Understand
Pierre Charles L'Enfant's original plan for Washington, D.C. included a number of grand boulevards, radiating out and intersecting with one another in a way that would create public squares and green space. The major thoroughfares coming together at Dupont Circle include Connecticut Ave, which emanates from the White House and runs roughly north-south, and Massachusetts Ave which runs roughly east-west.
The Dupont Circle area remained largely undeveloped until after the Civil War. Construction of the traffic circle at Dupont Circle began in 1871, and when the circle was completed, a bronze statue of rear admiral Samuel Francis DuPont was added. But the statue was replaced in 1921 with the large marble fountain that remains to this day. The fountain was designed by Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, also the designers of the Lincoln Memorial, and is now a popular gathering spot, with many places to sit.
In the late 1940s, a tunnel was built beneath Dupont Circle as part of a Capital Transit streetcar project. Streetcar service ended in 1962, and a number of ideas have been proposed for what to do with the underground space. Along with the streetcar tunnel, another tunnel was constructed to allow Connecticut Ave vehicle traffic to pass beneath, helping to alleviate traffic congestion around the circle.
The neighborhood began to change in the 1970s, turning into a center for the gay community, particularly along P St, where a number of gay bars opened. The Dupont Circle further gentrified in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming more mainstream and losing its bohemian vibe with the addition of numerous shops, bookstores, and coffeehouses.
