Judiciary Square
Encyclopedia
Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

s and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...

 to the south, H Street
H Street (Washington, D.C.)
H Street is an east-west street in Washington, D.C.. It is also used as an alternate name for the Near Northeast neighborhood, as H Street is the neighborhood's main commercial strip.-History:...

 to the north, 6th Street to the west, and the Interstate 395 access tunnel to the east.

The center of the neighborhood is an actual plaza
Plaza
Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...

 named Judiciary Square. The square itself is bounded by 4th Street to east, 5th Street to the west, D Street to the south, and F Street to the north. The neighborhood is served by the Judiciary Square station on the Red Line
Red Line (Washington Metro)
The Red Line of the Washington Metro is a rail rapid transit service operating between 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland and the District of Columbia, United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington, and the oldest and busiest line in the system...

 of the Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

.

History

During the first half of the 19th century, Judiciary Square had a heavily residential population. Its proximity to the courthouses drew lawyers, judges, and clerks to the neighborhood, while its location between the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 and the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

 made it ideal for government employees. Among its most prominent residents were Senator Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton (senator)
Thomas Hart Benton , nicknamed "Old Bullion", was a U.S. Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States. He served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms...

, Vice President John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...

, and Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...

. As of 2006, however, nearly all of the rowhouses in the area were gone, with the remaining houses mostly centered around the intersection of 5th and D Streets.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the eastern side of Judiciary Square became an enclave of Italian immigrants in Washington; the equivalent of a Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...

, although it was never called that. The Italian neighborhood rested on the eastern edge of the square proper, stretching eastward to about 2nd Street NW. The heart of the community was Holy Rosary Church, a chapel built at 3rd and F Streets NW. The neighborhood grew throughout the 20th century, with a particular surge of Italian immigrants in the 1950s and 60s. However, the construction of Interstate 395 through the city in the 1970s razed about half of the neighborhood and forced its remaining residents to move away from the heavy commuter traffic. Today, the former Italian enclave is dominated by Federal office buildings and law offices. The Holy Rosary Church remains standing and continues to draw a heavily Italian congregation along with its "Casa Italia" cultural center next door.

Contributing buildings

Among the buildings in Judiciary Square are:
  • H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, which houses the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
    Superior Court of the District of Columbia
    The Superior Court of the District of Columbia is the local trial court for the District of Columbia. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law. The court also handles specialized cases in the following areas: family court, landlord and tenant, probate, tax, and traffic offenses...

    , the local trial court
  • District of Columbia City Hall
    District of Columbia City Hall
    District of Columbia City Hall, also known as Old City Hall and the District of Columbia Courthouse, is a historic building at Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, D.C. Originally built for the offices of the D.C...

    , which now houses the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
    District of Columbia Court of Appeals
    The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia. Established by the United States Congress in 1970, it is equivalent to a state supreme court, except that its power derives from Article I of the U.S. Constitution rather than from the inherent sovereignty...

    , the District's highest court
  • E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse
    E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse
    The E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse is a historic building in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1949–50 and currently houses both the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.-Significance:The...

    , which houses both the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
    United States District Court for the District of Columbia
    The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...

     and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
    United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
    The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
    United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces or CAAF is an Article I court that exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over members of the United States armed forces on active duty and other persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice...

     and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
    United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
    The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is a federal court of record that was established under Article I of the United States Constitution...

  • Henry J. Daly Building, Metropolitan Police Department
    Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
    The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police, DCPD, MPD, and MPDC is the municipal police force in Washington, D.C...

     Headquarters
  • United States Tax Court Building
    United States Tax Court Building
    The United States Tax Court Building is a courthouse located at 400 Second Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Judiciary Square neighborhood.It serves as the headquarters of the United States Tax Court....

    , which houses the United States Tax Court
    United States Tax Court
    The United States Tax Court is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides that the Congress has the power to "constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court"...

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
    Federal Bureau of Investigation
    The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

     Washington field office
  • Frances Perkins Building
    Frances Perkins Building
    The Frances Perkins Building is the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Department of Labor. It is located at 200 Constitution Avenue NW and runs alongside Interstate 395. The structure is named after Frances Perkins, the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933–1945 and the first female...

    , which houses the United States Department of Labor
    United States Department of Labor
    The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

  • Steve Young Law Enforcement Legislative Advocacy Center of the Fraternal Order of Police
    Fraternal Order of Police
    The Fraternal Order of Police is an organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It claims a membership of over 325,000 members organized in 2100 local chapters , organized into local lodges, state lodges, and the national Grand Lodge...

  • Government Accountability Office
    Government Accountability Office
    The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...

     and United States Army Corps of Engineers
    United States Army Corps of Engineers
    The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

    , headquarters
  • Jackson Graham Building, headquarters of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
    Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
    The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess...

  • National Building Museum
    National Building Museum
    The National Builders Museum, in Washington, D.C., United States, is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning"...

    , formerly known as the Pension Building
  • One Judiciary Square
    One Judiciary Square
    One Judiciary Square is a highrise office building at 401 Fourth Street NW in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Designed by architect Vlastimil Koubek, the building is tall and has approximately 10 floors...

    , which houses various D.C. government offices and temporarily housed the offices of the mayor and city council

Monuments and sculptures

  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
    National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
    The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., at Judiciary Square, honors the nearly 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty throughout history. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund was established by former U.S...

  • Monuments to Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

    , Albert Pike
    Albert Pike
    Albert Pike was an attorney, Confederate officer, writer, and Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C...

    , John Marshall
    John Marshall
    John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

    , and Sir William Blackstone
    Sir William Blackstone (statue)
    Sir William Blackstone is a bronze statue by Paul Wayland Bartlett of legal scholar William Blackstone. It is located at E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, at 333 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Judiciary Square neighborhood. It was installed on August 11,...

  • George Gordon Meade Memorial
    George Gordon Meade Memorial
    Meade Memorial, is a public artwork by American artist Charles Grafly, located at 3rd & Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C., United States. Meade Memorial was originally surveyed as part of the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey in 1993...

  • Guns to Plowshares peace monument (removed 2008)
  • Darlington Memorial Fountain
    Darlington Memorial Fountain
    The Darlington Memorial Fountain is a gilded bronze statue by C. Paul Jennewein. It is located at Judiciary Park at 5th Street and D Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Judiciary Square neighborhood....


Center Leg Freeway development

The District government finalized a deal in 2010 with the Louis Dreyfus Group
Louis Dreyfus Group
Louis Dreyfus Group is a diversified French private company that is involved in agriculture and energy commodities...

 to construct a 2100000 square foot mixed-use development
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...

 in the airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....

 over the Center Leg Freeway (Interstate 395). The $425 million office, residential, and retail project at the east end of the Judiciary Square neighborhood will also restore the area's original L'Enfant Plan
L'Enfant Plan
The L'Enfant Plan of the City of Washington, District of Columbia, was the urban plan developed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant for George Washington...

street grid by reconnecting F and G Streets over the freeway. The project is awaiting final regulatory approval and is expected to be complete by 2016.
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