Dupont Circle - A Brief History

Dupont Circle is a traffic circle where Connecticut Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue, P Street, and 19th Street converge. One, two, three...yes, that's five streets all at one intersection. These streets meld into two circles; the inner circle is exclusively for travel on Massachusetts Avenue, the outer circle connects all the other streets.

These often congested traffic lanes encircle a park. In the center of the park is a large, white marble fountain, donated by the du Pont family in the early 1900's, that replaced a small bronze statue of Admiral Samuel du Pont. Locals refer to the neighborhood simply as "Dupont," and some of us even call it "the Ghetto."


This once sleepy part of town saw a building boom at the turn of the century. The nation's plutocracy built over 100 mansions along Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues and Dupont Circle itself. After the Great Depression and World War II, the neighborhood fell into decline and many buildings were demolished to make way for larger office buildings. In the 1970's the gay population began to move into the neighborhood, establishing it as the gay ghetto. This now vibrant part of town teems with boutiques, bookstores, restaurants, bars and clubs.