Chief Justice John Marshall Statue (and Chess Players Statues)

John Marshall (1755-1835) was one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the history of the court. Marshall wrote the landmark opinion in Marbury v. Madison which established the Supreme Court as having the power to review the legality of congression actions. Marshall also defined the boundaries of the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution and concluded that business monopolies were unconstitutional.

• (235 words)<br />The John Marshall Memorial is located at the north end of John Marshall Park in Judiciary Square, Washington, DC.<br />The park is bordered by C street, NW to the north, Constitution Avenue to the south and sits between the Embassy of Canada to the west and the US District Court to the east.<br />From 3rd and C streets, travel west six hundred sixty feet. Turn left and proceed sixty-five feet south. Set on an open fifty-foot-wide brick plaza, the statue depicts John Marshall seated in a chair and wearing a judicial robe that drapes to his feet. His right hand is outstretched and his legs are crossed. His right arm rests on the arm of the chair and he holds a furled-up piece of paper.<br />The statue sits on a six-foot-tall granite base. Both east and west sides of the base bear the inscription:<br />John Marshall<br />Chief Justice of the United States<br />1801 - 1835<br />An inscription on the west edge of the statue base reads:<br />W.W. STORY ROMA 1883<br />Fonderia Nelli Roma<br />Tallix <br />Peekskill New York<br />The statue faces south, and Marshall looks out over three grass platforms, each about five-feet deep and bordered by one-foot-wide granite. Beyond is a tree-lined grass lawn that runs south about two-hundred feet.<br />Cobblestone plazas frame the east and west sides of the statue at the park's north end along C street, set with benches, trees, and circular planters.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

FBI Headquarters

Built in 1974, the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is an example of brutalist architecture. It is located at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC along the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. It is owned by the General Services Administration (GSA) and managed by the FBI. For information on the FBI Experience, visit https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/fbi-headquarters/the-fbi-experience.

• A large concrete seven story office building

Freedom Plaza

Standing on this plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue, you are on a direct line between the White House and the US Capitol Building. The stone pavers of Freedom Plaza depict a map of Washington, DC, according to planner Pierre Charles L'Enfant's plan for the city.InscriptionsWESTERN PLAZA PENNSYLVANIA AVENUEWestern plaza consists of a large raised terrace in which part of L'Enfant's original 1791 plan for Washington, DC is rendered in black and white stone. At one end of the raise

• (514 words)<br />Freedom Plaza is located two blocks east of the White House and is bordered by Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to the south, west-bound Pennsylvania Avenue to the north, 13th street to the east and 14th street to the west. The National Theater sits directly across Pennsylvania Avenue to the north.<br />Four steps lead up to a raised terrace plaza that stretches four hundred feet long and is one hundred feet wide. The plaza surface consists of a map of the federal city delineated in black granite and white marble, grass panels representing the Mall and the Ellipse, and bronze markers denoting the Capitol and the White House. Quotations are cut into the plaza floor. The western end of the plaza contains a large fountain, while the eastern end contains an equestrian statue of Kazimierz PuÅ‚aski.<br />Staircases are set at the ends and middle of the plaza on both the north and south sides. Ramps also enter the plaza from the northeast and southeast corners. A bronze relief set on the southwest face of a one-foot tall border around the Pulaski statue is titled on the top:<br />WESTERN PLAZA PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE<br />A bronze plaque with a green patina is mounted to the top of the perimeter wall at the northwest staircase into the plaza. At the bottom of the plaque is a relief map of Freedom Plaza and above is a description of the plaza layout.<br />To the left of the Pulaski statue is the federal city map, which runs two hundred eighty feet along the plaza. Three steps lead up to the plaza surface. The black and white street grid of the map contrasts with the pink granite outer perimeter of the plaza.<br />Quotations are inscribed around the map along the pink granite perimeter and a bronze plaque and three bronze medallions lay in the middle of the perimeter on its north side, two featuring eagles with shields and the middle medallion a pyramid design. The plaque is titled,<br />"THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES" and it describes the three versions of the seal depicted in the bronze medallions.<br />Inscribed in the north-side center of the plaza is a faded portion of the L'Enfant Plan document.<br />The street map features engraved street names of major thoroughfares including Pennsylvania Avenue, D, E, and G streets. A diagram of the US Capitol sits in the south east corner, with inscribed labels for the House of Representatives, Rotunda, and Senate. Pennsylvania Avenue runs diagonally to the northwest corner where the White House is represented with its own diagram in black granite showing the Entrance, Family Dining, East Room, and Red, Blue and Green Rooms. Inscribed along the white marble border is: "President's house."<br />A black granite rectangle on the south side of the plaza is inscribed: Canal through Tiber Creek, and sits just north of an eighty-foot long grass lawn. A second grass area stretched further east about fifty feet and set in between them is a pink granite eight-pointed star set in the white marble floor. A smaller rounded symbol sits above it to the north.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

Major General Winfield Scott Hancock Monument

Named after Winfield Scott, whose memorial is also in DC, Winfield Scott Hancock (1824-1826) is best known for his role as a US Army general in the American Civil War, particularly for his troops' victory at Gettysburg, repulsing Pickett's Charge. After the war, he commanded troops in the Indian Wars. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 1880.<br /><br />Sculptor: Henry Ellicott<br /><br />Inscriptions<br />front<br />GENERAL<br />WINFIELD SCOTT <br />HANCOCK<br />back<br />Born February 14, 1824<br />Died February 9, 1886<br />

• (230 words)<br />The Major General Winfield Scott Hancock Monument is an equestrian statue located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington DC, at the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street, NW.<br />A cobblestone walkway lined with a two-foot high black metal chained fence leads about fifty feet west to the memorial from 7th street. The cobblestone runs along the front of the statue and continues northwest to the sidewalk along Pennsylvania Avenue.<br />The nine-foot-tall bronze statue stands on a twenty-foot-tall multi-tiered oblong red granite pedestal.<br />The mustachioed Hancock sits in the saddle with brimmed hat, long coat with gloves, and boots. His left hand holds the reins and his sword hangs from his left hip. Hancock's right hand holds binoculars at his side. His horse's left hoof is raised off the ground.<br />Sculptures of eagles sit on the curved front and back ends of the rounded oblong pedestal. A garland is lined beneath and further below two reeds rise on both sides from a bowed spray of holly along the bottom.<br />The statue faces west, and along the west side of the pedestal an inscription reads:<br />GENERAL<br />WINFIELD SCOTT <br />HANCOCK<br />An inscription on the opposite side reads:<br />Born February 14, 1824<br />Died February 9, 1886<br />A triangular grass lawn stretches about one-hundred fifty feet west toward an entrance to the Archives-Navy memorial Penn Quarter Metro Station and the Navy Memorial.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

Peace Monument

The 44-foot high Peace Monument stands in the circle west of the U.S. Capitol at Pennsylvania Avenue and First Street, NW. Inscribed "In memory of the officers, seamen and marines of the United States Navy who fell in defense of the Union and liberty of their country, 1861-1865," this sculptural group has also been called the Naval Monument.

• At the top of the Peace Monument, facing west, stand two classically robed female figures. Grief holds her covered face against the shoulder of History and weeps in mourning. History holds a stylus and a tablet that was inscribed "They died that their country might live." Below Grief and History, another life-size classical female figure represents Victory, holding high a laurel wreath and carrying an oak branch, signifying strength. Below her are the infant Mars, the god of war, and the infant Neptune, god of the sea. The shaft of the monument is decorated with wreaths, ribbons and scallop shells. Facing the U.S. Capitol is Peace, a classical figure draped from the waist down and holding an olive sprig. Below her are symbols of peace and industry. A dove, now missing and not documented in any known photographs, once nested upon a sheaf of wheat in a grouping of a cornucopia, turned earth, and a sickle resting across a sword. Opposite, the symbols of science, literature and art (including an angle, a gear, a book, and a pair of dividers) signify the progress of civilization that peace makes possible. At the corners of the monument, four marble globes are visually supported by massive brackets. The fountain below, with a jet on each side, empties into a quatrefoil-shaped basin. Inscribed "In memory of the officers, seamen and marines of the United States Navy who fell in defense of the Union and liberty of their country, 1861-1865

Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site

Architect Pierre L'Enfant designed Pennsylvania Avenue to be a physical connection between the legislative and executive banches of the United States government. It is known the world over as the heart of the Nation's Capital. America's history has marched, paraded, promenaded, and protested its way along the Avenue.

• (215 words)<br />The Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic site stretches from First Street, NW to Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, connecting the US Capitol with the White House.<br />Included within the district are the Treasury Building, Freedom Plaza, Federal Triangle, the Old Patent Office Building, the Old Pension Office Building (which now houses the National Building Museum, Judiciary Square and the Peace Monument.<br />The historic site stretches from the southeast at the Capitol building northwest to the White House, is six lanes wide and divided in its center by bicycle lanes that run in both directions.<br />Along the north side of the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue is a wide thoroughfare open to pedestrian traffic. East of the White House, west side of the Treasury Building, Pennsylvania Avenue divides into east and west-bounds lanes as it passes around Pershing Park, then Freedom Plaza and its marble inlay of the L'Enfant Plan street-grid diagram of Washington, DC visible on the ground.<br />Further east along the south side of the avenue the clock tower of the Old Post Office stands high above the neighboring buildings. Both sides of the avenue feature wide brick sidewalks and trees that span the entire length of the site. The white dome of the Capitol Building stands prominently at the east end of the avenue.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

Stephenson Memorial (Grand Army of the Republic)

The Grand Army of the Republic was a veterans group of nearly half a million men. It was also the first veterans group in the United States. This memorial honors the veterans who were honorably discharged from the US military at the end of the American Civil War, as well as to the founder of the GAR, Benjamin Stephenson. The memorial was dedicated in 1909.InscriptionsFront bas reliefFRATERNITYObelisk, bottomGRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLICORGANIZED AT DECATUR ILLINOIS, APRIL 6, 186

• (369 words)<br />The Stephenson Memorial (Grand Army of the Republic) is located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, DC, along the east side of 7th Street, NW between Indiana Avenue to the north and Pennsylvania Avenue to the south.<br />The memorial sits in a circular brick plaza surrounded by magnolia trees. Decorative lampposts are set at three entrances, to the east, north and south.<br />The triangular shaft, consisting of granite blocks, is twenty-five-feet tall and surmounts a two-foot-tall concrete base. On each side of the shaft is a bronze relief.<br />On the front, west-facing side is a relief of a soldier holding a rifle with his right hand and to his left, a sailor holds the American flag between them with his right hand. At the bottom of the relief is inscribed:<br />FRATERNITY<br />Below the Fraternity relief is a relief bust of a bearded Stephenson dressed in military uniform. The bust is displayed on a bronze medallion installed in a circular granite niche decorated with foliage. Below at the bottom of the obelisk text in raised bronze letters reads:<br />GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC<br />ORGANIZED AT DECATUR ILLINOIS, APRIL 6, 1866.<br />BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN STEPHENSON M.D.<br />Bronze emblems with an eagle on top and star-shaped badge at the bottom flank both sides.<br />A bronze plate at the top of the obelisk reads:<br />1861 - 1865<br />On the northeast side of the memorial, a bronze relief depicts a woman cloaked in a long robe and cape protecting a small child standing to her left. She is touching the child's shoulder with her left hand. An inscription at the bottom of the relief reads:<br />CHARITY<br />Text below in raised bronze letters reads:<br />THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY<br />A bronze relief of a woman holding a shield and resting a drawn sword on the ground is on the southeast side of the memorial. Beneath her is inscribed:<br />LOYALTY<br />Above her is a bronze plate with thirteen stars on the left and an eagle over stripes across the right. Text below her in raised bronze letters reads:<br />WHO KNOW NO GLORY BUT HIS COUNTRY'S GOOD<br />Inscriptions on the front bottom edge of the obelisk read:<br />RANKIN KELLOGG AND CRANE<br />ARCHITECTS<br />J. MASSEY RHIND<br />SCULPTOR<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

Temperance Fountain

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement, opposing the consumption of alcohol, gained popularity and political power, culminating in the passage of the 18th Amendment, banning alcohol in 1919. This fountain was donated by Henry Cogswell and erected adjacent to the Central Market in 1884. Filled with ice, the water that flowed from this fountain offered a refreshing alternative to the numerous bars and liquor stores nearby, including one on the ground

• (165 words)<br />The Temperance Fountain sits at the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Indiana Avenue, NW, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the National Archives to the south and Navy Memorial across Seventh Street to the west, in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, DC<br />The fountain is a small stone pavilion, about fifteen feet tall and five-feet wide. Four stone columns support the stone canopy, the sides of which are inscribed to read:<br />TEMPERANCE<br />CHARITY<br />HOPE<br />FAITH<br />A six-foot-tall bronze heron stands on top of the canopy. In the center of the pavilion is a four-foot tall bronze sculpture of two entwined dolphins. Their large mouths are opened to the east and west. They sit on a round stone pedestal, inscribed on the west side to read:<br />PRESENTED BY<br />HENRY D. COGSHELL<br />OF SAN FRANCISCO CAL.<br />A metal grate sits at the bottom of the pavilion, which is surrounded by a thirty-square foot, one-foot-tall brick plaza. A stone memorial obelisk stands about fifty feet to the west.<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

US Navy Memorial

A memorial to the US Navy had always been part of Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washingon, DC. However, it wasn't until 1987 that the US Navy Memorial was dedicated. The memorial design features a lone sailor in the midle of a granite sea surrounded by low, stone walls containing 26 bas-relief sculptures illustrating the history of the Navy and the sea services.

• (301 words)<br />The US Navy Memorial is located on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, NW between 7th street to the east and 9th street to the west, midway between the White House and Capitol Building. The National Archives is directly across Pennsylvania Avenue to the south.<br />A one hundred-foot diameter circular plaza is surrounded by six flagpoles, lined with triangular-shaped fountains at its southern corners, and features a black and white granite map of the world in its center. The plaza slopes slightly from its southern end to the north. Set in the north center of the plaza is a seven-foot tall bronze statue of a sailor in a cap and his hands tucked in the pockets of his jacket. His collar is raised, and his packed duffel bag stands to his left.<br />Two eight-story curved buildings each fronted with thirteen columns sit at the top two sides of the plaza, their curved facades following that of the round plaza. The east-side building houses the Navy Visitor Center in its ground floor.<br />Stairs lead down into the plaza from its north end and granite benches curve around the northeast and northwest sides of the plaza. <br />The southern half of the plaza features twenty-six thirty-two-inch by thirty-six-inch bronze bas-reliefs panels set along the outer side of curved walls lining the southeast and southwest sides of the plaza. Each depicts an important person or event in naval history.<br />Granite benches line the south side of the plaza with inscriptions.<br />Inside the memorial at the bottom of the south entry steps, a bronze compass is set in the granite walkway approaching the memorial. In its center is an eagle standing on an anchor that sits behind it.<br />Inscribed on the outer walls of the memorial at its southern entrance is written:<br />"UNITED STATES NAVY MEMORIAL"<br />END OF DESCRIPTION<br />

Willard Hotel, Washington DC

American author Nathaniel Hawthorne observed in the 1860s that "the Willard Hotel more justly could be called the center of Washington than either the Capitol or the White House or the State Department." From 1847 when the enterprising Willard brothers, Henry and Edwin, first set up as innkeepers on the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Willard has occupied a unique niche in the history of Washington and the nation.

• Twelve Story Beaux-Arts White building on the corner with numerous plaques on the side of the building.

• Take a Tour of the Old Post Office Tower
• The Old Post Office Tower offers tours seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last tour leaves at 4:00).

African American History on Pennsylvania Avenue

Black History is American History, even if the statues and memorials in Washington, D.C. may not always reflect it. Pennsylvania Avenue, America's Main Street, is rich with locations where African Americans upheld the nation's ideals and made important contributions to the ongoing effort to create a more perfect union.