Dupont Circle and the avenues

The circle and the mansion-lined avenues of the northwest, from Massachusetts Avenue to Meridian Hill.

A dense crowd in the street outside a brick townhouse hung with a flag — 1923 A crowd packs the street outside Woodrow Wilson's house in 1923.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-7253 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

History

Improvements in the 1870s had made the area around Dupont Circle a fashionable residential neighbourhood, and by 1900 mansions for the wealthy and for diplomats lined Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut Avenues. A bronze statue of Admiral Samuel Du Pont stood in the circle from 1884 until about 1920, when the Du Pont family moved it to Wilmington; the marble fountain by Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon that replaced it was dedicated in 1921.

What's there now

Many of the mansions are embassies and clubs (“Embassy Row” along Massachusetts Avenue), and the circle is a lively neighbourhood centre with a Metro station beneath it.

Then and now

The fountain in the circle and many of the mansions are as they were in the 1920s. Connecticut Avenue now passes beneath the circle in a tunnel built in 1949.

Photographs 31, oldest first

An empty street corner with trees and a tall square church tower — c. 1900–06 N Street at Connecticut Avenue in the early 1900s, a quiet tree-lined crossing overlooked by a tall church bell tower.Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress · LC-D4-17450 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A stone Gothic church on a quiet street corner — c. 1910–20 St. Margaret's Church at Connecticut Avenue and Bancroft Place, 1910s.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H25- 786 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Crowds seated before the steps of a massive stone temple — 1915 Crowds at the dedication of the Scottish Rite Temple on 16th Street, 1915.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 5580 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A Gothic church with a tall spire on a broad street — c. 1909–23 Luther Memorial Church on Thomas Circle, its tall spire over the circle. place probableNational Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 141 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A tall apartment block and an ornate older house at a street corner — c. 1909–23 Stoneleigh Court apartments on Connecticut Avenue and Shepherd's Row on K Street, 1910s.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 277 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A stone memorial with a bronze relief panel among trees — c. 1916–17 The Nuns of the Battlefield memorial at Connecticut and Rhode Island Avenues, honouring Catholic sisters who nursed soldiers in the Civil War.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 1625 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A crumpled early open motor car on a city sidewalk beside a lamp post — c. 1917 A wrecked open touring car with its hood torn up stands on the pavement of Massachusetts Avenue, around 1917.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 10295 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

High view of a mounted procession and crowds on a curving tree-lined street — 1917 The French commission's procession, with a mounted escort, winds down 16th Street between packed sidewalks in 1917.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 8542-B [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A low garage with a Red Cross sign and ambulances parked in front — 1917 The Red Cross emergency ambulance station on 16th Street, 1917, with its ambulances in the garage doors. place uncertainHarris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H261- 29528 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A Greek Revival church with a portico on a street corner — c. 1910–25 Old St. Matthew's Church on H Street, later torn down.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 536 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A long residential avenue lined with trees and rowhouses — c. 1910–25 Massachusetts Avenue looking east from 16th Street, lined with rowhouses and young trees.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 542 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A bronze equestrian statue on a tall pedestal amid lawns and trees — c. 1918–20 The equestrian statue of General Winfield Scott on its pedestal in Scott Circle, around 1919.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 1661 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A large stone and brick mansion with a turret on a corner — c. 1918–20 A Romanesque mansion at 1701 Connecticut Avenue, about 1919.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 2530 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Ornate brick townhouses behind bare trees — c. 1918–20 Mansions on Massachusetts Avenue near 17th Street, about 1919.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 2531 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Cars stopped at an intersection with a crowd of onlookers — c. 1920 A traffic accident draws a crowd at 14th and Q Streets NW, about 1920.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12350-3 [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

High view of a round park with bare trees and a fountain, buildings around it — c. 1910–30 Dupont Circle seen from above, looking east over its bare trees and central fountain basin.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12357-6 <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

High view of a circular park surrounded by rowhouses — c. 1909–32 Logan Circle and its park from above.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12357-6 [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A red brick Georgian Revival townhouse — c. 1921 The house at 2340 S Street NW where Woodrow Wilson lived after leaving the White House, about 1921.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · PRES FILE - Wilson, Woodrow--Birthplace and Home <item> [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A white marble fountain with carved figures and water falling from a wide upper basin — May 17, 1921 The new Du Pont memorial fountain in Dupont Circle, water spilling from its marble basin, May 17, 1921.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 14100 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A bronze statue of Dante on a pedestal, flags and a crowd around it, two children in front — c. 1921–22 A crowd with Italian and American flags gathers for a ceremony at the Dante memorial, early 1920s. place probableHarris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-3738 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A tiered marble fountain with carved figures and spraying water — c. 1921–23 The new marble fountain in Dupont Circle, about 1921.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H27- A-2971 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A crowd with flags gathered around the fountain basin — c. 1921–23 A ceremony at the Dupont Circle fountain, early 1920s.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H27- A-2972 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A bronze statue of Joan of Arc on horseback with raised sword, flags and wreaths around it — January 6, 1922 The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc in Meridian Hill Park, hung with flags for a ceremony on January 6, 1922.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-3899 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A crowd gathered in front of a brick townhouse — April 28, 1922 A crowd outside Woodrow Wilson's house on S Street, April 28, 1922.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 18637 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

High view up a tree-lined avenue with apartment hotels and church spires — 1923 Looking north up Vermont Avenue from L Street in 1923, past the Portland apartment hotel and tree-lined streets. place probableNational Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F81- 25465 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A crowd in the street in front of a brick townhouse — February 2, 1924 Crowds wait outside Woodrow Wilson's house on S Street on February 2, 1924, the day before he died.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F8- 28596 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A crowd before a tall statue on a pedestal — March 31, 1924 A crowd gathers for a ceremony at the Daniel Webster statue on Scott Circle, March 31, 1924.Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress · LC-H234- A-8181 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Large apartment blocks along a sloping road with cars — c. 1920–29 The Embassy Apartments on a new suburban avenue in the 1920s. place uncertainNational Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LOT 12359-3B [item] [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A Romanesque church with a tall square tower on a corner — 1927 The First Baptist Church at 16th and Church Streets, 1927.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 2472 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

A hotel entrance canopy on a wide pavement with flags — after 1925 The Connecticut Avenue entrance of the Mayflower Hotel, which opened in 1925.Date checked: The Library's 1916–1917 comes from neighbouring negatives, but the Mayflower Hotel opened on February 18, 1925.National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress · LC-F82- 1551 [P&P] · No known restrictions on publication

Nearby: State, War and Navy Building · The Knickerbocker Theatre · The White House and Lafayette Square · U Street and Shaw · The Treasury