Logan Circle
Neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Clockwise from the top: aerial view of Logan Circle; Le Diplomate;Luther Place Church; historic homes on Logan Circle;14th Street.
Coordinates:38°54′35″N77°01′47″W / 38.909644°N 77.029647°W /38.909644; -77.029647
Country	United States
District	Washington, D.C.
Quadrant	Northwest
Ward	2
Government
• Councilmember	Brooke Pinto
Area
• Total	.22 sq mi (0.57 km2)
	combined area of census tracts 50.03, 50.04, 52.02, and 52.03[1]
Population  (2020)
• Total	14,403
• Density	64,878/sq mi (25,050/km2)
	combined populations of census tracts 50.03, 50.04, 52.02, and 52.03
Postal code	ZIP code

Logan Circle is a historicroundabout park andneighborhood ofWashington, D.C., located inNorthwest D.C.^[2][3] The majority of Logan Circle is primarily residential, except for the highly-commercialized14th Street corridor that passes through the western part of the neighborhood. In the 21st century, Logan Circle has been the focus of urban redevelopment and become one of Washington's most expensive neighborhoods.^[4][5][6][7] Logan Circle is also one of the city's most prominentgay neighborhoods.^[8][9]

Logan Circle includes two historic districts, as well as numerous sites listed on theNational Register of Historic Places or as D.C. Historic Landmarks.^[3][10][11] The circle's origins date to the 1870's, when the area was developed as a residential neighborhood to serve Washington's growingbourgeoisie. In 1901, PresidentWilliam McKinley inaugurated theGeneral Logan equestrian statue at the center of the circle's park. In 1930, the U.S. Congress officially named the circle in honor of Union GeneralJohn A. Logan.

Historically, Logan Circle occupies a site that was part ofPierre L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for Washington. However, the space was originally envisioned as a large triangular plaza—significantly bigger and differently shaped than the circular form we see today.

During theCivil War, present-day Logan Circle was home toCamp Barker, formerbarracks converted into arefugee camp for newly freedenslaved people from nearbyVirginia andMaryland.^[12] In the 1870s, streets,elm trees, and other amenities were installed by Washington MayorAlexander Robey Shepherd, who encouraged the development of the area.Streetcar tracks were laid into what was then a very swampy area north ofdowntown Washington, to encourage development of the originalWashington City Plan. As a result, the area saw development of successive blocks ofVictorian row houses marketed to the upper middle class, which sought to give Washington the reputation, modeled afterEuropean capitals, of a city of broadboulevards and well-manicured parks. Many of the larger and more ornate homes came withcarriage houses and attachedservant's quarters, which were later converted to apartments and rooming houses as the upper middle class moved elsewhere.

Originally known asIowa Circle, the park was renamed by Congress in 1930 in honor ofJohn A. Logan,^[13] Commander of theArmy of the Tennessee during the Civil War, Commander of theGrand Army of the Republic, and U.S. representative and senator for the state ofIllinois, who lived at 4 Logan Circle.^[14] At the center of the circle standsMajor General John A. Logan, anequestrian statue of Logan sculpted byFranklin Simmons and a bronze statue base designed by architectRichard Morris Hunt. On April 9, 1901, the 25-foot monument was dedicated by PresidentWilliam McKinley, SenatorChauncey Depew, and GeneralGrenville M. Dodge.^[3][14][15]

In the early 20th century,14th Street NW rose to prominence as a main shopping district for both black and white Washingtonians on the edge ofdowntown Washington D.C., and became known as an area for auto showrooms. Farther north, "14th and U" became synonymous with a large African-American community, later known asShaw, which encompassed parts of Logan Circle andU Street to the north. Segregation marked the emergence of this large area of well-preserved Victorian row houses as a predominantly African-American community; the unofficial dividing line was16th Street NW, several blocks to the west, with Logan Circle and its older homes sandwiched in between.

During this period, the original Victorian homes in the area were subdivided into apartments, hostels, and rooming houses. With the end of legal segregation, middle-class residents of both races left the area. Many left after the destructive1968 Washington, D.C. riots following the assassination ofMartin Luther King Jr. These devastated the 14th and U streets commercial corridors.

In 1956, the three inner lanes of 13th Street were paved across Logan Circle to speed the influx of suburban workers into DC. In 1980, to encourage more people to useMetro, the inner lanes across Logan Circle were closed. Later they were removed and the park restored.^[16]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Logan Circle, although dominated by Victorian homes that had survived mostly untouched by redevelopment or riots, was considered an unsafe neighborhood by many due to overtdrug use andprostitution that existed in the neighborhood.^[17][18] During this period, property values in the area began to increase, but issues of homelessness in the area came to the forefront. Fourteenth Street, NW became widely viewed as Washington'sred light district. It also became an area for small, independent theater companies that acquired relatively cheap space north of the circle.

During the 2000s, the areagentrified and housing costs sharply increased after derelict buildings were torn down or remodeled.^[2] The commercial corridors along14th and P streets attracted significantrevitalization. They now feature a variety ofretailers, restaurants,art galleries, livetheater, andnightlife venuegay bars catering to the neighborhood's boomingLGBT population.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

A watershed event in the development of the neighborhood was the opening of aWhole Foods Market two blocks from Logan Circle in December 2000. No full grocery store was in the area. It was developed on a site previously occupied by an abandonedservicegarage; it is now one of the chain's highest-grossing markets.^[2][17][20] Gentrification in Logan Circle has resulted in a dramatic change of neighborhooddemographics; since the 1990s, thousands ofWhite youngLGBT andhipster adults have moved into the neighborhood, while thousands ofBlack families have moved out because of rising prices.^[24]

Logan Circle Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Row houses on the northeast corner of Logan Circle, including the former residence (corner building) of writerAmbrose Bierce
Location	Junction of 13th Street, P Street,Rhode Island Avenue, and Vermont Avenue,NW
Coordinates	38°54′35″N77°1′49″W / 38.90972°N 77.03028°W /38.90972; -77.03028
Area	18 acres (7.3 ha)
Architectural style	Second Empire,Italianate,Richardsonian Romanesque,Queen Anne
NRHP reference No.	72001426[25]
Added to NRHP	June 30, 1972

The Logan Circle Historic District is an eight-block area surrounding the circle, containing 135 late-19th-century residences designed predominantly in theLate Victorian andRichardsonian Romanesque styles of architecture. The district was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on June 30, 1972.^[3][11]

Theformer home ofMary McLeod Bethune, anAfrican American educator, author, andcivil rights leader who founded theNational Council of Negro Women, is located at 1318 Vermont Avenue NW, one block south of the circle. TheSecond Empire-style building is a designatedNational Historic Site and houses the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Museum and the National Archives for Black Women's History.^[26][27]

In addition to the Logan Circle Historic District, the neighborhood includes the much largerFourteenth Street Historic District, added to theNRHP in 1994.^[11] The district's approximately 765contributing properties are considered historically significant because they represent residential and commercial development resulting from one of the earlieststreetcar lines in Washington, D.C., theCapital Traction Company's 14th Street line, built in the 1880s.^[10][11][28]

The oldesthouse of worship in the Fourteenth Street Historic District isLuther Place Memorial Church, built 1870–1873, an ELCA Lutheran church situated on the north side ofThomas Circle. Originally known as Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington, D.C., the building was renamed in 1884 after a bronze statue ofMartin Luther was installed on the church's property. Luther Place Memorial Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1973.^[10][29]

TheGladstone and Hawarden, designed by architectGeorge S. Cooper in 1900, are early examples of Washington'smiddle class apartment houses. Named forU.K. Prime MinisterWilliam Gladstone and his estateHawarden Castle, they are the first documented twinapartment buildings in Washington, D.C. The Gladstone and Hawarden were added to theNRHP on September 7, 1994.^[11][30]

The District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites includes several properties in Logan Circle that are not listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Among them are the former residences of:Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace, flamboyant founder of theUnited House of Prayer For All People; John A. Lankford, the first African American architect in Washington, D.C.;Belford Lawson Jr., lead attorney in thelandmark caseNew Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co.;Alain LeRoy Locke, the first African AmericanRhodes Scholar and central figure in theHarlem Renaissance;Mary Jane Patterson, the first African American woman to earn abachelor's degree; Ella Watson, subject ofGordon Parks's famous photographAmerican Gothic, Washington, D.C.; andJames Lesesne Wells, notedgraphic artist and longtime art instructor atHoward University.^{[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]}

The Victorian building on the north side of the park, 15 Logan Circle, was built for military officer and diplomatSeth Ledyard Phelps and served as theKoreanlegation from 1889 to 1905. Following an extensive restoration project, the building now serves as theOld Korean Legation Museum.^[43]

The Iowa, designed byThomas Franklin Schneider in 1901, was the birthplace ofanthropologistJulian Steward.^[44]

• 
  Grace Reformed Church
• 
  Ulysses Grant House
• 
  Church of the Ascension
• 
  Vermont Avenue
• 
  Old Korean Legation Museum
• 
  Mt. Gilead Church

The Logan Circle neighborhood is bordered:^[45][46]

• on the north by T Street NW and theU Street Corridor (a.k.a. Cardozo/Shaw);
• on the east by 12th Street NW and theShaw neighborhood:
• on the south byMassachusetts Avenue or M Street NW^[45] andDowntown D.C.
• on the west by16th Street NW and theDupont Circle neighborhood

The traffic circle is the intersection of 13th Street, P Street,Rhode Island Avenue, and Vermont Avenue. TheNational Park Service maintains the land located within the traffic circle, a park measuring 360 feet (110 m) in diameter, furnished with wooden benches, decorativelampposts, an iron fence, and concrete sidewalks.^[31]

The racial composition of the neighborhood is in flux, paralleling its gentrification, with the Black population decreasing from around one quarter to around one tenth of the population (2010 to 2020), while the non-Hispanic White proportion increased by around a fifth, going from around 59% to around 70% of the neighborhood's population during those ten years. The Asian population was up 9%,

Residents are served by theDistrict of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Garrison Elementary School in Logan Circle has a capacity of over 350 students. As of 2013^[update] the school had 228 students.^[57] Residents are zoned to Garrison,^[58] and toCardozo Education Campus.^[59]

Logan Circle is the setting forDinaw Mengestu'sThe Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, anovel about anEthiopian American struggling to start a new life in Washington, D.C.^[60]

Gil Scott-Heron's 1974 song "The Bottle" describes the lives of the alcoholics living in the area.^[61]

• Equestrian Monument of General John A. Logan

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLogan Circle.

• Logan Circle Community Association
• Logan Circle Main Street
• ANC2F - Logan Circle'sAdvisory Neighborhood Commission

• Gay villages in Washington, D.C.
• Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
• Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.)
• Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.)
• Squares, plazas, and circles in Washington, D.C.
• LGBTQ culture in Washington, D.C.
• 1870s establishments in Washington, D.C.

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