Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park

Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park (HMB1K)

Location: Washington, DC 20009
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 55.243', W 77° 2.196'

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Roads to Diversity

— Adams Morgan Heritage Trail —

Long before Europeans arrived, Meridian Hill was a sacred place for Native Americans. As recently as 1992, a delegation of Native Americans walked across the continent to this park to mourn the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival. They were received by environmentalist Josephine Butler, a champion of park preservation.

Europeans named the hill for Commodore David Porter's grand Meridian Hill house (1825) which straddled the route of the prime meridian (16th Street). Americans used this meridian as a starting point for mapping the continent until 1884 when it was replaced by the Greenwich (England) Prime Meridian. President John Quincy Adams leased Porter's house in 1829.

Later landowner Mary Foote Henderson persuaded federal officials to build the elaborate, European style, 12-acre Meridian Hill Park. Its starlight performances drew citywide audiences until the park began declining in the 1950s. In the 1960s it became a staging ground for political demonstrations, and in 1970 activist Angela Davis unofficially renamed it Malcolm X Park. Then in the 1990s, Friends of Meridian Hill and others worked with the National Park Service to evict criminal activity and restore the park as a cultural center.

As you proceed to Sign 3, don't miss three landmarks: the Envoy at the corner of Crescent Place (once Meridian Mansions, home to congressmen and diplomats), and 1624 and 1630 Crescent Place, both designed by John Russell Pope, architect of the Jefferson Memorial.
Details
HM NumberHMB1K
Tags
Marker Number2 of 18
Year Placed2005
Placed ByCultural Tourism DC
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 at 3:12am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 323442 N 4309950
Decimal Degrees38.92071667, -77.03660000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 55.243', W 77° 2.196'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 55' 14.58" N, 77° 2' 11.76" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)202
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 2300-2398 16th St NW, Washington DC 20009, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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