Washington Circle: Cultural Landscape Inventory, National Mall and Memorial Parks, National Park Service

McMillen, Frances

Washington Circle (Reservation 26) is a 2.19 acre landscape located at the intersection of New Hampshire and Pennsylvania avenues and K and 23rd streets in northwest Washington, DC. The circle is located approximately one mile from the White House. Washington Circle is listed as a contributing feature in the L’Enfant Plan of the City of Washington, D.C. National Register nomination (1997). The Clark Mills’ statue of George Washington is included in the American Revolutionary Statuary and Memorials in Washington, D.C. National Register nomination (1978). These nominations do not document all of Washington Circle’s landscape features. This CLI proposes two periods of significance: 1791 to 1792 and 1853 to 1933 and finds Washington Circle is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria B and C. The circle is significant in the areas of landscape architecture, community planning, and art. The circle is significant for its inclusion in Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for the nation’s capital and Andrew Ellicott’s 1792 map of the city. The circle is also significant as part of the history of community planning and development of Washington, D.C., beginning with the L’Enfant plan through the implementations of the 1930s landscape design. Washington Circle was the first of L’Enfant’s open spaces to be developed when it was improved in the 1850s. The site is significant for, and representative of, the landscape designs of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, and the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks; the three agencies responsible for the development and maintenance of the city’s public spaces in the 19th century through 1933. These offices created and implemented Washington Circle’s three historic designs (1853‑1860, 1884‑1886, and 1931‑1933). Washington Circle is also significant for Clark Mills’ (1815‑1883) equestrian statue of George Washington, dedicated in 1860. Mills’ statue exemplifies the mid‑1900s naturalism style for its realistic portrayal of General Washington during the Battle of Princeton. This CLI finds the Washington Circle cultural landscape retains integrity to the 1853‑1933 period of significance. Following the construction of the K Street underpass in the 1960s, much of the historic landscape was lost, but several of the aspects of integrity, including location, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling, and association are still present at the circle. Washington Circle has diminished integrity of design because of the modifications to the historic landscape, but its core elements, which include the statue and the axial and circular walks, remain.

Washington Circle: Cultural Landscape Inventory, National Mall and Memorial Parks, National Park Service

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