Pennsylvania Avenue

An illustration of Pennsylvania Avenue and the U.S. Capitol before it was burned down by the British on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812

The intersection of 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., in 1921

A southeast view down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Old Post Office Pavilion and U.S. Capitol

Although Pennsylvania Avenue extends six miles (10 km) in Washington, D.C., the expanse between the White House and the United States Capitol constitutes the ceremonial heart of the nation. George Washington called this stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue "most magnificent and most convenient".[4]

The first reference to the street as Pennsylvania Avenue was in a 1791 letter from Thomas Jefferson. One theory behind the avenue's name is that it was named for Pennsylvania as consolation for moving the capital from Philadelphia in 1800 and in recognition of Pennsylvania's historical significance in the nation's founding.[5] Both Jefferson and Washington considered Pennsylvania Avenue an important feature of the new capital. After inspecting L'Enfant's plan, President Washington referred to the thoroughfare as a "grand avenue". Jefferson concurred, and while the "grand avenue" was little more than a wide dirt road ridiculed as "The Great Serbonian Bog", he planted it with rows of fast-growing Lombardy poplars.

Pennsylvania Avenue was designed by Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, and it was one of the earliest streets constructed in the city.

In 1832, in an effort to tame dust and dirt on Pennsylvania Avenue, it was paved using the macadam method. But over the years, other pavement methods were trialed on the avenue: cobblestones in 1849 followed by Belgian blocks and then, in 1871, wooden blocks.

In 1876, as part of an initiative begun by President Ulysses S. Grant to see Washington City's streets improved, Pennsylvania Avenue was paved with asphalt by Civil War veteran William Averell[6] using Trinidad and Guanoco lakes asphalt.[7]

In the early 1900s, the French ambassador to the U.S., Jean Jules Jusserand, popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant".[8]

Pennsylvania Avenue once provided an unobstructed view between the White House and the Capitol. The construction of an expansion to the Treasury Building blocked this view, and supposedly President Andrew Jackson did this on purpose. Relations between the president and Congress were strained, and Jackson did not want to see the Capitol out his window,[9] though in reality the Treasury Building was simply built on what was cheap government land.

In 1959, Pennsylvania Avenue was extended from the Washington, D.C. border with Maryland to Dower House Road in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.[10]

On September 30, 1965, portions of the avenue and surrounding area were designated the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. The National Park Service administers this area which includes the United States Navy Memorial, Old Post Office Tower, and Pershing Park.[5] After the Great Depression in the 1930s and the move of affluent families to suburbs in the 1950s, Pennsylvania Avenue became increasingly blighted. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson tried to redevelop the street as part of the New Frontier and Great Society reforms, but the avenue further declined after the 1968 Washington, D.C., riots in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[11]

In 1972, Congress created the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC) to rehabilitate the street between the Capitol and the White House, an area seen as blighted. The new organization was given the mandate of developing Pennsylvania Avenue "in a manner suitable to its ceremonial, physical, and historic relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the federal government".[5]

In the 1980s, renovations were made to the Willard Hotel, the Old Post Office, and Washington Union Station, each located on or adjacent to Pennsylvania Avenue.[11]

In 2010, the District of Columbia designated Pennsylvania Avenue from the southwestern terminus of John Philip Sousa Bridge to the Maryland state line to be a "D.C. Great Street". The city spent $430 million to beautify the street and improve the roadway.[12]

Ever since an impromptu procession formed around Jefferson's second inauguration, every U.S. president except Ronald Reagan in his second inauguration in January 1985 has paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue after taking the oath of office. Reagan paraded up the avenue for his first inauguration in January 1981 but not following his second inauguration in 1985 because freezing temperatures and high winds made it dangerous.

From William Henry Harrison to Gerald Ford, the funeral corteges of seven of the eight presidents who died in office and two former presidents followed this route. Franklin Roosevelt was the only president who died in office whose cortege did not follow this route.

Abraham Lincoln's funeral cortege solemnly proceeded along Pennsylvania Avenue in 1865; only weeks later, the end of the American Civil War was celebrated with the Grand Review of the Armies when the Army of the Potomac paraded more joyously along the avenue. The funeral processions of both Lyndon B. Johnson and Ford funeral corteges proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue. For Lyndon Johnson, the cortege was along Pennsylvania Avenue from U.S. Capitol to National City Christian Church, where he often worshiped and where his funeral was held. Ford's funeral went up Pennsylvania Avenue, pausing at the White House en route to Washington National Cathedral, where his funeral was held.

In addition to serving as a location for official functions, Pennsylvania Avenue is a traditional parade and protest route of ordinary citizens. During the depression of the 1890s, Jacob Coxey marched 500 supporters down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol to demand federal aid for the unemployed. Similarly, on the eve of Woodrow Wilson's 1913 inauguration, Alice Paul masterminded a parade, the Woman Suffrage Procession, highlighting the women's suffrage movement. In July 1932, a contingent of the Bonus Expeditionary Force carried flags up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where they formed picket lines.

Pennsylvania Avenue also has served as a background for more lighthearted celebrations, including a series of Shriner's parades in the 1920s and 1930s. Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto are the founders of the White House Peace Vigil, the longest-running anti-nuclear peace vigil in the nation at Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.[13][14]

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Secret Service closed the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to all vehicular traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic, however, was still permitted on the sidewalk. After the September 11 attacks, all traffic in front of the White House was prohibited, and traffic near the White House is redirected to H Street or Constitution Avenue, both of which eventually link back with Pennsylvania Avenue.

In 2002, the National Capital Planning Commission invited several prominent landscape architects to submit proposals for the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, with the intention that the security measures would be woven into an overall plan for the precinct and a more welcoming public space might be created. The winning entry by a firm run by Michael Van Valkenburgh proposed a very simple approach to planting, paving, and the integration of required security steps. Construction was completed in 2004.[15]

The following Metrobus routes travel along the street (listed from west to east):

• 30N (Branch Ave. SE to Independence Ave. SE, then 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then H St. N.W. to M St. N.W.)
• 30S (Minnesota Ave. SE to Independence Ave. SE, then 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then H St. N.W. to M St. N.W.)
• 38B (Eye St. N.W. to M St. N.W.)
• 33 (9th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then H St. N.W. to M St. N.W.)
• 31, D5 (Washington Circle to M St. N.W.)
• 36 (Branch Ave. SE to Independence Ave. SE, then 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then H St. N.W. to Washington Circle)
• 32 (Minnesota Ave. SE to Independence Ave. SE, then 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then H St. N.W. to Washington Circle)
• 39 (Limited stop service from Southern Ave. to Independence Ave., then 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W., then Eye St. N.W. to Washington Circle)
• 37 (Limited stop service from 7th St. N.W. to 15th St. N.W.)
• 16C (6th St. N.W. to 12th St. N.W.)
• P6 (4th St. N.W. to 11th St. N.W.)
• 34 (Minnesota Ave. SE to Independence Ave. SE)
• M6 (Alabama Ave. SE to Potomac Ave. SE)
• B2, V4 (Minnesota Ave. SE to Potomac Ave. SE)
• V12 (Brooks Dr. to Shadyside Ave.)
• K12 (Forestville Rd. to Parkland Dr., then Walters La. to Donnell Dr.)
• J12 (Eastbound only from Forestville Rd. to Old Marlboro Pike)

The DC Circulator travels along the street:

• Georgetown-Union Station (20th St. N.W. to M St. N.W.)

The following MTA Maryland Commuter Bus routes travel along the street:

• 904 (Anacostia Freeway to Independence Ave., then 7th St. NW to 11th St. NW)
• 905 (7th St. N.W. to 11th St. N.W.)

The following routes of TheBus serve Pennsylvania Ave. in Prince George's County:

• 24 (Old Silver Hill Rd. to Brooks Dr.)
• 20 (Marlboro Pike to Donnell Dr.)

The following Washington Metro stations have entrances located near Pennsylvania Avenue:

• Potomac Avenue, Eastern Market, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom–GWU
    Blue Line
    Orange Line
    Silver Line
• Archives
    Green Line
    Yellow Line