Dupont Circle Citizens Assoc   

1616 Riggs Pl NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-265-3222
www.dcheritage.org/information2550/information.htm?area=2522

Directions   Email   Send to Cell  

Dupont Circle is four neighborhoods mapped on top of one another. In the 19th century it was a tony residential neighborhood, and the residue of that era lingers in the district's historic designation and in the massive old houses scattered around the area (most now converted to office buildings and exclusive clubs). Located at the conjunction of three busy avenues and at the top of the downtown area, the Circle sees a daily influx of commuters headed for jobs in the businesses and nonprofit institutions that fill the neighborhood. Unlike some of DC's downtown areas, though, the Dupont area remains lively at night and is home to dozens of bars and restaurants as well as town houses and apartment buildings. Finally, Dupont Circle is the center of DC's gay community. The neighborhood has a large gay population and boasts a number of gay bars and bookstores. The Circle itself is named in honor of Civil War hero Samuel Dupont, but the statue bearing his likeness was long ago replaced with the marble fountain in the center of the circle. DC's circles were planned as little parks and plazas in an era that didn't anticipate the motorized traffic now aggressively zooming around them at a pace that wracks the nerves of out-of-town drivers. As a result of the ring of cars, many circles are underused -- who wants to defy death dashing across the traffic only in order to sit on a bench in the middle of it? Dupont Circle is the exception to this rule. Thanks to the installation of traffic lights, the Circle's easier to access than most; it's also large and has attractive features: plenty of benches, shade trees, the fountain, and built-in chess tables. The crowd in the Circle proper is an eclectic lot: businesspeople lunching in nice weather, older people sitting in the sun, couples on the benches or under the trees, homeless people, groups of men playing on the gameboards, bicycle couriers hanging out and waiting for dispatcher calls. -- Gwendolyn Bradley