Planned by the original city architect
Pierre L’Enfant, Dupont Circle (originally Pacific
Circle until 1871) is a fashionable district bounded by
16th Street to the east, Rock Creek to the west, K Street
to the south, and Florida Avenue to the north. The neighborhood
is dedicated to Samuel Francis Dupont in recognition of
his service as a rear admiral in the Civil War.
During the 1870s and 1880s mansions
were built along Massachusetts Avenue and surrounding
streets. By the 1920s Connecticut Avenue became more commercial,
with foreign embassies taking residence among the area’s
grand homes.
Even though the neighborhood began to
decline after World War II and the 1968 riots, it encountered
resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as the nexus of Washington’s
gay and lesbian community.
Trendy restaurants, boutiques, and coffee
shops populate the retail strip facing Connecticut Avenue.
And since 1997, a farmer’s market has operated along
20th Street on the northwest corner of The Circle. Embassies
remain an elegant fixture along Massachusetts Avenue.
Homeowners in Dupont Circle enjoy enviable
proximity to the best of urban conveniences: Metro stations,
grocers, a short walk to DCs business district, recreational
opportunities in Rock Creek Park, galleries, shops, and
restaurants. A short walking distance to Georgetown, Logan
Circle, Adams Morgan, and U Street make this an ideal
location for Washington’s hippest urban dwellers.
