Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a
National Historic Site in the city of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by
Constitution Avenue
Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened bet ...
, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The historic district includes a number of culturally, aesthetically, and historically significant structures and places, including
Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
to 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 ...
, the
Treasury Building
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
,
Freedom Plaza
Freedom Plaza, originally known as Western Plaza, is an open plaza in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States, located near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to Pershing Park. The plaza features an inlay that partially depicts ...
,
Federal Triangle
The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which are ...
,
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...
, the
Old Patent Office Building
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
, the Old Pension Office Building (which now houses the
National Building Museum
The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private Non-profit org ...
),
Judiciary Square
Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the sou ...
, and the
Peace Monument
The Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument or Civil War Sailors Monument, stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Peace Circle at First Street, N.W., and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. The 44 foot (13.4 m) high ...
.
Pennsylvania Avenue, the heart of the historic site, is recognized by many as "America's Main Street", and the avenue plays a significant part in American political culture. A march or event held on the avenue is infused with a great deal of political meaning.
History of the site
Construction of Pennsylvania Avenue
![PennsylvaniaAvenue DC 1839](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/PennsylvaniaAvenue_DC_1839.jpg)
Prior to the settlement of the area by European colonists, the
Piscataway Piscataway may refer to:
*Piscataway people, a Native American ethnic group native to the southern Mid-Atlantic States
*Piscataway language
*Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community
*Piscataway, New Jersey, a township
*Piscataway Creek, Ma ...
tribe of
Native Americans occupied the northeastern banks of the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
, although no permanent settlements are known in the area now encompassed by the city of Washington. As the region began to be settled, David Burns obtained the first title to the area which would become Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1774.
Article One, Section 8, of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
established a "District...
o/nowiki> become the seat of the government of the United States..." The Residence Act
The Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States (), is a United States federal statute adopted during the second session of the First United States Co ...
of 1790 (as amended), established this district and gave to the President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
the authority to fix the location of the site somewhere along the Potomac River. President George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
chose the current site of the city in 1791, and it was surveyed later that year. At the time, it was not foreseen that the city of Washington would be coterminous with the District of Columbia, and Washington set the northern boundary of the city roughly where Pennsylvania Avenue is today. Washington chose Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant to plan the new city. Although unnamed at the time, Pennsylvania Avenue was designed in the L'Enfant plan as a critical thoroughfare for bringing existing roads into the heart of the new city. It was also designed to link the "president's palace" with the Capitol building planned for Jenkin's Hill (now 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 ...
).
Pennsylvania Avenue was created on April 14, 1792, when the three commissioners then overseeing the District of Columbia ordered "the middle of the avenue from the president's palace to the capitol" cleared. The origin of the name "Pennsylvania Avenue" is somewhat obscure. The name was first applied to the avenue in a letter from surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
and map-maker Benjamin Ellicott
Benjamin Ellicott (April 17, 1765 – December 10, 1827) was a surveyor, a county judge and a member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of New York.
Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1765, Benjamin Ellicott accomp ...
to the District's commissioners in December 1791.
The actual clearing of Pennsylvania Avenue did not begin until spring 1796. Much of Pennsylvania Avenue below 9th Street was swampy and nearly unusable, as Tiber Creek
Tiber Creek or Tyber Creek, originally named Goose Creek, is a tributary of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was a free-flowing creek until 1815, when it was channeled to become part of the Washington City Canal. Presently, it flows un ...
curved north to border the avenue at 9th Street and again at 5th and 4th Streets before actually crossing it at 2nd Street. The damp earned the street the nickname of the "Great Serbonian Bog."[Frary, ''They Built the Capitol,'' 1969, p. 58.] (This marshy area was filled in and dried beginning in 1816.) In the fall of 1800, Pennsylvania Avenue was cleared of underbrush, and a raised footpath covered in stone chips was built. A stone bridge over Tiber Creek at 2nd Street was also built during this time, being replaced by a brick arch in 1817.[Public Utilities Commission, ''Annual Report of the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia,'' 1915, p. 94.] On March 3, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
ordered that Pennsylvania Avenue be widened and the road completed. Benjamin Henry Latrobe
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...
, the architect newly hired to supervise the avenue's reconstruction, built three lanes separated by four rows of Black Poplars.
Additional improvements to the street were made throughout the 19th century: The avenue was macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...
ized in 1832 (and the poplars removed), repaved with round stones in 1852, and repaved with wooden blocks from 1st to 15th Streets in 1870. The wooden blocks required such extensive repair, however, that between 1876 and 1877 they were replaced with rock from 1st to 6th Streets NW, and with grahamite asphalt from 6th to 15th Streets NW. The avenue was repaved in 1890 and again in 1907.
Growing development of the Pennsylvania Avenue district
The historic site saw limited growth prior to the 1850s, although a number of firsts also occurred in the area. James Greenleaf
James Greenleaf (June 9, 1765 – September 17, 1843) was a late 18th and early 19th century American land speculator responsible for substantial of the newly designated capital of Washington, D.C. after 1790. A member of a prominent and weal ...
, an early land speculator in the city, erected the first buildings (six row houses
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...
) on Pennsylvania Avenue in the spring and summer of 1794 at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue NW and 22nd Street NW, and another seven similar buildings were erected about the same time by General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Walter Stewart. The "Six Buildings" erected by Greenleaf served as the first headquarters of the United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
and the United States Department of the Navy
The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...
in 1800, while one of the buildings across the street housed the United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
. Two of the city's first three street lamps were established in the area near Capitol Hill in December 1801.
Center Market, the city's first food market, was built the same year on a lot on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets. It became the hub of the city's early commercial district.[Bednar, ''L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington,'' 2006, p. 15.] Over time, the business district moved north, but its southern boundary continued to be marked by Pennsylvania Avenue. Center Market moved a block west along Pennsylvania Avenue to larger, more modern facilities in 1872. The second inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of Thomas Jefferson, which occurred on March 4, 1805, was the first to host an inaugural procession down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The city's first school, the Western School, opened on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets NW in January 1806. The city's first sewer pipe was laid under Pennsylvania Avenue in 1829. By 1835, Pennsylvania Avenue was largely lined by two- to four-story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
Federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
row houses. The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) operated from Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., from 1872 to 1902. Controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the second railroad company to connect the nation's capital to the Nor ...
converted a house at the corner of 2nd Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue into the city's first train station. It was abandoned in 1851 when the station moved to a more long-lasting location at New Jersey Avenue and C Street NW. The same year, the National Theatre opened on December 7. It was followed by the 400-seat Odeon in 1846, the 1,000-seat Adelphi in 1847, and Metzerott Hall in the 1860s. President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
approved the construction of the Treasury Building
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
in 1836 (it was completed the following year), but the size and height of the building forced a rerouting of Pennsylvania Avenue and blocked the view of the White House from L'Enfant's "Grand Avenue." The city's first stock brokerage was opened by William W. Corcoran at 15th and Pennsylvania Avenue in 1837. The city blocks where the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
now stands became a fashionable residential area in the 1830s.
In the 1860s, the area saw significant deterioration despite continuing improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue itself. Pennsylvania Avenue was lit with coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...
streetlights in 1851. The avenue was one of the few fully lit streets in the entire city of Washington. In July 1862, a horse-drawn trolley line was built along the street between the Capitol and White House. But despite these many improvements, much of the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site south of Pennsylvania Avenue had become a disreputable slum known as Murder Bay
Murder Bay was a disreputable slum in Washington D.C. roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and 15th Street NW. The area was a center of crime through the early 20th century, with an extensive criminal underclass a ...
, the home to an extensive criminal underclass and numerous brothels.[Gutheim and Lee, ''Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission,'' 2006, p. 73.][Lowry, ''The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War,'' 1994, p. 61-65.][Evelyn, Dickson, and Ackerman, ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.,'' 2008, p. 63-64.] During the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, so many prostitutes took up residence in Murder Bay to serve the needs of General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.
Hooker had serv ...
's Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...
that the area became known as "Hooker's Division." The two trapezoidal blocks sandwiched between Pennsylvania and Missouri Avenues (now the site of the National Gallery of Art) became home to such expensive brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s that it gained the nickname "Marble Alley." In the 1870s and 1880s, the avenue was the site of significant competition between horse-drawn streetcar and chariot companies. Pennsylvania Avenue saw its first electric streetlights give light on October 14, 1881. A small number of additional lights north of the avenue along 10th Street NW were lit later that month.
The southern part of the Pennsylvania Avenue district was flooded many times in the last three decades of the 19th century. Major floods occurred in October 1870 (during which Chain Bridge
A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest.
Construction types are, as for other suspens ...
was destroyed), February 1881, November 1887, and June 1889 (the same storm which caused the Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylv ...
).[Tindall, ''Standard History of the City of Washington From a Study of the Original Sources,'' 1914, p. 396.] Floodwaters were high enough that rowboats were used on the avenue, and horse-drawn streetcars saw water reach the bottom of the trams.
Washington's first Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
emerged on the northern edge of the Murder Bay section of the historic site. D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884, although Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area in noticeable numbers as early as 1880.[Benedetto, Donovan, and Du Vall, ''Historical Dictionary of Washington,'' 2003, p. 54.] This Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near the Center Market site where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met.[Carrier, ''Washington D.C.: A Historical Walking Tour,'' 1999, p. 38.][Evelyn, Dickson, and Ackerman, ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.,'' 2008, p. 54.] This Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935, when the construction of the National Archives Building
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Penns ...
and the Apex Building
The Federal Trade Commission Building is a federal building which serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission. Completed in 1938, the building was designated by Congress as a contributing structure to the Pennsylvania Avenue Nationa ...
(which houses the Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
) forced the Chinatown to move to its current location on H Street NW.
Although the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue NW was notorious for its crime and brothels, an 1892 guide book
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
to the city recommended Pennsylvania Avenue and the surrounding streets as one of the few sites to see in Washington, D.C.
Limited attempts to transform the area by eliminating crime and encouraging upscale economic development occurred from 1890 to 1910. Congress approved the construction of a new, 12-story Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
headquarters for the Post Office Department
The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmas ...
(to include a new central post office for the District of Columbia as well) in 1880. The building was designed to spur economic development in Murder Bay.[Benedetto, Donovan, and Du Vall, ''Historical Dictionary of Washington,'' 2003, p. 166.] Construction on the Post Office Building began in 1892 and was completed in 1899.[Evelyn, Dickson, and Ackerman, ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.,'' 2008, p. 75-76.][Wentzel, ''Washington by Night: Vintage Photographs from the 30s,'' 1998, p. 34.] At the time of its completion, the Post Office Building contained the largest uninterrupted enclosed space in the city. It was also the city's first building to have a steel frame structure, and the first to be built with electrical wiring incorporated into its design. Unfortunately, the anticipated economic development never occurred. In 1899, the Washington Board of Trade, a local organization of business leaders, proposed clearing Murder Bay of its existing structures and building government office buildings in the area.[Peterson, ''The Birth of City Planning in the United States, 1840–1917,'' 2003, p. 84.] Spurred by the centennial of the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia, in 1900 the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
formed the Senate Park Commission (also known as the McMillan Commission after its chair, Senator James McMillan James (or Jim or Jimmy) McMillan or MacMillan may refer to:
Sportspeople
* James McMillan (footballer, born c. 1866) (c. 1866–?), played for Sunderland
* James McMillan (footballer, born 1869) (1869–1937), played for Scotland,Everton and St ...
) to reconcile competing visions for the development of Washington, D.C., and especially Pennsylvania Avenue, the National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...
, and nearby areas. The Commission's plan for development, the McMillan Plan
The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Wa ...
, proposed beautifying Pennsylvania Avenue and placing new government office buildings along a new Centennial Avenue to run the length of the National Mall.
The District Building was built in 1908 between 13 and 14th Streets NW on the south side of the avenue.
Over the next few years, the President and Congress established several new agencies to supervise the approval, design, and construction of new buildings in the District of Columbia: The Commission of Fine Arts
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...
in 1910 (to approve the design of new structures), the Public Buildings Commission in 1916 (to make recommendations regarding the housing of federal agencies and offices), and the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission in 1924 (to oversee planning for the District).[Cannadine, ''Mellon: An American Life,'' 2008, p. 373.] In the mid-1910s, Congress appropriated and the government spent $7 million to acquire land on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 14th and 15th Streets NW and several blocks south.["Wide Federal Plan for Buildings Told," ''The New York Times,'' June 6, 1926.] But no demolition or construction was conducted, and the government merely collected rent from tenants in the area. In 1924, the Public Buildings Commission recommended that a new series of federal office buildings be built near the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. The effort saw success in 1926 with the passage by the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
of the Public Buildings Act
The Public Buildings Act of 1926, also known as the Elliot–Fernald Act, was a statute which governed the construction of federal buildings throughout the United States, and authorized funding for this construction. Its primary sponsor in the Ho ...
, which authorized the construction of the Federal Triangle
The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which are ...
complex of buildings as well as a new U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
building opposite 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 ...
, a major extension of the U.S. Government Printing Office
The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
building on North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city.
Route description
North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower Senate Park, between Louisiana and Delaware Avenues north ...
, and significant widening of B Street NW on the north side of the National Mall (eventually renamed Constitution Avenue
Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened bet ...
).["$165,000,000 Public Building Measure Signed By Coolidge," ''The Washington Post,'' May 26, 1926.] The construction of Federal Triangle enabled the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site to become the "monumental core" of the city.
Historic designation and rejuvenation
By the 1950s, Pennsylvania Avenue was marked by deteriorating homes, shops, and office buildings on the north side and monumental Neoclassical federal office buildings on the south side.[Bednar, ''L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington,'' 2006, p. 24.][Glazer, ''From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture's Encounter With the American City,'' 2007, p. 151.] President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
noticed the dilapidated condition of the street when his inaugural procession traversed Pennsylvania Avenue in 1961.[Schrag, ''The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro,'' 2006, p. 68.][Peck, "Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the Fall and Rise of Public Works," in ''Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The Intellectual in Public Life,'' 2004, p. 82.][White, "Pennsylvania Ave. Designs Must Win Johnson's Support," ''The Washington Post,'' December 12, 1963.] Kennedy established the Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space to recommend new structures to accommodate the growing federal government (which had constructed almost no new office buildings in the city since the Great Depression). Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...
was assigned to help staff the committee. But in writing the Ad Hoc Committee's final report, Moynihan went beyond the committee's mandate and proposed (in part) that Pennsylvania Avenue be redeveloped using the powers of the federal government.[Schellenberg, ''Searchers, Seers, & Shakers: Masters of Social Science,'' 2007, p. 133.]
Kennedy approved of the idea, and established an informal "President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue" to draw up a plan.[Hess, "The Federal Executive," in ''Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The Intellectual in Public Life,'' 2004, p. 115.][Von Eckhardt, "It Could Be a Grand, Glorious Avenue," ''The Washington Post,'' May 31, 1964.] The initial proposal, by architect Nathaniel A. Owings
Nathaniel Alexander Owings (February 5, 1903 – June 13, 1984) was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed ...
, envisioned a number of massive mixed-use
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
buildings on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue to complement Federal Triangle but which would also include theaters, restaurants, shops, condominiums, and apartments. The plan called for E Street NW to be buried and turned into a cross-town expressway, a major new plaza to anchor the avenue's west end, new plazas north and south of the National Archives, and a new reflecting pool for the base of Capitol Hill. The plan also envisioned that the proposed National Cultural Center (created by law in 1958) would be situated on the north side of the avenue (on the site of Chase's Theater and Riggs Building), but the location was later changed to the Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock Cr ...
neighborhood and it was renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
.
The plan was ready for review and presentation to Congressional leaders when Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. A few days after President Kennedy's funeral, President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
met with Jacqueline Kennedy
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...
in the Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
and asked what he could do for her. Mrs. Kennedy requested two things: That Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
be renamed for her husband, and that the Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment plan move forward.[Moynihan, "Foreword," in ''Pennsylvania Avenue: America's Main Street,'' 1988, p. 10-11.][Hodgson, ''The Gentleman From New York: Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Biography,'' 2000, p. 81.] Word of the request leaked to the public, and Johnson publicly supported the area's redevelopment on October 24, 1964. Johnson subsequently approved the establishment of a Temporary President's Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue (composed of Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
members, federal planners, architects, and others) to move the plan forward, although it did not hold its first meeting until May 21, 1965.[Asher, "President Seen Ready to Name Avenue Board," ''The Washington Post,'' January 17, 1965.] The Temporary Commission's goal was to push for a permanent body with the legal authority to engage in condemnation and force public and private bodies to conform to its plans. Before the Temporary Commission was named, District of Columbia officials agreed to abandon plans to build an office building west of the District Building, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) agreed to reorient its planned headquarters more squarely with Pennsylvania Avenue.
Redevelopment of the area north of Pennsylvania Avenue became one of Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to:
* Secretary of the Interior (Mexico)
* Interior Secretary of Pakistan
* Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines)
* United States Secretary of the Interior
See also
*Interior ministry ...
Stewart Udall
Stewart Lee Udall (January 31, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was an American politician and later, a federal government official. After serving three terms as a congressman from Arizona, he served as Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969, unde ...
's highest priorities.[Utley, ''Custer and Me: A Historian's Memoir,'' 2004, p. 98-99.] The plan called for demolition of most of the existing structures north of Pennsylvania Avenue, but exercise of the government's powers of eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
would require (it was believed) creating a special designation for the area.[Asher, "U.S. Control Of Avenue Explored," ''Washington Post,'' January 31, 1965.] In January 1965, the government proposed putting the entire area envisioned for redevelopment under the control of the 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 propertie ...
. According to historian Robert M. Utley, Secretary Udall and architect Nathaniel Owings drew the boundaries of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site according to the needs of Owing's plan. Further investigation, however, revealed that the Historic Sites Act The Historic Sites Act of 1935 was enacted by the United States Congress largely to organize the myriad federally own parks, monuments, and historic sites under the National Park Service and the United States Secretary of the Interior. However, it ...
of 1935 required a study of the area's national significance and a finding by the National Park System Advisory Board. Utley, then an Interior Department historian, was summoned to make these findings, but advised Udall that the Historic Sites Act was intended to preserve (not tear down) old buildings and that the drawings of the site's boundaries would have to follow the historical findings rather than define them. When Utley was advised that Udall was unhappy with his assessment, Utley quickly backtracked. Utley quickly assembled a panel of historians and produced as much research on the area within the Owings boundaries as he could. Although the Utley panel found that much of historical significance had occurred within the Owings boundaries and that a number of historic buildings still existed within the proposed site, there was little to support designation of the area as a historic district. Nonetheless, the advisory board ignored this weakness in the study, and approved the designation of the historic site.
The avenue and several surrounding blocks were designated a national historic site on September 30, 1965. The site was added to 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 v ...
on October 15, 1966. Its boundaries are roughly Constitution Avenue
Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened bet ...
, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW.
Pennsylvania Avenue, the heart of the historic site, is recognized by many as "America's Main Street." The avenue plays a significant part in American political culture as well. "Since its creation in the head of L'Enfant, from the time Jefferson planted Lombardy poplars along its edge, this has been the most important avenue in Washington," noted author Jeffrey F. Meyer. "It is the corridor of power, linking the legislative, judicial, and executive branches." Professor of architecture Michael J. Bednar, commenting on the role the avenue plays in the nation's political life, has written, "A march down Pennsylvania Avenue...brings high visibility and prestige to a group and its cause." Historian Lucy G. Barber, who has studied the site's political meaning, has called it one of the "central and most potent national spaces of the nation." The American Planning Association
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
said in 2014 that a "march down Pennsylvania Avenue holds great symbolic meaning and has played a role in the fight for workers' rights, women's suffrage, and civil rights."
Rejuvenation
Moynihan left public service (temporarily) in 1965, and Harry McPherson
Harry Cummings McPherson Jr. (August 22, 1929 – February 16, 2012) served as counsel and special counsel to President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1969 and was Johnson's chief speechwriter from 1966 to 1969. McPherson's ...
, counsel to President Johnson, kept the Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment plan alive and shepherded it through additional revisions. Nonetheless, rejuvenation of Pennsylvania Avenue and the area north of the street began occurring as early as 1965, even though no permanent redevelopment authority had yet been established. The first building to be developed under the 1964 master plan was 451 12th Street NW (at the site of the old Raleigh Hotel).[Von Eckhardt, "New Office Building Approved for Avenue," ''The Washington Post,'' February 18, 1965.] The Brutalist style structure was designed by Edmund W. Dreyfuss & Associates, which worked closely with John Woodbridge (a staff architect for the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and a member of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill).
On March 25, 1965, President Johnson issued Executive Order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...
No. 11210, which established the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue.[Asher, "President Sets Up New Avenue Unit," ''The Washington Post,'' March 26, 1965.] The Temporary Commission was charged with analyzing the engineering, financial, planning, and other relevant considerations essential to ensuring the adoption and implementation of the 1964 master plan, as well as recommending appropriate legislation to the President and Congress. The Temporary Commission was also instructed to coordinate its efforts with the National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...
's master plan for the city. The Temporary Commission was an interim measure designed to ensure that no buildings incompatible with the plan were built until legislation regarding the master plan was passed. Although certain aspects of the master plan were controversial among some groups, the District of Columbia enacted zoning changes to permit mixed-used development and buildings which conformed to the Owings plan in April 1965. Construction of the first private building under the master plan, 451 12th Street NW, began in August 1965. Legislation to make the Temporary Commission permanent and give it extensive powers was introduced in October 1965, but strong opposition to the proposed National Plaza emerged and hindered passage of the bill. The size of the plaza remained intact into late 1967, and a large new arts and office building (to be built between 11th and 13th Streets NW on E Street NW) was proposed.
After two years, Congress had still not acted to establish a permanent Pennsylvania Avenue Commission, so President Johnson issued Executive Order 11347 to extend the life of the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue by another two years. The lack of redevelopment began to have repercussions for existing businesses on the avenue. Faced with repeated threats to its existence and lower occupancy due to competition and anti-Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
protests on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Willard Hotel closed suddenly on July 15, 1968. The Temporary Commission struggled to obtain any redevelopment along Pennsylvania Avenue. Local landowners refused to make investments so long as their property remained subject to condemnation.[Stout, "Private Fund Sought By Avenue Planners For National Square," ''The Washington Post,'' July 22, 1968.] The Temporary Commission subsequently scaled the size of National Plaza down to half its original size, and began seeking private development dollars to build the square and associated buildings. In October 1969, still stymied by the lack of movement on any redevelopment, the Temporary Commission agreed (at the urging of member Elwood R. Quesada
Elwood Richard Quesada, CB, CBE (April 13, 1904 – February 9, 1993), nicknamed "Pete", was a United States Air Force Lt. General, FAA administrator, and, later, a club owner in Major League Baseball.
Early years
Elwood Richard Quesada was bor ...
, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the L'Enfant Plaza Corporation) to seek $200 million in private financing to build several luxury apartment buildings on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue. The Temporary Commission ceased to function on November 15, 1969, due to lack of funds.
Moynihan, however, was now Counselor to the President for Urban Affairs in the Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
administration in 1969, where he continued to provide leadership on the rejuvenation of Pennsylvania Avenue. Moynihan now proposed a major shift in the redevelopment plan: Rather than funding redevelopment solely with federal funds, he suggested creating a government-owned corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
with a $200 million revolving fund to spur redevelopment along Pennsylvania Avenue. Interested in seeing some redevelopment occur before the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, Congress took up Moynihan's plan in August 1970.[Meyer, "Hill Stirs on Pennsylvania Ave. Plan," ''The Washington Post,'' August 20, 1970.] But extensive controversy still raged over many aspects of the plan, as well as Nathaniel Owings' role in redevelopment plans. President Nixon made a daytime walking tour of Pennsylvania Avenue on September 8, 1970, and expressed his support for the Moynihan plan. But the bill, opposed by local housing advocates and businessmen as well as budget-conscious legislators, stalled in Congress for two years. In early 1972, Nixon once more signaled his strong support for the bill as a Bicentennial measure.[Scharfenberg, "Nixon Gets Pa. Avenue Renewal Bill," ''The Washington Post,'' October 19, 1972.] In April, Democratic Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
Wayne N. Aspinall, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources
The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources or Natural Resources Committee (often referred to as simply Resources) is a Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. Originally called the Committee on Interior and Ins ...
, and Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Rep. John P. Saylor, the committee's ranking minority member, co-sponsored a bill which provided for a 15-member commission advised by a committee of landlords and tenants from the affected area.[Combes, "Grand Plan For Avenue Is Attacked," ''The Washington Post,'' April 15, 1972.] The master plan created by the new commission would have to be reviewed by Secretary of the Interior and relevant D.C. government agencies before being submitted to Congress, which would have 60 days to disapprove the plan by a majority vote of either house. The legislation authorized the new corporation to spend up to $1 million preparing a master plan, and authorized it to borrow up to $50 million from the Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
or private sources to fund redevelopment. Congress approved the revised bill in October 1972, President Nixon signed the bill into law on October 30, 1972.
The Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC) was created on April 17, 1973. President Nixon named Elwood Quesada the PADC's first chairman, and the corporation's board of directors had its first meeting in June.["Capital Project Enters 3d Phase," ''The New York Times,'' June 27, 1973.] The revised Owings plan for redevelopment was immediately called into question by John Woodbridge, the PADC's new staff director and an architect in Owings' firm.[Nicol, "Avenue Plan Now Includes Homes, Cafes," ''Washington Post,'' June 17, 1973.] Upset with the way the massive, Brutalist-style J. Edgar Hoover Building disrupted foot traffic and retail trade along Pennsylvania Avenue, the PADC instead proposed a much stronger emphasis on retail and housing in the new master plan. Among the earliest projects it approved was Market Square, a mixed-use development on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW that contained housing as well as retail areas and included space for a new memorial. The PADC laid out its preliminary plan for redevelopment by March 1974,[Bowman, "Avenue Plan Cost Put at $440 Million," ''The Washington Post,'' March 19, 1974.] and approved its final plan in October 1974.[Jones, "Avenue Plan Is Approved By Directors," ''The Washington Post,'' October 25, 1974.] The Willard Hotel, Old Post Office Pavilion, and other historic buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue were retained and the underground expressway removed from the plan.
The PADC asked Congress to appropriate $111 million for land acquisition, landscaping, and other needs. The plan saw yet further revisions during this period, reducing the size of the buildings along the north side of the avenue, reducing the size of the proposed Western Plaza, and allowing for greater variety of buildings and usage. In March 1977, Congress provided the first $29 million in funding and borrowing authority for the PADC to begin its work.[Lynton, "Work on Avenue Redevelopment To Begin in Fall," ''The Washington Post.'' May 10, 1977.] Landscaping and widening of the sidewalks began in the fall of 1977, and rerouting of traffic began as construction on the new Western Plaza (renamed to Freedom Plaza
Freedom Plaza, originally known as Western Plaza, is an open plaza in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States, located near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to Pershing Park. The plaza features an inlay that partially depicts ...
in 1988) was undertaken. The following year, staff began working on two development prospectuses: one for the Willard and adjacent properties, and the other for the properties surrounding the National Press Building.
Over the next two decades, the PADC persuaded private corporations to invest more than $1.5 billion in executing the master plan. The PADC also funded the improvement of public spaces, redesigning the appearance of Pennsylvania Avenue and building seven new plazas. Among the changes made were alterations in lighting and benches, which may now be removed to accommodate inaugural parades and other large events and marches.
The Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation was dissolved in 1996.
21st century rejuvenation drive
Deterioration of the Pennsylvania Avenue historic district was apparent by the second decade of the 21st century. The PADC's 1960s design (which emphasized low sidewalk lighting so as not to detract from nearby Federal Triangle or the United States Capitol) left the street inadequately lighted at night. The National Park Service, chronically underfunded for the previous four decades, allowed the sidewalks, landscape plantings, and seating to deteriorate. The refusal of the federal government to allow retail in the Federal Triangle and the J. Edgar Hoover Building (largely for security reasons) discouraged foot traffic at night. Combined with low lighting, pedestrians felt the street was unsafe after dark.
Property values in the historic district reflected the deteriorating physical and economic conditions: Class A office space
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
in early 2014 leased for $80 per square foot less than the average for nearby city streets, and the vacancy rate for office space was anticipated to reach 21.8 percent by 2015. The ''Washington Business Journal'' editorialized on October 1, 2014, that, despite good planning, little of value had actually been implemented on Pennsylvania Avenue. The newspaper cited "the crumbling infrastructure, the weak public spaces, and the imposing, secure federal presence" which makes Pennsylvania Avenue "a dead zone outside of lunch rush and the occasional march." It described Freedom Plaza as ill-planned, the Hoover Building "a Brutalist landmark that sucks the life out of an entire block", the Reagan Building a structure that "never met expectations as a public gathering place", and Federal Triangle a monolithic barrier which severs the connection with the National Mall to the south.[
In July 2014, the ]National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...
(NCPC) announced a new Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative. This planning project includes 10 government agencies—led by the government of the District of Columbia, the General Services Administration, and the National Park Service—and private landowners along Pennsylvania Avenue.[ The NCPC said the initiative will first develop a work-plan, and then begin identifying and proposing solutions for short-term needs. A long-term strategic vision and framework will be developed over time to address long-term issues.]
In September 2014, a bill was introduced into the Council of the District of Columbia
The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...
which would essentially resurrect the PADC, under the control of and financed by the District's government, rather than by the multiple parties that the NCPC's initiative anticipates. The legislation was introduced after concerns were raised that Pennsylvania Avenue needed "revitalization".
Important events occurring at the site
Several events of national importance in American history have occurred within the boundaries of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. Pennsylvania Avenue in particular is the focal point for a great many politically important parades and protests.
A number of these historic events have been assassinations or funerals. President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
was assassinated at Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...
in 1865. President James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
was shot in the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal on July 2, 1881, by Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau ( ; September 8, 1841June 30, 1882) was an American man who assassinated James A. Garfield, president of the United States, on July 2, 1881. Guiteau falsely believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election vic ...
; he died 79 days later on September 19. Prior to its designation as a historic site, six presidential funeral processions had traversed Pennsylvania Avenue, the last being President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
's in 1963.
The site has also been the location of major military celebrations. In May 1865, the Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...
and the Army of the Tennessee
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
marched along Pennsylvania Avenue in a " Grand Review" before newly-sworn President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
in celebration of the end of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.[McClary, ''The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America'', 1994, p. 9–17.] More than 200,000 soldiers passed in review. The procession was so massive it took two full days for both armies to pass. Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
George Dewey
George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
, hero of the Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay ( fil, Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; es, Batalla de Bahía de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore ...
during the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, also led a parade up the avenue in 1899 after the United States' victory in that conflict.[Meyer, ''Myths in Stone: Religious Dimensions of Washington'', 2001, p. 72.] General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
John J. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
in review up Pennsylvania Avenue in 1919 after the conclusion of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
The area has also been the site of several important political protests and parades. A protest march of 400 unemployed workers led by the populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
Jacob Coxey
Jacob Sechler Coxey Sr. (April 16, 1854 – May 18, 1951), sometimes known as General Coxey, of Massillon, Ohio, was an American politician who ran for elective office several times in Ohio. Twice, in 1894 and 1914, he led "Coxey's Army", a grou ...
occurred on Pennsylvania Avenue on April 30, 1894. The group became known as Coxey's Army
Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United Sta ...
, and this march was both the first significant popular protest march on Washington and also the first to receive national news coverage. On March 3, 1913, Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ...
led the National American Woman Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
(a women's rights organization and precursor to the League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
) in a parade up Pennsylvania Avenue in which they demanded the right to vote. The association was the largest and most important organization in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States
In the 1700's to early 1800's New Jersey did allow Women the right to vote before the passing of the 19th Amendment, but in 1807 the state restricted the right to vote to "...tax-paying, white male citizens..."
Women's legal right to vote w ...
. The march was a critical event in the successful fight for the right to vote.[Barber, "Marches on Washington and the Creation of National Public Spaces, 1894 to the Present," in ''Berlin, Washington, 1800–2000: Capital Cities, Cultural Representation, and National Identities'', 2005, p. 293.] The women's rights march was strongly opposed by government officials, so when the association won the right to march it set a precedent under which almost any group could march on Pennsylvania Avenue.
This precedent was exercised 12 years later. On August 7, 1925, about 40,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
marched on Pennsylvania Avenue.[Wade, ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America'', 1998, p. 249.] The Klan repeated its march with a similar number of participants in 1926. The marches signified the height of the Klan's power in the United States, even as it was about to lose much of its strength.
Another major demonstration on the avenue led to tragedy. In June 1932, thousands of homeless World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
veterans, their families, and their supporters occupied the recently condemned assemblage of buildings at the Federal Triangle construction site between 6th and 9th Streets NW as part of the Bonus March
The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C., in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their servic ...
on the capital to win better veterans' benefits.[Goode, "Introduction: The Creation of Monumental Washington in the 1930s," in Wentzel and Goode, ''Washington by Night: Vintage Photographs From the 30s'', 1998, p. 11.][Weaver, "Bonus March," ''American Heritage'', June 1963.][See, generally: Lisio, ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot'', 1994.] When the "Bonus Army" was granted the right to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, it transformed the protestors in the eyes of most Americans from rabble-rousers to patriots seeking fairness. On July 28, 1932, President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
ordered General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
to remove the Bonus Army from the site. At 4:45 p.m., MacArthur led a battalion of infantry, a squadron of cavalry, and six battle tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s (commanded by Major George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
) down Pennsylvania Avenue to remove the Bonus Army.[Lisio, ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot'', 1994, p. 202–205.] More than 20,000 civil service workers (leaving their offices for the day) watched as the U.S. Army attacked its own veterans. A Bonus marcher was killed on the site of the Apex Building,[Manchester, "Rock Bottom in America," ''New York'', August 5, 1974, p. 28.] and the Federal Triangle site was cleared of the Bonus Army.
The site carries such importance that on occasion the mere threat of a march down Pennsylvania Avenue has been able to secure political change.
For example, in 1941 the labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
and civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
leader A. Philip Randolph proposed a march on Washington, D.C., by 100,000 African American men to pressure the United States government into establishing protections against discrimination.[Kersch, ''Freedom of Speech: Rights and Liberties Under the Law'', 2003, p. 143; Tye, ''Rising From the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class'', 2004, p. 207-211; Kersten, ''A. Philip Randolph: A Life in the Vanguard'', 2007, p. 57–64; Moreno, ''Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History'', 2006, p. 198–199; Kennedy, ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945'', 1999, p. 763–768.] President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to persuade Randolph to call off the march, worried it would harm defense mobilization, but Randolph refused. Roosevelt subsequently issued Executive Order 8802
Executive Order 8802 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry. It also set up the Fair Employment Practice Committee. It was the first federal ac ...
, which established the Fair Employment Practices Committee and banned discrimination in defense contracts. The march was called off. Historian Andrew E. Kersten has called Randolph's March on Washington "the most significant nonevent in American history."
Area as metaphor
The historic site is often used as a political metaphor in the United States. Political scientists
This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study political theory. See also political science.
A
* Robert Abelson - Yale University psychologist and political scientist with special int ...
and political commentators often use the mile-and-a-half (2.4 kilometres) length of Pennsylvania Avenue as a metaphor for the political gulf which sometimes exist between the President's and Congress's policy priorities. It has also been used as a metaphor for the separation of powers under the United States Constitution
Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in ''The Spirit of the Laws'', in which he argued for a constitutional government with three separate branches, each of whi ...
. The area is also seen as a political synonym for the seat of government as well as the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, for example, was often called "the sphinx of Pennsylvania Avenue."[Bercuson, and Herwig, ''One Christmas in Washington: Roosevelt and Churchill Forge the Grand Alliance,'' 2006, p. 35.]
See also
* Architecture of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, has a unique and diverse architectural history. Encompassing government, monumental, commercial, and residential buildings, D.C. is home to some of the country's most famous and popular structur ...
References
Bibliography
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* Asher, Robert L. "President Sets Up New Avenue Unit." ''The Washington Post.'' March 26, 1965.
* Asher, Robert L. "U.S. Control Of Avenue Explored." ''The Washington Post.'' January 31, 1965.
* Barber, Lucy G. "Marches on Washington and the Creation of National Public Spaces, 1894 to the Present." In ''Berlin, Washington, 1800–2000: Capital Cities, Cultural Representation, and National Identities.'' Andreas W. Daum and Christof Mauch, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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* Bednar, Michael J. ''L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
* Benton-Short, Lisa and Short, John R. ''Cities and Nature.'' Florence, Ky.: Taylor & Francis, 2008.
* Bercuson, David J. and Herwig, Holger H. ''One Christmas in Washington: Roosevelt and Churchill Forge the Grand Alliance.'' New York: Overlook Press, 2006.
* Benedetto, Robert; Donovan, Jane; and Du Vall, Kathleen. ''Historical Dictionary of Washington.'' Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
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* Blair, William. "Fate of Panel on Restyling of Pennsylvania Avenue Is in Nixon's Hands After Congress Deletes Funds." ''The New York Times.'' October 26, 1969.
* Bowman, LaBarbara. "Avenue Plan Cost Put at $440 Million." ''The Washington Post.'' March 19, 1974.
*
* Brownlee, David Bruce. "Form and Content." In ''Out of the Ordinary: Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Associates: Architecture, Urbanism, Design.'' George H. Marcus and Nicole Amoroso, eds. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001.
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* Burns, James MacGregor and Sorenson, Georgia J. ''Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation.'' New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999.
*
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* Combes, Abbott. "Grand Plan For Avenne Is Attacked." ''The Washington Post.'' April 15, 1972.
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*
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Accessed 2010-03-24.
*
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* Eisen, Jack. "National Square Plans Kept Alive By Whisker." ''The Washington Post.'' February 4, 1966.
* Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; and Ackerman, S.J. ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.'' 3rd rev. ed. Sterling, Va.: Capital Books, 2008.
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* ''Fodor's Official Guide to America's National Parks.'' 13th ed. New York: Random House, 2008.
* Folliard, Edward T. "Pershing Memorial and Grand Design Clash." ''The Washington Post.'' April 23, 1965.
* Folliard, Edward T. "These Marchers on Washington Wore Hoods." ''The Washington Post.'' April 18, 1965.
* Forgey, Benjamin. "At 1111 Pennsylvania, Beauty From a Beast." ''The Washington Post.'' February 16, 2002.
* Frary, Ihna Thayer. ''They Built the Capitol.'' Freeport, Conn.: Ayer Publishing, 1969.
* Gillette, Howard. ''Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington.'' Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
* Glazer, Nathan. ''From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture's Encounter With the American City.'' Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007.
* Goode, James W. ''Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings.'' 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 2003.
* Goode, James. "Introduction: The Creation of Monumental Washington in the 1930s." In Wentzel, Volkmar Kurt and Goode, James. ''Washington by Night: Vintage Photographs From the 30s.'' Reprint ed. James Goode, ed. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Publishing, 1998.
* Gordon, David L.A. ''Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities.'' New York: Routledge, 2006.
* Green, Stephen. "President's Plan For Renewal of Avenue Advances." ''The Washington Post.'' July 21, 1972.
* Gutheim, Frederick Albert and Lee, Antoinette Josephine. ''Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission.'' 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
* Haggerty, Maryann. "Major Renovation Slated For 12th St. Building." ''The Washington Post.'' February 17, 1996.
* Hardwood, John and Seib, Gerald F. ''Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power: Making Washington Work Again.'' Reprint ed. New York: Random House, 2009.
* Hathaway, David and Ho, Stephanie. "Small But Resilient: Washington's Chinatown Over the Years." ''Washington History: Magazine of the Historical Society of Washington.'' Spring/Summer 2003.
*
* Hess, Stephen. "The Federal Executive." In ''Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The Intellectual in Public Life.'' Robert A. Katzmann, ed. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2004.
* "Historic Willard Hotel in Capital Is Suddenly Closed." ''The New York Times.'' July 16, 1968.
* Hodgson, Godfrey. ''The Gentleman From New York: Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Biography.'' New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000.
* Hoffman, Ellen. "D.C. Group to Fight Avenue Bill." ''The Washington Post.'' September 30, 1970.
* "House Backs Pennsylvania Avenue Restoration Plan." ''The New York Times.'' March 17, 1977.
* Humphrey, Robert L. and Chambers, Mary Elizabeth Chambers. ''Ancient Washington: American Indian Cultures of the Potomac Valley.'' Washington, D.C.: George Washington University, 1977.
* Jones, Linda Newton. "Avenue Plan Is Approved By Directors." ''The Washington Post.'' October 25, 1974.
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
* Kersch, Kenneth Ira. ''Freedom of Speech: Rights and Liberties Under the Law.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
* Kersten, Andrew Edmund. ''A. Philip Randolph: A Life in the Vanguard.'' Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
* Kilpatrick, Carroll. "Nixon Pushes Avenue Development." ''The Washington Post.'' September 9, 1970.
* King, Anthony S. "A Mile and a Half is a Long Way." In ''Both Ends of the Avenue: The Presidency, the Executive Branch, and Congress in the 1980s.'' Anthony S. King, ed. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1983.
* Knight, Jerry. "Downtown D.C. On the Verge of Spectacular Rebirth." ''The Washington Post.'' July 9, 1978.
* Kryder, Daniel. "Organizing for Disorder: Civil Unrest, Police Control, and the Invention of Washington, D.C." In ''Formative Acts: American Politics in the Making.'' Stephen Skowronek and Matthew Glassman, eds. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.
* Lardner, Jr., George. "Strong Commission Seen as 'Only Hope' For Rebuilt Avenue." ''The Washington Post.'' July 9, 1964.
* Lisio, Donald J. ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot.'' 2d ed. New York: Fordham Univ Press, 1994.
* Loeffler, Jane C. ''The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America's Embassies.'' Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.
* Lowry, Thomas Power. ''The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War.'' Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1994.
* Lynton, Stephen J. "Work on Avenue Redevelopment To Begin in Fall." ''The Washington Post.'' May 10, 1977.
Manchester, William. "Rock Bottom in America."
''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.'' August 5, 1974.
* McClary, Wilfred M. ''The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America.'' Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
*
* Meyer, Eugene L. "Hill Stirs on Pennsylvania Ave. Plan." ''The Washington Post.'' August 20, 1970.
* Meyer, Eugene L. "Hill Told Cost Of Avenue Plan Is $650 Million." ''The Washington Post.'' September 18, 1970.
* Meyer, Jeffrey F. ''Myths in Stone: Religious Dimensions of Washington.'' Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2001.
* Moreno, Paul D. ''Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History.'' Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2006.
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* Murphy, Jim. ''The Boys' War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War.'' Reprint ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993.
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* Nicol, Judy. "Avenue Plan Now Includes Homes, Cafes." ''The Washington Post.'' June 17, 1973.
* "Nixon Names Quesada." ''Associated Press.'' April 18, 1973.
* "Nixon Signs Avenue Bill." ''The Washington Post.'' October 31, 1972.
* $165,000,000 Public Building Measure Signed By Coolidge." ''The Washington Post.'' May 26, 1926.
* Peck, Robert A. "Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the Fall and Rise of Public Works." In ''Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The Intellectual in Public Life.'' Robert A. Katzmann, ed. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2004.
"Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, District of Columbia." National Parks Conservation Association. No date.
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* "Private Housing Urged for Pennsylvania Avenue." ''The New York Times.'' October 7, 1969.
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* Reps, John W. ''The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States.'' 3d ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992.
* Richard, Paul. "Huge Building Proposed for Pennsylvania Avenue." ''The Washington Post.'' August 23, 1967.
* Richard, Paul. "Revised Plan Offered for Avenue Plaza." ''The Washington Post.'' November 6, 1965.
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* Scharfenberg, Kirk. "Nixon Gets Pa. Avenue Renewal Bill." ''The Washington Post.'' October 19, 1972.
* Scharfenberg, Kirk. "White House Approves Six District Bills." ''The Washington Post.'' October 22, 1972.
* Scharfenberg, Kirk and Hamilton, Martha M. "Pa. Avenue Plan Includes Residences." ''The Washington Post.'' December 2, 1973.
* Schellenberg, James A. ''Searchers, Seers, & Shakers: Masters of Social Science.'' New York: Transaction Publishers, 2007.
* Schrag, Zachary M. ''The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
* Semple, Jr., Robert B. "President Supports Rehabilitation Plan for Historic Pennsylvania Avenue." ''The New York Times.'' September 9, 1970.
*
* Stout, Jared. "Private Fund Sought By Avenue Planners For National Square." ''The Washington Post.'' July 22, 1968.
*
*
* Tye, Larry. ''Rising From the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class.'' New York: Macmillan, 2004.
* Utley, Robert Marshall. ''Custer and Me: A Historian's Memoir.'' Stillwater, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.
* Von Eckhardt, Wolf. "Elizabeth Rowe Throws Halter Over Pennsylvania Avenue Sacred Cow." ''The Washington Post.'' November 14, 1965.
* Von Eckhardt, Wolf. "It Could Be a Grand, Glorious Avenue." ''The Washington Post.'' May 31, 1964.
* Von Eckhardt, Wolf. "New Office Building Approved for Avenue." ''The Washington Post.'' February 18, 1965.
* Von Eckhardt, Wolf. "Zone Changes Allow Pennsylvania Ave. Construction to Start." ''The Washington Post.'' April 29, 1965.
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America.'' Reprint ed. New York: Oxford University Press US, 1998.
* "Way Clear to Begin Building on Avenue." ''The Washington Post.'' August 27, 1965.
Weaver, John D. "Bonus March."
''American Heritage American Heritage may refer to:
* ''American Heritage'' (magazine)
* ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language''
* American Heritage Rivers
* American Heritage School (disambiguation)
See also
*National Register of Historic Place ...
.'' June 1963.
* Wentzel, Volkmar Kurt. ''Washington by Night: Vintage Photographs from the 30s.'' Reprint ed. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Publishing, 1998.
* White, Jean M. "Avenue Grand Design Admired by Goldberg." ''The Washington Post.'' September 29, 1964.
* White, Jean M. "Kennedy-Inspired 'Grand Design' For New Pennsylvania Ave. Unveiled." ''The Washington Post.'' May 31, 1964.
* White, Jean M. "Pennsylvania Ave. Designs Must Win Johnson's Support." ''The Washington Post.'' December 12, 1963.
* "Wide Federal Plan for Buildings Told." ''The New York Times.'' June 6, 1926.
External links
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, National Park Service
Lyndon B. Johnson. "Special Message to the Congress on the Needs of the Nation's Capital. February 15, 1965." John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. ''The American Presidency Project.'' Santa Barbara, CA.
Lyndon B. Johnson. "Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House on the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. September 30, 1965." John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. ''The American Presidency Project.'' Santa Barbara, CA.
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National Historic Sites in Washington, D.C.
Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Streets in Washington, D.C.
Protected areas established in 1965
National Mall and Memorial Parks
Benjamin Henry Latrobe buildings and structures
1965 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Northwest (Washington, D.C.)