P Street (Washington, D
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P Street refers to four different streets within the city of
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 ...
The streets were named by President
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
in 1791 as part of a general street naming program, in which east–west running streets were named alphabetically and north–south running streets numerically.


NW

P Street NW runs westerly from
North Capitol Street North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast quadrants of the city. Route description North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower ...
to the eastern boundary of
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
(at 37th Street NW), with an additional block-long section running from the western edge of
Glover-Archbold Park Glover Archbold Park is a 183-acre quasi-natural, stream-valley park in Northwest Washington, D.C., on the western edge of Georgetown University and adjacent to the Burleith-Hillandale, Glover Park, McLean Gardens, and Westchester neighborhoods. ...
to Foxhall Road NW. P Street NW crosses Rock Creek and the
Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, informally called the Rock Creek Parkway, is a parkway maintained by the National Park Service as part of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. It runs next to the Potomac River and Rock Creek (Potomac River tri ...
via the
P Street Bridge The P Street Bridge or Lauzun's Legion Bridge is a concrete arch bridge that conveys P Street (Washington, D.C.), P Street across Rock Creek (Potomac River), Rock Creek and Rock Creek Park between the Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Georgetown an ...
. P Street NW also crosses
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
and Logan Circle. This P Street is the oldest of the four: the northern boundary of the City of Washington in the District of Columbia, as surveyed in July 1795, listed the P Street
ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
at Rock Creek as the starting point of the city's original northern boundary.Hagner, Alexander. "Street Nomenclature of Washington City." ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society.'' 7 (1904), pp. 237-261, 257. The first bridge to carry P Street over the creek was Paper Mill Bridge. P Street NW was important both commercially and topographically. The P Street ford marked the farthest point at which ocean-going ships could travel up Rock Creek. Slash Run, a major tributary of Rock Creek, began at 1700 P Street. P Street NW was also home to the city's earliest free African American residents. One of the first free blacks to buy property in the city was Lethe Hill, who purchased a lot at P and 30th Streets in 1819. Another free black, William Becraft, bought a home a block away. In time, a large neighborhood of free blacks formed in a 10-block area bounded by P Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, 16th Street NW, and 6th Street NW. In the 1890s, Riggs Market—one of the city's important (if smaller) markets—was located on P Street NW between 14th and 15th Streets NW. A church at 508 P Street NW, formerly the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, became Springfield Baptist Church in 1941.
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
singer
Edna Gallmon Cooke Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke (November 30, 1917 – September 4, 1967) was an American gospel singer and recording artist from 1949 until her death in 1967. Personal information about Cooke is scarce and most of her biographical details have bee ...
began her singing career there. In 1885, Major General John A. Logan purchased the "Stone Mansion" on Iowa Circle and P Street NW. Three-time presidential candidate William J. Bryan later leased it from the Logans. Congress changed the circle's name to "Logan Circle" in December 1930 in Logan's honor. The Dupont Circle Citizens Association was founded in 1922 in a townhouse at 1767 P Street.


NE

P Street NE runs westerly for a single block from
North Capitol Street North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast quadrants of the city. Route description North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower ...
to
Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, B ...
NE. Areas further east are occupied by the
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
railroad tracks,
Union Market Union Market is a food hall located in Washington, D.C. It anchors the Union Market District, a neighborhood encompassing high-rise apartments, office buildings, retail, and entertainment options. It was formally known as Union Terminal Market w ...
,
Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...
, Mount Olivet Cemetery, the
United States National Arboretum The United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in northeast Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It was established in 1927 by an act of Congress after a campaign by USDA ...
,
Anacostia Park Anacostia Park is operated by the United States National Park Service. It is one of Washington, D.C.'s largest and most important recreation areas, with over 1200 acres (4.9 km2) at multiple sites. Included in Anacostia Park are Kenilwort ...
, and the
Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...
. It does not extend into the
Deanwood Deanwood is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., bounded by Eastern Avenue to the northeast, Kenilworth Avenue to the northwest, Division Avenue to the southeast, and Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue to the south. One of Northeast's o ...
neighborhood.


SW

P Street SW runs westerly from
South Capitol Street South Capitol Street is a major street dividing the southeast and southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It runs south from the United States Capitol to the D.C.–Maryland line, intersecting with Southern Avenue. Afte ...
to Southwest Waterfront Park, where it intersects with 4th Street SW. Along about half its length, on the south side of the street, is
Fort Lesley J. McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair, also historically known as the Washington Arsenal, is a United States Army post located on the tip of Buzzard Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C ...
. The main entrance to the defense facility is on P Street SW. P Street SW lies within an area originally deeded to
Charles Carroll the Settler Charles Carroll I (1661 – 1720), sometimes called Charles Carroll the Settler to differentiate him from his son and grandson, was an Irish-born planter and lawyer who spent most of his life in the English Province of Maryland. Carroll, a Cathol ...
in 1688, who sold it to Notley Young in 1770. Around 1792, Young sold the property to developer
James Greenleaf James Greenleaf (June 9, 1765 – September 17, 1843) was a late 18th and early 19th century American land speculator responsible for the development of Washington, D.C., after the city was designated as the nation's capital following passag ...
, who
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted it in 1794. Greenleaf built large residential
townhomes A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...
along P Street SW in 1794-1795, but sold the property shortly afterward. The area bordering P Street passed through several hands, with the property becoming more and more fragmented over time. Benjamin G. Orr, the fourth mayor of the city, owned property on P Street SW between 4 and 4-1/2 Streets. He later sold some of it to Reverend
Luther Rice Luther Rice (March 25, 1783 – September 27, 1836) was an American Baptist minister who, after a thwarted mission to India, returned to America where he spent the remainder of his career raising funds for missions and advocating for the formation ...
and some to
Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
William H. Crawford William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He later ran for U.S. president in the 1824 United States presidential electi ...
. Two of the houses on this block of P Street were owned by Columbia College.Croggon, James. "Named Rodgers' Row." ''The Evening Star.'' March 30, 1907, p. 9. Navy Commodore John Rodgers purchased two of the homes on the far western end of P Street SW between 4th and 4-1/2 Streets SW, and connected the homes into a single dwelling. Rodgers' property extended to the Potomac River. This block became known as "Rodgers Row". In the early 1870s, the homes here were purchased and demolished by the
Metropolitan Railroad The Metropolitan Railroad was the second streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1864, running from the Capitol to the War Department and along H St ...
to build its 4-1/2 Street Car Barn and Shop. This streetcar barn was torn down in 1962 to allow for the construction of the Riverside Condominiums.Levey, Jane Freundel. ''SW Heritage Trail Brochure.'' Washington, D.C.: Cultural Tourism DC, 2004
Archival URL.
Accessed 2012-10-20.


SE

P Street SE is fragmented and truncated due to the topography of the eastern side of the
Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...
. It runs westerly for two blocks between 18th Street NE and Naylor Road SE, and for about three blocks between
Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...
SE and Branch Avenue SE.


References


External links

* {{Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Streets in Washington, D.C. Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Dupont Circle Southwest Waterfront