Meridian Hill Park

If you approach DC from the 95 corridor, get off the Beltway at the Georgia Avenue exit and follow the signs  south for 16th Street. You will notice as you drive down the long hill that first the crossing streets have the names of trees followed by descending alphabet names. 

First triple syllable then double. At Euclid Street NW, you will see Meridian Hill Park on your left. An Italian Style park built between 1910 and 1936 noted for the use of exposed aggregate concrete. The site was originally the mansion of John Porter built in 1819 and in 1829 it became the home of President John Quincy Adams after he left the White House.

It is so named, because it was the exact longitude of the original District of Columbia milestone marker placed on 1 April 1791. After many years of neglect, the park is slowly being restored. Hopefully the cascading fountain will be turned on again. At the south east corner of the park there is a statue of the fifteenth president of the United States, James Buchanan.

Funds for the statue were a bequeath from his niece and acting First Lady, Harriet Lane Johnston, It was commissioned by Congress in 1916 and after many years, it was finally dedicated on 26 June 1930. 

If you approach the park from the south, walk up 16th Street from the White House and marvel at what we’re large homes and apartments built at the turn of the Twentieth Century. 

After your tour return via 14th Street and take a well deserved break at one of the restaurants that line both sides of the street.