Western Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue Marker

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Downtown in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Western Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue
[Freedom Plaza]

Western Plaza Pennsylvania Avenue Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Richard E. Miller, April 12, 2009

1. Western Plaza Pennsylvania Avenue Marker

southeast corner of Freedom Plaza.

Inscription. Western Plaza consists of a large raised terrace in which part of L'Enfant's original 1791 plan for Washington, D.C. is rendered in black and white stone. At one end of the raised terrace is a pool. At the other is a shaded sitting area around a statue of General Pulaski.

Inscribed on the upper terrace are historic quotations about Washington. Low walls separate the plaza from surrounding traffic. Eleven large urns rest on top of these walls and contain seasonal planting. The upper map terrace has a grass lawn where the Mall occurs and inlaid bronze plans of the White House and the Capitol located at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The inlays illustrate L'Enfant's intention to have these two buildings balance each other and symbolize two main branches of government. The siting of the Treasury in the 19th century blocked the view of the White House and obscured this relationship.

L'Enfant's plan of Washington combines two orders of scale. The giant order is the diagonal avenues that sometimes terminate in a building or a monument. This order characterizes the federal scale of the city. The minor order is the rectangular grid pattern of the local structure of the city.

Western Plaza acknowledges both orders since it is shaped by the rectangular grid of the local scale and is an element within the giant order

Freedom [Western ] Plaza Photo, Click for full size

Wikipedia, June 25, 2005

2. Freedom [Western ] Plaza

of Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Model of the plaza with the pool (1), the White House (2), the Mall (3), L'Enfant's Plan (4), the Capitol (5), and the Pulaski Statue (6) identified by number.]

Erected 1980.

Location. 38° 53.74′ N, 77° 1.81′ W. Marker is in Downtown, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker can be reached from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW just west of 13th Street, NW. Click for map. Marker is attached to the perimeter wall at the southeast corner of the plaza. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20004, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski (within shouting distance of this marker); Daniel Patrick Moynihan Place (about 300 feet away, in a direct line); Freedom Plaza (about 300 feet away); The John A. Wilson Building (about 300 feet away); Washington, DC: Capital and City (about 400 feet away); Alexander Robey Shepherd (about 500 feet away); Willard Inter-Continental Hotel (about 600 feet away); Arts and Artists (about 600 feet away). Click for a list of all markers in Downtown.

Additional keywords. Pierre L'Enfant; city planning.

Credits. This page originally submitted on April 14, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,152 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 14, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.