 Aerial photograph of Dupont Circle. Dupont Circle is a traffic circle in the northwest quadrant of Washington, DC, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue, P Street and 19th Street. Dupont Circle also gives its name to the surrounding neighborhood, which is bounded approximately by 15th Street to the east, 22nd Street to the west, M Street to the south, and Florida Avenue to the north.
Construction of the traffic circle, originally called Pacific Circle, began in 1871. In 1882, Congress authorized a memorial statue of Samuel Francis du Pont in recognition of his service as a rear admiral during the Civil War. A bronze statue was erected in 1884 in a park at the center of the circle. The Dupont family moved the sculpture to Wilmington, Delaware in 1920, and commissioned the current double-tiered, white marble fountain from sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon (the co-creators of the Lincoln Memorial). The fountain was installed in 1921. Three classical nude figures symbolizing the sea, the stars and the wind are carved on the fountain's central shaft.
The park within the circle is a common gathering place for those wishing to play chess on the permanent stone chessboards or to relax on the grass during warmer months. It has also frequently been the location of political rallies, especially those supporting gay rights and protesting the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
Dupont Circle has a subway stop on the Washington Metro's Red Line, with entrances north (20th & Q) and south (19th & Dupont Circle) of the circle.
Dupont Circle neighborhood
The neighborhood, whose name is often abbreviated to 'Dupont,' is one of the more popular—and expensive—areas of D.C.
The area was a rural backwater until after the Civil War, when it first became a fashionable residential neighborhood. Some of Washington's wealthiest residents constructed houses here in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early 20th century, leaving a legacy of two types of housing in the historic district. Many of the grid streets are lined with three- and four-story rowhouses built primarily before the end of the 19th century, many of which are variations on the Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque Revival styles. Rarer are the palatial mansions and large freestanding houses that line the broad, tree-lined diagonal avenues that intersect the circle. Many of these larger dwellings were built in the styles popular between 1895 and 1910.
One such grand residence is the marble and terra-cotta Patterson House at 15 Dupont Circle (currently the Washington Club). Built in 1901 by New York architect Stanford White, the edifice served as temporary quarters for President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge in 1927 while the White House underwent renovation. The Coolidges welcomed Charles Lindbergh as a houseguest after his historic transatlantic flight. Lindbergh made several public appearances at the house, waving to roaring crowds from the second-story balcony.
The area's fortunes declined somewhat in the 1960s and 70s, but began a slow and steady resurgence in the 1980s. The neighborhood took on a bohemian feel and became a gay area (nicknamed by some the "Fruit Loop"). Gentrification accelerated in the late 1990s, and the area is now a trendy location with coffee houses, bars (gay and straight), and upscale retail stores. Notable stores include a 24-hour bookstore and restaurant, Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe & Grill; and D.C.'s first gay bookstore, Lambda Rising.
The Dupont Circle neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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