“Washington, DC is the nation’s finest urban achievement.” -- Prologue, “Worthy of the Nation, Washington DC from L’Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission”
"To a designer in the City Beautiful tradition, the urban experience was to be realized on foot." -- “Worthy of the Nation"
Last month when I visited the Mall during Memorial Day, part of my walk included a stroll down Constitution Avenue between 17th and 23rd. Though the years, countless commuters and visitors have passed along this main stretch north of the Mall and a gateway into the nation's capital. We’ve certainly done so a time or two, but it was only by walking that I began to appreciate and see more than just a glimpse of the impressive set of buildings set back on the north side.
Washington architecture and art critic Benjamin Forgey described this setting as a “Beaux Arts allee, a unique little stretch.” Unique, for sure, but there might not be any other stretch (in this case six blocks) in the monumental core where public knowledge of the names of the buildings is so low. Roberta and I have been here 27 years and of the six buildings on this stretch, I only knew the Federal Reserve.
Here, then, is a brief look at four of these buildings which were built in the 1920s and 1930s in the Stripped Classicism style, and are located between 19th and 23rd.
We’ll never know what Pierre L’Enfant thought of the City Beautiful movement that inspired urban planning in the city he sketched out a century earlier. But his ideas and concepts were certainly a guiding hand used by planners in Washington. Throughout much of the first half of the twentieth century, implementation of the McMillan Plan transformed large swaths of the central part of the city. The Federal Triangle and its set of massive governmental buildings come to mind, as well as the remaking of the Mall and construction of Federal buildings south of the Mall.
Seemingly lost in the shuffle of memory is the Northwest Rectangle. Many may not know there is a Northwest Rectangle Historic District, much less that it was built in part to frame the Lincoln Memorial. Even those who work here, who enter on the C Street side, may not have ever taken a stroll on the Constitution Street side.
As far as what was here before, this part of the district was once a stream bed and tidal flat. This portion of Constitution (then B Street) runs where the waters of the Washington City Canal flowed into the city. The Lock Keeper’s House at 17th and Constitution tells some of its story.
Near that same intersection is the site of the home of David Burnes, a Maryland planter and one of the original proprietors of the new Federal district. With its distinct pre-Washington look and feel, the dwelling stood there from 1760 to 1894. The Burnes home was one of the oldest in the city. The highly revered Van Ness mansion also stood near the corner of Constitution and 17th Street. The only thing left from those days of old is the Van Ness House stable (1816), which was reconstructed and incorporated into the grounds of the Pan American Union Building.
In our time we see the Lincoln Memorial as a monument connected not to Constitution Avenue, but the linear landscape of the Mall and the Memorial Bridge. In the 1920s, however, planners were focused on this stretch as part of framing the Lincoln Memorial. In a major shift, planners had decided to put Federal and public building west of the White House instead of east of the Capitol. The Federal Government was growing and larger central buildings were needed to replace older offices scattered about.
Note: The National Mall does not include West Potomac Park, but for simplification purposes, we use that term. West Potomac Park runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument.
After the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in 1922, the Commission of Fine Arts began to look at the north side of Constitution between 17th and 24th Avenue. The CFA had been created by Congress in 1910 to “protect the goals introduced by the McMillan study.” The nomination form tells us the CFA, “concentrated particularly on the design and construction of the Lincoln Memorial and the landscape of West Potomac Park.”
The McMillan Plan had enlarged the Mall to the west, but planning and deciding what went where took some time. The first buildings to arise in what became the Northwest Rectangle were the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1897), Pan American Union (1910), DAR Memorial Hall (1910), American Red Cross HQ (1917), and the Department of Interior (1915-1917). Those buildings are a part of the Northwest Rectangle, but they form its eastern most part and are connected to the White House and the Ellipse.
What got the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission more focused on the area between 17th and 23rd was the housing needs of the Navy and War Departments. With the Federal Triangle mostly filled up with other departments, the NCPPC set its sites on the Northwest Building Area, which became the Northwest Rectangle. They began their efforts in 1931. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. prepared the formal recommendations for a “sophisticated grouping of buildings” that was similar in concept to the Federal Triangle.”
National Academy of Sciences Building
2101 Constitution Avenue
1924
Early Stripped Classicism
The first building to more closely frame the Lincoln Memorial, which stood like a lonely sentinel in its early years, was the National Academy of Science Building. The organization had begun in 1863, and was housed in the Smithsonian. Their new building was dedicated in April 1924.
The Washington Post reported:
Standing high in its architectural splendor in a setting of green and looking out on the Lincoln memorial only a few hundred feet away, science’s new temple — a monument to progress — was dedicated by President Coolidge. Attending the ceremonies were scientists from all parts of the country.
The prolific Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s design was an “original interpretation of the Neo-Classic design.” His "creative solution combined the regularities of Classicism with his own preference for “irregular” forms.” This novel synthesis came to be known as the “Alexandrian” style.” Sadly, Goodhue passed away just a few days before the grand opening.
The landscape plan was “suggestive of the Lincoln Memorial grounds.” The walkway extends for over 200 feet, a signature element of all four of the buildings we are looking at.
Wings were added to the building in the 1960s. It got a 50th birthday gift of sorts, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Albert Einstein Memorial, unveiled in 1979 to commemorate the centennial of his birth, is located on the Academy grounds.
A marker points out the National Academy of Science established the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Another says these organizations are dedicated to the furtherance of science, engineering, and medicine to the public welfare.
American Pharmacists Association HQ
(American Institute of Pharmacy)
2215 Constitution Avenue
1933
Early Stripped Classicism
In 1931, seven years after the National Academy of Science building opened, the National Capital Planning Commission voted to adopt the Northwest Rectangle Plan. It would eventually encompass the six buildings fronting Constitution between 17th and 24, others on C Street, as well as the aforementioned group facing 17th Street.
As noted by the nomination form, the ones on Constitution would pay tribute to classical principles, while reducing the ornamentation and application of columns. "Classicism Lite," if you will. Unlike the Federal Triangle, a notable portion of landscaping surrounded the buildings. The long staircases are also a standout feature.
The National Academy of Science building had kicked things off this way in 1924. In 1933, two more in this style were completed. On the corner of 24th and Constitution Avenue arose the American Institute of Pharmacy.
Of the four buildings we are looking at, the APA building is the smallest. This “pretty little building” was designed by John Russell Pope as a “temple to pharmacy.” The organization dates back to 1798 with the establishment of the Marine Hospital Service. The new name came in 1912.
Dedicated in May, 1934, the building was made of with Vermont marble. The long sloping lawn “mimics the siting of the Lincoln Memorial.” The entry is “embellished with allegorical bas-reliefs to portray the progress of pharmacy as well as Light and Hope.” The building possesses a “formal Palladian pavilion-like quality.”
At the dedication, Sir Henry Wellcome was honored with the Remington Medal, given for the greatest contribution to the profession of pharmacy in America. The Wellcome Trust is one of the wealthiest charitable foundations in the world.
The Evening Star pointed out it the building stood “in the shadow of the great Lincoln Memorial” and was “the first imposing structure one sees coming across the Arlington Memorial Bridge into Washington (seemingly forgetting the Lincoln Memorial). They also noted widening of Constitution Avenue was taking place at that time.
According to Potomac View Terrace, the building is the only privately-owned real estate on the National Mall. The expanded building, completed in 2009, is LEED certified and includes the Potomac View Terrace, which is situated on the 6th floor. The 200 foot long front stairs is a somewhat unique feature. A marker was recently installed that pays tribute to "Covid-19 Heroes."
3. U.S. Public Health Service
Interior Department South
Federal Reserve-East
1931
Moving companies must have loved this building. Its occupants have been the US Public Health Service (1933-1942, 1946-1947), the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Atomic Energy Commission (1947-1958), the National Science Foundation (1958-1965), the Department of the Interior (1965-2018), and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (2018-current). The Department of Interior’s move in 1965 here prompted a name change to Interior South, an annex for the department’s large HQ facing C Street.
Knowing jobs would be available in the growing nation’s capital, architects made their way to Washington in the 1930s. One of them was Jules Henri de Sibour, who came by way of Paris and New York. His works include the French Embassy, and Oxon Hill Manor.
The Evening Star noted the million dollar building held “an air of quiet dignity” and exemplified modern developments in lighting and other health and comfort features.” The E-shaped building is also formed in marble.
This organization goes back to the Marine Hospital Service in 1798. It gained its current name in 1912. Housed in five different buildings, they needed a bigger central place.
In 1968, the Department of Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs moved their offices here. Four summers later, about 500 native Americans, who represented a coalition of 250 tribes, barricaded themselves inside. The leaders called for the "abolition of the bureau and creation of a new agency more responsive to their needs."
In 1978 the building was renovated extensively. In 2018, the building was vacated and was transferred to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (new name is Federal Reserve Board-East and is currently seeing renovation work.
Federal Reserve (Eccles Building)
Constitution Avenue
1937
Early Stripped Classicism
Given the weight of its voice, one would think the Federal Reserve would be located closer to the center of action in Washington. Then again, maybe this quiet and leafy spot is better as a place to try and make calm decisions.
This was the last building constructed on Constitution between 17th and 24th. From 1913 to 1937, the Board of Governors had met in the US Treasury Building and the employees worked at three different locations across the city. According to the Reserve website, the Banking Act of 1935 centralized control of the Federal Reserve System and put the Board of Governors at the helm.
The designer was Paul H. Cret. Like deSibour, Cret was born in France and came from the Northeast (Philadelphia). His designs in Washington include this one and the Pan American Union Building three doors down, as well as the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Duke Ellington Bridge.
As was the case with the other buildings beside it, this one takes a Stripped Classicism approach with limestone. And like the others, the Commission of Fine Arts approved its design.
As the Society of Architectural Historians website points out, the external appearance of the building was so progressive that the AIA Journal reported, “This would appear to indicate that the reign of the column and pediment is nearing its close, even in Washington.”
As was the case with the other buildings beside it, this one has had a quiet front, with car parking underground and entering from the C Street side. Like the American Pharmacy Association building, this one has a long marbled walk. Sidney Waugh designed the eagle sculpture above the entrance. Bronze windows are “separated by spandrels of polished Swedish granite, on which the bronze plaques are mounted.”
FDR dedicated the building. In her paper, “Paul Cret and the Federal Reserve Board Building,” Elizabeth Grossman tells the reader Roosevelt “associated the austere marble building, with the “increased power” given to the system under the New Deal Banking Acts. The new legislation “shifted power to Washington, DC” and the new building “symbolized both a more powerful Board of Governors within the Fed itself.”
In 1982, the building was named for Marriner S. Eccles, who had served as Chairman of the Board from 1934 to 1948. The Fed is expanding and is expected to occupy the former Public Health Service building to its east.
Conclusion:
It’s hard to know what the future holds for this stretch of Constitution Avenue. There are empty spaces nearby — one west of 23rd and one east of 23rd — that might be built upon.
From a planning document, we know the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) proposes to renovate and expand the Eccles Building and to renovate and construct an addition on the Federal Reserve Board-East Building (nee Public Health). The proposal indicates the changes would infill and or behind the current buildings. The view shed seems unlikely to change but purists might worry.
Our one request is the erection of an historical marker for each of these buildings. The impact on the view shed would be very small and public knowledge would be increased. Walkers, of course, would appreciate it the most.
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