As the capital of the United States,
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
has 51 roadways which are named after each state and the territory of
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. Many of these roadways are major avenues that serve as the city's principal traffic arteries. Every state-named roadway is an avenue except for California Street and
Ohio Drive.
Organization
While streets in Washington, D.C. are generally laid out in a grid pattern, the state-named avenues often form diagonal connections between the city's many traffic circles and squares as envisioned in the
L'Enfant Plan for the city. However, avenues named for Arizona, Hawaii, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico connect to no other state-named roadways. Avenues named for Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin continue into neighboring
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, often as state highways, but none of the state-named avenues continue into Virginia. Most avenues exist in one or two quadrants, except for
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and Virginia Avenues, which travel through three of the four quadrants; it is geometrically impossible for a straight street to exist in all four quadrants, though they exist in multiple sections.
List
References
External links
Washington's state named avenuesConcord Avenue Becomes Missouri Avenue
(1946)
Old Columbia Heights: Where the Streets Have New NamesWhy Is It Named Constitution Avenue?Why Is It Named Georgia Avenue?
*
{{Streets in Washington, DC
Streets
Streets is the plural of street, a type of road.
Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music
* Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh
* ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...
Streets in Washington, D.C.
Washington