Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)

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Massachusetts Avenue, colloquially abbreviated Mass. Ave., is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington, D.C. Appearing in Pierre L'Enfant's original plan, it is the longest thoroughfare in the capital, crossing three of its four quadrants. It intersects every major north-south street and passes numerous Washington landmarks. Indeed, it is a landmark itself, long considered the northern boundary of the downtown as well as home of Washington's Embassy Row.

Massachusetts Avenue is tied with Pennsylvania Avenue as the widest road in the District, at 160 feet (48.8 m). The two roads are sisters of a sort. They run in parallel through much of the city, Massachusetts about seven blocks north of Pennsylvania. Mass. Ave. was long Washington's premier residential street, as Pennsylvania was once its most sought-after business address. Both are named after states with prominent roles in the American Revolution.

[edit] History

Residential development along Massachusetts Avenue began in earnest in the 1870s, mostly around the circles west of 9th Street NW. These brick and brownstone structures reflected the Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Château styles in vogue at the time. Later, luxurious Georgian revival and Beaux-Arts mansions inhabited by wealthy and influential Washingtonians sprouted along the boulevard. The section between Sheridan Circle and Scott Circle became known as "Millionaires' Row."

The Great Depression forced many to relinquish their homes on Millionaires' Row. After World War II, Massachusetts Avenue was seen as less fashionable than newer areas such as upper 16th Street. Many residences were sold and demolished to make way for office building construction, particularly around Dupont Circle and to its east. Many others, however, survived as embassies and society houses; the former Millionaires' Row is today well-known as Embassy Row.

Several overlapping historic districts have been created to preserve the character of the remaining neighborhoods. The Massachusetts Avenue Historic District encompasses all buildings which front the road between 17th Street and Observatory Circle NW.

[edit] Course

The main section of Massachusetts Avenue begins at 19th Street Southeast, just to the west of the former D.C. General Hospital site near the D.C. Jail, one block north of Congressional Cemetery. At elevation with respect to the hospital, it commands a view of the Anacostia River. It proceeds in a northwesterly direction crosstown. At Lincoln Park it crosses into Northeast DC, into the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and converges briefly with Columbus Circle as it curves around Union Station before crossing into Northwest DC.

It intersects with Interstate 395 at H Street NW, and passes over Mount Vernon Square, site of the City Museum, in front of the Washington Convention Center. It passes through an underpass below Thomas Circle at 14th and M Streets NW, then around Scott Circle at 16th and N, also at which Embassy Row is sometimes reckoned to begin.

Mass. Ave. passes through the inner ring of Dupont Circle then curves north at Sheridan Circle, paralleling Rock Creek (Potomac River) to Belmont Road NW. On the other side it curves around the U.S. Naval Observatory, home of the official residence of the Vice President of the United States, also forming the southwest boundary of the Massachusetts Heights neighborhood. The Washington National Cathedral is situated at its intersection with Wisconsin Avenue, usually considered the end of Embassy Row.

At Ward Circle it delineates the American University Park neighborhood from Spring Valley, passing to north of American University. It crosses the Washington-Montgomery County, Maryland border at Westmoreland Circle. In Maryland it continues signed as State Highway 396, meandering through residential sections of Bethesda until terminating at Goldsboro Road (Maryland State Highway 614).

Another section of Massachusetts Avenue, discontinuous from the one described above, lies on the other side of the Anacostia River. That section extends from 30th Street, S.E., near District of Columbia Route 295, to Southern Avenue, S.E. at the border between the District of Columbia and Prince George's County, Maryland.

Other notable institutions located on Massachusetts Avenue include the Postal Square Building which houses the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Postal Museum, the Heritage Foundation, the Georgetown University Law Center, the Islamic Center of Washington, the Cato Institute, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the Brookings Institution, the Peterson Institute, St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Numerous embassies and residences are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation itself makes its home on Mass. Ave.

[edit] External links

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