Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington
    A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington
    A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington
    Ebook23 pages14 minutes

    A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington

    By Doug Gelbert

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour from walkthetown.com is ready to explore when you are.

    Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

    Geographically, downtown Washington is broadly considered to be anything north of Constitution Avenue - this tour takes in the part of downtown between Pennsylvania Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue between the Capitol and the White House. It is a land of office buildings and hotels, Chinatown and the Verizon Center, home of Washington’s professional indoor sports teams.

    Unlike other large cities in America, Washington’s downtown has a low skyline. In 1899, Congress passed the Heights of Buildings Act in response to the 14-story Cairo apartment tower, which at the time was reviled as a monstrosity overshadowing its Dupont Circle neighborhood. (It is now admired as one of Washington’s most beautiful residential buildings.) The original law limited buildings to the height of the Capitol, but was amended in 1910 to the width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet, so a building facing a 90-foot-wide street could be only 110 feet tall. The basic intent was the same: No skyscrapers.

    The result is a boxy appearance to the streetscape - as you walk around you can see older buildings that had extra floors built on their roofs to maximize the space allotted to them by law. The tallest commercial building in Washington DC is at One Franklin Square, only 210 feet high.

    This walking tour will start at its northernmost point, in Mount Vernon Square...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDoug Gelbert
    Release dateJan 11, 2010
    ISBN9781452307565
    A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington

    Read more from Doug Gelbert

    Related to A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington

    Related ebooks

    United States Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Built To Last

      Jul 1, 2022

      These man-made objects have grown into important sources of national pride to Americans. They also are iconic U.S. symbols to international visitors. The futuristic Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair hosted by Seattle, Washington. That

      4 min read

    • Article

      7 Things You (probably) Didn’t Know About The White House

      Nov 23, 2023

      Construction on the White House began in 1792 on a site in Washington DC selected by the first US president, George Washington. Over the next eight years, a mix of free African-American and white wage labourers, enslaved workers and skilled craftsmen

      5 min read

    • Article

      Revival Las Vegas

      Aug 22, 2023

      Revival Las Vegas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Gilding The Lilies

      Jun 26, 2022

      Gilding The Lilies
      7 min read

    • Article

      New York National Bank Tour Continues with Forestville, Fredonia

      Jan 4, 2022

      Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a family function in Chautauqua County, N.Y., a subdivision in the far western corner of the state bordering on Lake Erie. I had never been to this part of Upstate New York before, and while I did not have mu

      4 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Omaha’s Past

      Mar 24, 2020

      Tracking Omaha’s Past
      3 min read

    • Article

      New York

      Apr 1, 2022

      New York
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Capitol With Class

      Jul 1, 2022

      A Capitol With Class
      2 min read

    • Article

      Coming Up Roses

      May 1, 2024

      Coming Up Roses
      5 min read

    • Article

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip

      Sep 5, 2023

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Mile Of Shopping

      Apr 1, 2020

      A Mile Of Shopping
      7 min read

    • Article

      Huntingburg—An Old Friend

      Dec 30, 2019

      Huntingburg—An Old Friend
      5 min read

    • Article

      My Visit to the Hub City

      Aug 26, 2019

      My Visit to the Hub City
      5 min read

    • Article

      Oldest Operating National Bank

      Jan 2, 2024

      Oldest Operating National Bank
      4 min read

    • Article

      Small Town Colorado Notes

      Oct 4, 2022

      Small Town Colorado Notes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Historic Hummelstown

      Jun 7, 2022

      Historic Hummelstown
      4 min read

    • Article

      Souderton, Pennsylvania Gets Some Banking Competition

      Jan 5, 2021

      For the start of a new year, I looked in my collection for an interesting note, combined with then and now views of the bank, to be the foundation of this article. I still am amazed (and at this point somewhat disgusted) that we are still in the mids

      4 min read

    • Article

      National Banks of Cadiz, Ohio

      Sep 7, 2021

      National Banks of Cadiz, Ohio
      4 min read

    • Article

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma

      Mar 5, 2024

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma
      6 min read

    • Article

      Word On The Street

      Jan 3, 2020

      Word On The Street
      5 min read

    • Article

      Frame Homes

      May 23, 2023

      Frame Homes
      1 min read

    • Article

      Great Notes of the Great Plains

      Oct 5, 2021

      For this month, we’ll travel to the Midwest and visit a couple of towns in the plains of western Kansas. I had visited these locations some years ago and am finally putting together some information on them and their banks. We’ll start in Sherman Cou

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Walking Tour of Downtown Washington - Doug Gelbert

      Look Up, Washington DC! A Walking Tour of Downtown

      a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

      by Doug Gelbert

      published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

      Copyright 2013 by Cruden Bay Books

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

      Geographically, downtown Washington is broadly considered to be anything north of Constitution Avenue - this tour takes in the part of downtown between Pennsylvania Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue between the Capitol and the White House. It is a land of office buildings and hotels, Chinatown and the Verizon Center, home of Washington’s professional indoor sports teams.

      Unlike other large cities in America, Washington’s downtown has a low skyline. In 1899, Congress passed the Heights of Buildings Act in response to the 14-story Cairo apartment tower, which at the time was reviled as a monstrosity overshadowing its Dupont Circle neighborhood. (It is now admired as one

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1