MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
Mt Vernon Square to Union Station
North Capitol Avenue to 2nd Street NE

Sanborn, 1904	Today

Union Station	Columbus Circle

This area, which is dominated by Union Station and Columbus Plaza, serves as an entry point to the District of Columbia. The McMillan Commission proposed the station as the first endeavor of its grand plan of 1902; they hoped that a ceremon ial train station might impose order on the capital city. As built by Daniel Burnham in 1908, Union Station constitutes one of the largest public spaces ever created in the United States. The station experienced its heyday between the first and second W orld Wars, serving approximately 300 trains a day and functioning as the starting point for presidential inaugurations. After a period of neglect in the 1970s and 1980s, the station was restored in 1988 and today hosts a multi-modal transportation center , food court, movie complex, and shopping gallery.

The City Post Office, Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, and Columbus Memorial Fountain comprise the remainder of Columbus Plaza. The City Post Office (which was built in 1914) flanks Union Station to the west and was set f orth in the 1902 McMillan Plan’s intention to line the avenues with monumental buildings of uniform classical facades. Its white Italianate marble façade and projecting entranceway complement Union Station’s architectural motif. In 1992, the City Post O ffice was converted to the National Postal Museum and Capital City Brewery and today is a thriving place on the avenue.

City Post Office

The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, which was built in 1992, completes Burnham’s master plan for the plaza. The Columbus Memorial Fountain, which serves as the plaza’s centerpiece, was designed by Burnham and the sculptor Lora do Taft and was dedicated in 1912. The Fountain, automobile circle, and the flag display surrounding the plaza’s periphery function together to celebrate ones arrival to and exit from the station grounds. Transitioning from the plaza, six lawned quads r adiate from the Fountain to create an open, park-like setting that frames interior views to the station and elevates the dominance of the building masses. By further improving its characteristics as an urban park through the use of plantings and by incr easing its visual connection to the Capitol along Delaware Avenue, Union Station and Columbus Plaza will enhance its role as a gateway to the City.