Thomas Circle

Thomas Circle
John Russell Pope's National City Christian Church stands in the northwest corner of Thomas Circle
Location
Logan Circle, Northwest, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°54′20″N 77°01′55″W / 38.90566°N 77.03196°W
Roads at junction	Massachusetts Avenue NW, Vermont Avenue NW, 14th Street NW, and M Street NW
Construction
Type	Traffic circle
Maintained by	DDOT

Thomas Circle is a traffic circle in Northwest Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Vermont Avenue NW, 14th Street NW, and M Street NW.^[1] It is named for George Henry Thomas, a Union Army general in the American Civil War.

History

Thomas Circle was constructed as a traffic circle as part of the original L'Enfant Plan for the District of Columbia. The circle was named for American Civil War General George Henry Thomas.^[2]

A horse-drawn railway installed around the Circle in the mid-1860s led to development to the north. Paved roads and sewers soon followed, and the area quickly attracted wealthy residents. Luther Place Memorial Church was built in 1874.^[3]

In December 1938, construction began on a $680,000 tunnel that would allow Massachusetts Avenue's through-traffic to pass under the circle.^[4] This underpass opened on March 14, 1940.^[5] North-south running through-traffic lanes cutting through the center of the circle were added to improve traffic flow.

In October 2006, the D.C. Department of Transportation completed a 2.5-year, $6 million reconstruction of the Thomas Circle. The project included the addition of bike lanes, pedestrian crosswalks mid-circle (which hadn't previously existed), new in-circle traffic lights, better street lighting, and new sidewalks and landscaping. The biggest change, however, came with the elimination of the 14th Street through-lanes. The circle was restored to its original design according to the L'Enfant Plan, which allowed for a larger landscaped area inside the circle.^[6] The rehabilitation of Thomas Circle won an Honorable Mention in the "Historic Preservation" category of the Federal Highway Administration's Excellence in Highway Design awards for 2006.^[7]

As of the start of the 21st century, Thomas Circle is adjacent to the southern boundary of the Greater 14th Street and Logan Circle Historic District.^[8] The circle marks the boundary between "downtown 14th Street" and the "uptown 14th Street",^[1] the latter of which is a rapidly gentrifying gay neighborhood within the city.^[8] D.C. city officials now consider Thomas Circle to be a "gateway" to the Logan Circle, Shaw, and U Street Corridor neighborhoods.^[9]

In April 2014, Thomas Circle became the eastern terminus of the M Street Cycle Track. This 1.4 miles (2.3 km), west-bound only bicycling lane extends to 28th Street NW.^[10]

Statue

A statue of General George Henry Thomas by John Quincy Adams Ward was erected in Thomas Circle in 1879.

Gallery

• 

  Thomas Circle, ca. 1922

• 

  The equestrian bronze of Major General George Henry Thomas in its urban context

See also

• List of circles in Washington, D.C.
• The Wylie Mansion

References

Bibliography

• District of Columbia Department of Transportation (June 2008). Washington D.C., Multi-Modal Transportation and Streetscape Design Study (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: District of Columbia Department of Transportation.
• Ford, Elise Hartman (2006). Night and Day D.C. San Francisco: Pulse Guides. ISBN 9780976601340.

External links

• DCmemorials.com