Florida Avenue

Last updated
Florida Avenue
Florida Avenue NW
Florida Avenue NE
L'Enfant plan.svg
The 1791 L'Enfant Plan, under which Boundary Street (now Florida Avenue) marked the northern limits of Washington, D.C. from Rock Creek in the west to 15th Street in the northeast
Former name(s)Boundary Street
Maintained by DDOT
Location Washington, D.C., U.S.
Coordinates 38°54′59.6″N77°1′21.2″W / 38.916556°N 77.022556°W / 38.916556; -77.022556
West end Massachusetts Avenue
Major
junctions		 Connecticut Avenue
U  / 18th Streets NW
16th Street NW
US 29.svg US 29 (Georgia Avenue to the north, 7th Street NW to the south)
US 1.svg US 1 (Rhode Island Avenue NW)
North Capitol Street
US 50.svg US 50 (New York Avenue NE)
East endStarburst Plaza
Construction
Commissioned1791
Completion1818

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, Boundary Street was renamed Florida Avenue in 1890.

Contents

History

On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who chose a portion of the states of Maryland and Virginia on January 24, 1791. [1] Originally, government officials did not foresee that the city of Washington would expand to fill the boundaries of the entire District of Columbia. The "Federal City", or City of Washington, originally lay within an area bounded by Boundary Street (northwest and northeast), 15th Street Northeast, East Capitol Street, the Anacostia River, the Potomac River, and Rock Creek. [2] [3] [4]

Boundary Street was drawn to follow the foot of the hilly terrain of Northwest Washington, D.C. The hilly area is the Wicomico-Sunderland Escarpment, which is part of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line. The escarpment helps mark the transition between the Appalachian Piedmont region north of the avenue and the flat Atlantic Coastal Plain terrain of the city's downtown area to the south. [5]

The first section of Boundary Street to be opened was between North Capitol Street and 2nd Street NE in 1818. [6] By 1828, the street extended westward at least to 19th Street NW. [7] Boundary Street was graded in late 1869 and early 1870, [8] which dropped the street some 7 to 8 feet (2.1 to 2.4 m) in places. [9]

Boundary Street was renamed Florida Avenue on January 14, 1890, by a decision of the Board of Commissioners. The Washington Post reported the next day that the Commissioners had received numerous complaints by property owners that the name of Boundary Street had depressed the value of their land. [10]

Later that year, the Rock Creek Railway opened electric streetcar service on a quarter-mile of track along Florida Avenue NW from Connecticut Avenue to 18th Street NW. [11] In 1899, as the city's streetcar system developed, service along this stretch of Florida was discontinued and the track removed. [12]

21st century

In the 2010s, high-profile pedestrian and cyclist deaths on Florida Avenue NE prompted traffic safety discussions about the area, whose sidewalks and other infrastructure along this stretch do not meet modern ADA and safety requirements. [13] A 2015 report by the District Department of Transportation brought few immediate changes, but renewed pressure in spring 2019 brought announcements of some plans for improvements. [14]

Route description

The western terminus of Florida Avenue is at Massachusetts Avenue NW, 22nd Street NW, and Q Street NW. From that terminus to 9th Street NW, Florida Avenue follows a winding path due to the city's topography. From 9th Street NW, Florida Avenue follows a straight line to its eastern terminus at the "Starburst intersection" of H Street NE, 15th Street NE, Maryland Avenue NE, Benning Road NE, and Bladensburg Road NE. [15]

Adjacent neighborhoods

Florida Avenue helps to define several neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. In the northwest quadrant, it forms one of the borders of the Columbia Heights neighborhood (which straddles 16th Street NW) along with Columbia Road NW. [16] Florida Avenue also forms the boundary between Adams Morgan to the north and Dupont Circle to the south, helping to connect the major thoroughfares of Connecticut Avenue NW and 16th Street NW, and forms the northern boundary of the 18th Street NW shopping corridor. It also connects Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle with the Shaw neighborhood and the U Street retail and entertainment corridor. [17] Heading east toward North Capitol Street, Florida Avenue borders LeDroit Park and Bloomingdale to the north, and Truxton Circle to the south.

In the northeast quadrant, Florida Avenue serves as the demarcation between the Eckington, Gallaudet University and Trinidad neighborhoods to the north, with NoMa and H Street/Atlas District to the south (also known as Near Northeast).

Landmarks

Gallaudet University, the American national university for the deaf, is located at 800 Florida Avenue NE. The campus consists of a unique collection of Victorian and Queen Anne style buildings on grounds with a landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted. [18] The Florida Avenue Grill, located at 1100 Florida Avenue NW, opened in 1944 and is a historic restaurant in the city. [19] [20]

Union Market and the adjacent retail strip anchor several blocks along the north side of northeast Florida Avenue, just west of Gallaudet University.

Former landmarks on Florida Avenue include Henderson's Castle, a massive red sandstone mansion built at the corner of Florida Avenue and 16th Street NW in 1888 for Senator John B. Henderson. The mansion was razed in 1949, although the retaining wall and gates have survived. [21] Another former landmark was Holmead's Burying Ground, located on Florida Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets. Founded in 1796, it was the city's most prominent cemetery for the first 50 years of the 19th century. It was closed in 1874, and the bodies removed over the next decade. [22] Griffith Stadium, also known as Boundary Stadium (for Boundary Street), was a major league baseball stadium bounded by Florida Avenue NW, W Street NW, Georgia Avenue NW, and 5th Street NW. Built in 1911, it was torn down in 1965. [23]

Where Florida Avenue intersects New York Avenue is colloquially referred to as "Dave Thomas Circle". [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dupont Circle</span> Place in the United States

Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW to the west, M Street NW to the south, and Florida Avenue NW to the north. Much of the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the local government Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Dupont Circle Historic District have slightly different boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K Street (Washington, D.C.)</span> Major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C.; a metonym for the U.S. lobbying industry

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Trinidad is a neighborhood located in Ward 5, in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., and is a largely residential area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution Avenue</span> Street in the city of Washington, D.C.

Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened between 1925 and 1933. It received its current name on February 26, 1931, though it was almost named Jefferson Avenue in honor of Thomas Jefferson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)</span>

New York Avenue is a diagonal avenue radiating northeast from the White House in Washington, D.C. to the border with Maryland. It is a major east–west route in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants and connects downtown with points east and north of the city via Cheverly, Maryland, the John Hanson Highway, the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, and eventually, Interstate 95.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outdoor sculpture in Washington, D.C.</span>

There are many outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C. In addition to the capital's most famous monuments and memorials, many figures recognized as national heroes have been posthumously awarded with his or her own statue in a park or public square. Some figures appear on several statues: Abraham Lincoln, for example, has at least three likenesses, including those at the Lincoln Memorial, in Lincoln Park, and the old Superior Court of the District of Columbia. A number of international figures, such as Mohandas Gandhi, have also been immortalized with statues. The Statue of Freedom is a 19½-foot tall allegorical statue that rests atop the United States Capitol dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)</span> Major road in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Massachusetts Avenue is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington, D.C., and the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District is a historic district that includes part of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Avenue</span> Thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and Maryland

Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was one of the original streets in Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's plan for Washington. A five-mile segment north of Rock Creek was built in the 1890s by a real-estate developer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site</span> National Historic Site of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The historic district includes a number of culturally, aesthetically, and historically significant structures and places, including Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the White House to the United States Capitol, the Treasury Building, Freedom Plaza, Federal Triangle, Ford's Theatre, the Old Patent Office Building, the Old Pension Office Building, which now houses the National Building Museum, Judiciary Square, and the Peace Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhode Island Avenue</span>

Rhode Island Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Washington, D.C., and the capital's inner suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. Paralleling New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue was one of the original streets in Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the capital. It became a major commuter route, carrying U.S. Route 1 traffic into the city from Prince George's County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M Street (Washington, D.C.)</span> Four streets of the same name in Washington, D.C.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">McMillan Plan</span> 1902 planning report for Washington, D.C.

The McMillan Plan is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was written in 1902 by the Senate Park Commission. The commission is popularly known as the McMillan Commission after its chairman, Senator James McMillan of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown (Washington, D.C.)</span> United States historic place

Downtown is the central business district of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. It is the fourth largest central business district in the United States. The "Traditional Downtown" has been defined as an area roughly between Union Station in the east and 16th Street NW in the west, and between the National Mall on the south and Massachusetts Avenue on the north, including Penn Quarter. However, nowadays, Downtown D.C. usually refers to a larger area, as the DC Office of Planning states:

…most residents, workers, and visitors think of Downtown in a broader sense — including areas as far north as Dupont Circle, as far west as Foggy Bottom, and as far east as Capitol Hill. Only about half of the central city workforce is located within the city’s traditional Downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadrants of Washington, D.C.</span> Geographical quadrant

Washington, D.C., is administratively divided into four geographical quadrants of unequal size, each delineated by their ordinal directions from the medallion located in the Crypt under the Rotunda of the Capitol. Street and number addressing, centered on the Capitol, radiates out into each of the quadrants, producing a number of intersections of identically named cross-streets in each quadrant. Originally, the District of Columbia was a near-perfect square. However, even then the Capitol was never located at the geographic center of the territory. As a result, the quadrants are of greatly varying size. Northwest is quite large, encompassing over a third of the city's geographical area, while Southwest is little more than a neighborhood and military base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P Street</span> Street in Washington, D.C., United States

P Street refers to four different streets within the city of Washington, D.C. The streets were named by President George Washington 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Avenue (Washington, D.C.)</span>

Western Avenue is one of three boundary streets between Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland. It follows a southwest-to-northeast line, beginning at Westmoreland Circle in the south and ending at Oregon Avenue NW in the north. It is roughly 3.5 miles (5.6 km) in length. First proposed in 1893, it was constructed somewhat fitfully from about 1900 to 1931.

Holmead's Burying Ground, also known as Holmead's Cemetery and the Western Burial Ground, was a historic 2.94-acre (11,900 m2) cemetery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was founded by Anthony Holmead in 1794 as a privately owned secular cemetery open to the public. The city of Washington, D.C., constructed the Western Burial Ground on the remainder of the city block in 1798, and the two burial grounds became synonymous. The city took ownership of the private Holmead cemetery in 1820. The unified cemetery went into steep decline around 1850, and it was closed on March 6, 1874. Removal of remains, most of which were reinterred at Graceland Cemetery or Rock Creek Cemetery, continued until 1885.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Virginia Avenue</span>

West Virginia Avenue is an avenue in Washington, DC running from K Street NE to New York Avenue NE. It was named after the State of West Virginia which entered the Union in 1863.

References

  1. ↑ Evelyn, Dickson & Ackerman 2008, p. 8.
  2. ↑ Hagner 1904, p. 257.
  3. ↑ Hawkins 1991, p. 16.
  4. ↑ Bednar 2006, p. 15.
  5. ↑ Gutheim & Lee 2006, p. 15.
  6. ↑ Council of the City of Washington 1818, p. 28.
  7. ↑ Council of the City of Washington 1829, p. 7.
  8. ↑ "Laws Passed by the Sixty-Seventh Council of Washington City, D.C.". The Evening Star. September 17, 1869. p. 1.
  9. ↑ Hansen 2014, p. 28.
  10. ↑ "Boundary Street No longer; it Will Be Known as Florida Avenue in the Future". The Washington Post. January 15, 1890. p. 8.
  11. ↑ Bolles, F.G. (January 14, 1893). "The Rock Creek Railway". The Electrical World. 22 (2): 23–26 – via HathiTrust.
  12. ↑ Tindall, Dr. William (1918). Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.: Beginning of Street Railways in the National Capital. Charlottesville, VA: Columbia Historical Society. pp. 24–118.
  13. ↑ Matthew Sampson and Dave Alpert (2019-06-24). "DC is starting temporary fixes to dangerous Florida Avenue NE". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  14. ↑ District Department of Transportation. "Florida Avenue NE Multimodal Transportation Project". District Department of Transportation . Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  15. ↑ Neibauer, Michael (September 29, 2014). "New Gateway to H Street NE? Mixed-Use Building Proposed for Site Next to Starburst Intersection". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  16. ↑ Brown & Dickey 2008, p. 211.
  17. ↑ Wang et al. 2007, p. 293.
  18. ↑ Whitman 2007, p. 60.
  19. ↑ DeFerrari 2013, p. 112.
  20. ↑ Kaplan, Sarah. "Florida Avenue Grill celebrates 70 years as a soul food favorite, now with vegan options". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  21. ↑ Kelly 1984, pp. 98–99.
  22. ↑ Pippenger 2004, pp. 341–342.
  23. ↑ Blaney, Lippert & Smith 2013, p. 171.
  24. ↑ "Councilmember McDuffie Requests Funds to Seize the Wendy's in the Middle of 'Dave Thomas Circle' | DCist". Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-05.

Bibliography

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