16th Street NW

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

16th Street Northwest
Lafayette Park
Major
junctions
North end
17th Street
Construction
Commissioned1791

16th Street Northwest, briefly known as the Avenue of the Presidents,

Blair Circle
.

The street passes through several notable landmarks and thoroughfares, including

K Street, Scott Circle, Meridian Hill Park, Rock Creek Park before crossing Eastern Avenue into Silver Spring, Maryland, where it ends at Georgia Avenue. From K Street to the District line, it is part of the National Highway System, while the Maryland portion is designated Maryland Route 390. The entire street is 6.4 miles (10.3 km) long.[1] Part of the street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Sixteenth Street Historic District.[4] In June 2020, the section immediately north of the White House was renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza.[5]

History

Northward view of 16th Street from the White House in 1976

16th Street was developed by

urban plan
of Washington.

World War I Memorial Trees

In 1920, more than 500 trees were planted along 16th Street between Alaska Avenue and Varnum Street to honor fallen soldiers from World War I. Today, the 16th Street World War I Memorial Trees and their corresponding markers have largely been lost to history.

Ronald Reagan Boulevard 2005 proposal

U.S. President since it was built in 1816, starting with James Madison.[6]

In July 2005, just before Congress's summer recess,

House Government Reform Committee and a fellow Republican representing Washington's Virginia suburbs.[8]

Black Lives Matter Plaza renaming

Main article: Black Lives Matter Plaza
Black Lives Matter Plaza yellow lettering seen from space in 2020.

On June 5, 2020, during the

ceremonially renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza.[12][13]

On June 6, 2020, activists altered the mural. They removed the stars from the D.C. flag, changing it to an equals sign, and added the words "defund the police" so that the mural read "Black Lives Matter = Defund the Police".[14][15]

Significance

Main article: Sixteenth Street Historic District
House of the Temple

Early in the city's history, many foreign countries opened their

Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center, and the Toutorsky Mansion
.

The Hay–Adams Hotel, built 1928

The

National Rifle Association of America was headquartered on the street until the late 1990s.[16]

By the end of the 19th century, 16th Street NW stretched some 2.5 miles from the White House north to Morris Road NW (now Monroe Street NW). On March 30, 1899, the United States Congress authorized the extension of the street to the D.C.-Maryland line. Within two years, the city completed condemnation proceedings to obtain the necessary land.[17] But bridging the natural obstacle of the Piney Branch valley—with the nation's first parabolic arch bridge—would take until 1909.[18]

University Club (left), built in 1904, and the Russian Ambassador's residence (right), built in 1910.

The northern and central portions of 16th Street—and the

Ohev Sholom synagogue
and historic Tiffereth Israel synagogue, across the street from one another; and the Washington Ethical Society.

The street's proximity to Rock Creek Park and importance as a thoroughfare has made it a natural dividing boundary for Washington neighborhoods. Outside of the downtown area, no neighborhood in the city falls on both sides of 16th Street; the neighborhoods that surround it have 16th as either their eastern or their western boundary. For many years, the wide street was the de facto "boundary" between Caucasian and African-American neighborhoods of the city, especially in the tense years after the 1968 race riots.

A pair of similarly named streets, 16th Street Northeast and 16th Street Southeast, are three miles (5 km) away in the northeast and southeast quadrants of Washington. They are contiguous with each other and parallel to 16th Street NW. There is no 16th Street Southwest, as this space is occupied by the National Mall and the Washington Channel.

References

  1. ^ a b Google (March 3, 2019). "16th Street NW" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Conroy, Sarah Booth (March 18, 1979). "16th Street—The Avenue of Aspirations; A Street Of Dreams". The Washington Post. pp. C01.
  3. ^ "Greater Greater Washington - Lost Washington: Mary Foote Henderson's Boundary Castle". Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. ^ Anne H. Helwig and Suzanne Ganschiuietz (January 30, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Sixteenth Street Historic District". Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2016. and accompanying 17 photos
  5. ^ Nirappil, Fenit; Zauzmer, Julie; Chason, Rachel. "'Black Lives Matter': In giant yellow letters, D.C. mayor sends message to Trump". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  6. ^ "White House Historical Association". Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.03525[permanent dead link]:
  8. ^ Hsu, Spencer (August 5, 2005). "A Roadblock for Reagan". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  9. DCist. Archived
    from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  10. NBC Washington. Archived
    from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  11. ^ Willingham, AJ (June 5, 2020). "Washington DC paints a giant 'Black Lives Matter' message on the road to the White House". CNN. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  12. NBC Washington. Archived
    from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  13. ^ Wu, Nicholas. "DC renames street near White House 'Black Lives Matter Plaza' to honor George Floyd protests". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  14. ^ "Black Lives Matter Adds 'Defund the Police' to Downtown Mural". MidCity DC News. June 7, 2020. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  15. ^ Samantha Schmidt; Jessica Contrera; Rebecca Tan; Hannah Natanson; John Woodrow Cox (June 7, 2020). "'Defund The Police' painted on D.C. street as tensions among protesters flare". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  16. ^ Michael D. Shear (March 18, 1993). "NRA makes move to Fair Oaks". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2023. The National Rifle Association has decided to move 400 of its employees from the District to a new building in the Fair Oaks section of Fairfax County, Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas M. Davis III said.
  17. ^ "His Annual Report". The Evening Star. November 11, 1902. p. 7.
  18. ^ "Bridge Nearly Ready". The Washington Post. March 25, 1910. p. 16.
  19. ^ Lewis, Neil A. (May 19, 1985). "The Shifting 'Gold Coast'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=16th_Street_NW&oldid=1210935952"