Dupont Circle
Neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Clockwise from the top:Dupont Circle Fountain;Connecticut Avenue; historic Riggs Ntl. Bank;St. Matthew's Cathedral; Patterson Mansion.
Interactive map of Dupont Circle
Country	United States
District	Washington, D.C.
Quadrant	Northwest
Ward	2
Government
• Councilmember	Brooke Pinto
Postal code	ZIP code

Dupont Circle Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
An aerial of the Dupont Circle Historic District
Location	Roughly bounded by Rhode Island Avenue, NW; M and N Sts., NW, on the south; Florida Avenue, NW, on the west; Swann St., NW, on the north; and the 16th Street Historic District on the east[1]
Coordinates	38°54′34″N77°02′36″W / 38.90944°N 77.04333°W /38.90944; -77.04333
Area	170 acres (69 ha)
Architect	Mead McKim & White; Carrere & Hastings
Architectural style	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Queen Anne, Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	78003056 (original) 85000238 (increase 1) 05000539 (increase 2)
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 21, 1978
Boundary increases	February 6, 1985 June 10, 2005

Dupont Circle is a historicroundabout park andneighborhood ofWashington, D.C., located inNorthwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW to the west,M Street NW to the south, andFlorida Avenue NW to the north. Much of the neighborhood is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. However, the local governmentAdvisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 2B) and the Dupont Circle Historic District have slightly different boundaries.^[1]

The traffic circle is located at the intersection ofMassachusetts Avenue NW,Connecticut Avenue NW,New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW. The circle is named for Rear AdmiralSamuel Francis Du Pont. The traffic circle contains theDupont Circle Fountain in its center.

The neighborhood is known for its high concentration ofembassies, many located onEmbassy Row, andthink tanks, many located onThink Tank Row.

Dupont Circle is located in the "Old City" ofWashington, D.C., the area planned by architectPierre Charles L'Enfant that remained largely undeveloped until after theAmerican Civil War, when there was a large influx of new residents. Based on the originalL'Enfant plan, the area occupied by the circle was intended to be rectangular in shape, similar toFarragut Square. Dupont Circle was once home to a brickyard and slaughterhouse.^[2][3] There also was a creek, Slash Run, that began near 15th Street NW and Columbia Road NW, ran from 16th Street nearAdams Morgan, throughKalorama and within a block of Dupont Circle, but the creek has since been enclosed in a sewer line.^[4][5] Improvements made in the 1870s by a board of public works headed byAlexander "Boss" Shepherd transformed the area into a fashionable residential neighborhood.^[6][7]

In 1871, theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the traffic circle, then called Pacific Circle, as specified inL'Enfant's plan. On February 25, 1882,Congress renamed it "Dupont Circle", and authorized a memorial statue ofSamuel Francis Du Pont, in recognition of his service as arear admiral during the Civil War.^[5] Unveiled on December 20, 1884, the statue was sculpted byLaunt Thompson,^[5] and the circle was landscaped with exotic flowers and ornamental trees. Several prominentduPont family members deemed it too insignificant to honor their ancestor, so they secured permission to move the statue toRockford Park inWilmington in 1917, and commissionedHenry Bacon andDaniel Chester French to design thefountain that sits in Dupont Circle today.^[8] In 1920, the current double-tiered white marble fountain replaced the statue.^[9] Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, the co-creators of theLincoln Memorial, designed the fountain, which features carvings of three classical figures symbolizing the sea, the stars and the wind on the fountain's shaft.^[1]

In 1876, the second house located directly in Dupont Circle was built by a wealthy merchant by the name of William M. Galt.^[11]

During the 1870s and 1880s, mansions were built along Massachusetts Avenue, one of Washington's grand avenues, and townhouses were built throughout the neighborhood. In 1872, the British built a new embassy on Connecticut Avenue, at N Street NW.^[12]Stewart's Castle was built in 1873 on the north side of the circle, theJames G. Blaine Mansion was built on the west side in 1882, and theLeiter House was built on the north side in 1893. By the 1920s,Connecticut Avenue was more commercial in character, with numerous shops. Some residences, including SenatorPhiletus Sawyer's mansion at Connecticut and R Street, were demolished to make way for office buildings and shops.^[13] The Patterson House, at 15 Dupont Circle, served as a temporary residence for PresidentCalvin Coolidge while the actual White House was being repaired in 1927.^[5] In 1933, theNational Park Service took over administering the circle, and added sandboxes for children, though these were removed a few years later.^[14]

Connecticut Avenue was widened in the late 1920s, and increased traffic in the neighborhood caused a great deal of congestion in the circle, making it difficult for pedestrians to get around. Medians were installed in 1948, in the circle, to separate the through traffic on Massachusetts Avenue from the local traffic, and traffic signals were added.^[14] In 1949, traffic tunnels^[15] and an undergroundstreetcar station were built under the circle byCapital Transit, the company produced by the consolidation of D.C.'s streetcar lines. The tunnels enabled trams and vehicles traveling along Connecticut Avenue to pass more quickly past the circle.^[16] When streetcar service ended in 1962, the entrances to the underground station were closed. The space has since been transformed and reopened as the Dupont Underground art space.^[17]

The neighborhood declined after World War II and particularly after the1968 riots, but began to enjoy a resurgence in the 1970s, fueled by urban pioneers seeking an alternative lifestyle. The neighborhood took on abohemian feel and becamepopular among the gay and lesbian community. Along withThe Castro in San Francisco,Hillcrest inSan Diego,Greenwich Village in New York City,Boystown inChicago,Oak Lawn inDallas,Montrose inHouston, andWest Hollywood in Los Angeles, Dupont Circle is considered a historic locale in the development of American gay identity. D.C.'s first gay bookstore,Lambda Rising, opened in 1974 and gained notoriety nationwide.^[18] In 1975, the store ran the world's first gay-oriented television commercial.^[19]

Gentrification accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, and the area is now a more mainstream and trendy location withcoffeehouses, restaurants, bars, fast casual food, and upscale retail stores. Since 1997, a weekly farmers market has operated on 20th Street NW.^[20]

The area'srowhouses, primarily built before 1900, feature variations on theQueen Anne andRichardsonian Romanesque revival styles. Rarer are the palatial mansions and large freestanding houses that line the broad, tree-lined diagonal avenues that intersect the circle. Many of these larger dwellings were built in the styles popular between 1895 and 1910.

One such grand residence is the marble and limestonePatterson Mansion at 15 Dupont Circle. ThisItalianate mansion, the only survivor of the many mansions that once ringed the circle, was built in 1901 byNew YorkarchitectStanford White forRobert Patterson, editor of theChicago Tribune, and his wife Nellie, heiress to theChicago Tribune fortune. Upon Mrs. Patterson's incapacitation in the early 1920s, the house passed into the hands of her daughter,Cissy Patterson, who made it a hub of Washington social life. The house served as temporary quarters forPresident and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge in 1927 while theWhite House underwent renovation. The Coolidges welcomedCharles Lindbergh as a houseguest after his historictransatlantic flight. Lindbergh made several public appearances at the house, waving to roaring crowds from the second-story balcony, and befriended the Patterson Family, with whom he increasingly came to shareisolationist and pro-German views. Cissy Patterson later acquired theWashington Times-Herald (sold toThe Washington Post in 1954) and declared journalistic warfare onFranklin D. Roosevelt from 15 Dupont Circle, continuing throughoutWorld War II to push her policies, which were echoed in theNew York Daily News, run by her brotherJoseph Medill Patterson, and theChicago Tribune, run by their first cousin, ColonelRobert R. McCormick.

Today's Dupont Circle includes theStrivers' Section, a small residential area west of 16th Street roughly between Swann Street and Florida Avenue. The Strivers' Section was an enclave of upper-middle-classAfrican Americans—often community leaders—in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The area includes a row of houses on 17th Street owned byFrederick Douglass and occupied by his son. It takes its name from a turn-of-the-century writer who described the district as "the Striver's section, a community of Negro aristocracy".

The area, which was once considered an overlap of the Dupont Circle andShaw neighborhoods, is today a historic district.^[21] Many of its buildings are the originalEdwardian-era residences, along with several apartment and condominium buildings and a few small businesses.

The neighborhood is centered around the traffic circle, which is divided between twocounterclockwise roads. The outer road serves all the intersecting streets, while access to the inner road is limited to through traffic on Massachusetts Avenue. Connecticut Avenue passes under the circle via a tunnel; vehicles on Connecticut Avenue can access the circle viaservice roads that branch from Connecticut near N Street and R Street.

The park within the circle is maintained by theNational Park Service. Thecentral fountain designed byDaniel Chester French provides seating, and long, curved benches around the central area were installed in 1964.^[14] The park within the circle is a gathering place for those wishing to playchess on the permanent stonechessboards.Tom Murphy, a homeless championship chess player, was a resident.^[22] The park has also been the location of political rallies, such as those supportinggay rights and those protesting the2003 invasion of Iraq, theWorld Bank, and theInternational Monetary Fund.

In 1999, Thelma Billy was arrested handing outThanksgiving dinner to the homeless.^[23][24][25]In 2009, atug of war was sponsored by theWashington Project for the Arts.^[26]

In 2014, the city proposed to turn an 850-square-foot (79 m²) concrete sidewalk on the south side of the traffic circle into a "kinetic park". Previously occupied by bike lockers, the parklet was repaved with 100PaveGen pavers, which generate electricity when people walk on them. Designers ZGF Architects said the project would rebuild the sidewalk and curbs and add seven granite benches, sixbollard bicycle racks, and two flower beds. The pavers were expected to "generate 456.25 kilowatts of energy [sic] annually", according toWashington Business Journal, and power lights under each bench.^[27][28] The $300,000 project opened in November 2016.^[29][30]

The Dupont Circle neighborhood is home to numerousembassies, many of which are located in historic residences. TheThomas T. Gaff House serves as theColombian ambassador's residence, and theWalsh-McLean House is home to theIndonesian embassy.^[31] Located east of Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue is theClarence Moore House, now serving as theEmbassy of Uzbekistan, and theEmily J. Wilkins House, which formerly housed theAustralian embassy and now is occupied by thePeruvian Chancery.^[31]Iraq operates a consular services office in the William J. Boardman House on P Street.^[32]

Other landmarks, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, include theInternational Temple,Embassy Gulf Service Station,Christian Heurich Mansion (also known as Brewmaster's Castle),Whittemore House (headquarters to theWoman's National Democratic Club), theBrigadier General George P. Scriven House (headquarters to theNational Society Colonial Dames XVII Century), and thePhillips Collection, the country's firstmuseum of modern art. The Richard H. Townsend House located on Massachusetts Avenue now houses theCosmos Club.^[31] Across Massachusetts Avenue, the historic Anderson House, owned by the Society of the Cincinnati, is open daily for tours. TheDumbarton Bridge, also known as the Buffalo Bridge, carries Q Street overRock Creek Park and intoGeorgetown and was constructed in 1883.^[31] TheNuns of the Battlefield sculpture, which serves as a tribute to over 600 nuns who nursed soldiers of both armies during the Civil War, was erected in 1924.^[33][34]The Mansion on O Street a luxury boutique hotel, private club, events venue and museum has been a fixture in Dupont Circle for over 30 years and includes over 100 rooms and 32 secret doors. Also overlooking the square isThe Dupont Circle Hotel. Two disused semicircular trolley tunnels follow the outline of the circle; the one on the east is currently Dupont Underground, an art and performance space.^[35][36]

In addition to its residential components, consisting primarily of high-priced apartments and condominiums, Dupont Circle is home to some of the nation's most prestigiousthink tanks and research institutions, including theAmerican Enterprise Institute, theBrookings Institution, theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, theInstitute for Policy Studies, theAspen Institute, theGerman Marshall Fund, theCenter for Global Development, theStimson Center, theEurasia Center, and thePeterson Institute. The renownedPaul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) ofJohns Hopkins is located less than two blocks from the circle. Dupont Circle is also home to theFounding Church of Scientology museum and Scientology's National Affairs Office.The Phillips Collection, the nation's first museum of modern art, is located near the circle; its most famous and popular work on display isRenoir's giant festive canvasLuncheon of the Boating Party. Additionally, the national headquarters of theJewish War Veterans of the United States of America, the nation's oldest veterans organization, theNational Museum of American Jewish Military History, and theWashington, D.C. Jewish Community Center are also located in Dupont Circle.

Dupont Circle roughly coincides with the following five Census tracts, which had a total population of 15,099 in 2020. The area is roughly 70% non-Hispanic (NH) White, 10% Hispanic, 9% NH Asian, 7% NH Black and 4% NH Multiracial.^[37]

Note: "Circle" refers to the Dupont Circle traffic circle.Source: 2020 decennial Census

Dupont Circle is served by theDupont Circle station on theRed Line of theWashington Metro. There are two entrances: north of the circle at Q Street NW and south of the circle at 19th Street NW. The northern entrance is framed by a quote fromWalt Whitman's 1865 poem, "The Wound-Dresser", that was carved into the entrance in 2007 and echoes theAIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s.^[38]

Capital Pride is an annualLGBT pride festival held each June in Washington. As of 2007^[update], the festival is the fourth-largest LGBT pride event in the United States, with over 200,000 people in attendance.^[39] As of 2025, attendance has reached up to 700,000.^[40] The Capital Pride parade takes place annually on Saturday during the festival and travels through the streets of the neighborhood.^[41] Dupont Circle is host to the parade, and the street festival is held in Penn Quarter.

Held annually since 1986, the Dupont CircleHigh Heel Race takes place on the Tuesday beforeHalloween (October 31). The race pits dozens ofdrag queens against each other in a sprint down 17th Street NW between R Street and Church Street, a distance of three short blocks. The event attracts thousands of spectators and scores of participants.^[42][43]

• The Anchorage
• Dupont Circle Building
• The Dupont Circle Hotel
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington, D.C.
• The Real World: Washington, D.C., television series filmed in Dupont Circle in 2009
• Architecture of Washington, D.C.

• Dupont Circle: A Novel (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), by Paul Kafka-Gibbons
• Dupont Circle (Images of America Series) (Arcadia Publishing, 2000), by Paul Williams
• Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. (U.S. Department of the Interior, Division of History, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, 1967), by George J. Olszewski

• Dupont Circle Business Improvement District
• Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets
• Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission (local elected government)
• Dupont Circle Citizens Association
• Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium
• NPS Dupont Circle Historical District
• WETA Neighborhoods - History of Dupont Circle
• Dupont Circle Metro station
• Washington Post's Guide to Dupont Circle
• D.C. High Heel Drag Queen Race Photo Galleries
• History of Dupont Circle Documentary produced byWETA-TV

• Dupont Circle
• Gay villages in Washington, D.C.
• Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
• Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
• Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.)
• New Hampshire Avenue
• Road tunnels in the United States
• Squares, plazas, and circles in Washington, D.C.
• Tunnels in Washington, D.C.

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