences are listed on the

, and the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

makes its home on Massachusetts Avenue. Massachusetts Avenue on Capitol Hill, 2015 - 4

Belvedere, 13th & Massachusetts Avenue NW

History

The track of the avenue was not paved until the administration of

Alexander Robey Shepherd Alexander Robey Shepherd (January 30, 1835 – September 12, 1902), was one of the most controversial and influential civic leaders in the history of Washington, D.C., and one of the most powerful big-city political bosses of the Gilded Age. He ...

in the early 1870s. It was extended beyond Boundary Road (now

Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Bounda ...

) in the 1880s, and beyond Rock Creek up to Wisconsin Avenue after 1900. The District Commissioners approved extendending it to the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

line in 1906, although at the time they thought it would really only be used up to its intersection with Nebraska Avenue with the exception of pleasure drives.Approve Street Extensions
. ''The Washington Post''. January 3, 1906. p. 11. Residential development along Massachusetts Avenue accelerated in the 1870s, mostly around the circles located west of 9th Street NW. These

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

structures reflected the Queen Anne and

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanes ...

styles in vogue at the time. Later, luxurious

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...

and Beaux-Arts mansions inhabited by wealthy and influential Washingtonians sprouted along the boulevard. The section between

and Scott Circle became known as "Millionaires' Row". 2201-2209 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

forced many to relinquish their homes on Millionaires' Row. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Massachusetts Avenue was seen as less fashionable than newer areas such as upper 16th Street. Many residences were sold and demolished to make way for office buildings, particularly around Dupont Circle and to its east. Many others, however, survived as embassies and society houses; the former Millionaires' Row is today well known as

. Several overlapping

have been created to preserve the character of the remaining neighborhoods. The Massachusetts Avenue Historic District encompasses all buildings which front the road between 17th Street and

Observatory Circle Observatory Circle is a street in Washington, D.C. It runs from Calvert Street to Massachusetts Avenue near 34th Street. Established in 1894, the street follows an incomplete loop, forming an arc rather than a circle. Number One Observatory Cir ...

NW.

Transit

While no

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

lines run along Massachusetts Avenue, the Metrobus N routes serve upper Northwest while a patchwork of routes serve

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

, Northeast, and Southeast.

Metrobus

The following Metrobus routes travel along the street (listed from west to east): * N4 (Dupont Circle to Westmoreland Circle) * N6 (Dupont Circle to Westmoreland Circle, making a clockwise-only loop each direction between Idaho Avenue westbound/Cathedral Avenue eastbound and Ward Circle) * N2 (Dupont Circle to Idaho Avenue westbound/Cathedral Avenue eastbound, crossing again at Ward Circle) * 80 (North Capitol Street to 2nd Street NW westbound/H Street NW eastbound) * D6 (Stanton Park to North Capitol St.) * X8 (Stanton Park to Columbus Circle) * 96 (D.C. General Hospital to Lincoln Park) * M6 (Alabama Ave to Southern Ave)

D.C. Circulator

The D.C. Circulator travels along the street: * Georgetown-Union Station (Columbus Circle to Mount Vernon Square)

Far western and eastern ends

Ride On Route 29 serves Massachusetts Avenue in Maryland from Westmoreland Circle to the avenue's terminus at Goldsboro Road. The M6, which travels from the Potomac Avenue Metro station to Fairfax Village, runs along Massachusetts Avenue between Alabama Avenue and Southern Avenue.

Washington Metro

The following

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

stations have stops located near Massachusetts Avenue: *

* Stadium-Armory

Commuter rail

lies on Massachusetts Avenue at Columbus Circle, and it is served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

, and

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line fro ...

trains. * Amtrak: * MARC: * VRE:

References

External links

* * *, a project at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

School of Architecture *

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

Massachusetts Avenue Historic District

Embassy.org Embassy Row Tour
{{Registered Historic Places Dupont Circle Embassy Row Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Streets in Washington, D.C. 1871 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Route description

History

Transit

Metrobus

D.C. Circulator

Far western and eastern ends

Washington Metro

Commuter rail

See also

References

External links