Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., in the United States, the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, H Street to the north, 6th Street to the west, and 3rd Street to the east. The center of the neighborhood is an actual plaza named Judiciary Square. The Square itself is bounded by 4th Street to the east, 5th Street to the west, D Street and Indiana Avenue to the south, and F Street to the north. The neighborhood is served by the Judiciary Square station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro, in addition to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus stops.
The Square was included in the 1791 L'Enfant Plan, which planned the layout of the nation's new capital. The plans were slightly altered during the following years. Development in the neighborhood was slow during the first half of the 19th century. There were only a few shanties and a small hospital utilized by recent immigrants. When construction of the District of Columbia City Hall began in 1820, it led to an increase in development around the Square. Houses and places of worship were built, including the First Unitarian Church (now the All Souls Church, Unitarian). Other denominations soon followed with building impressive structures, such as Trinity Episcopal Church.
The area became a fashionable place to live, despite many lots on the northern side being undeveloped, and Goose Creek passing through the neighborhood. Prominent residents during the 19th-century include Vice President John C. Calhoun, statesman Daniel Webster, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Roger B. Taney, and architect Charles Bulfinch. During the Civil War, the buildings and open lots around the Square were commandeered to treat wounded Union soldiers. At the beginning of the war, the Square's hospital was destroyed in a fire, so another hospital opened on the Square. There was also a large brick jail on the Square, that probably hindered development in the vicinity. After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, local citizens raised money to install a statue of Lincoln that became the nation's first memorial to the slain president.
Alexander "Boss" Shepherd improved many areas of the neighborhood by having the streets graded and paved, sewer lines installed, and adding landscaping, which created a park-like setting in the Square. A massive new building on the north side of the Square, the Pension Building, was completed in 1887. By that time the residents in the neighborhood were mostly lawyers, doctors, professors, and other white-collar professions, due to the proximity of the city hall, hospital, and Columbian College, now known as George Washington University. The installation of streetcars resulted in further development. It was around this time, several older buildings on 4 1/2 Street were demolished and replaced with John Marshall Park. During the 20th century, the area became less residential, especially after the construction of multiple judicial buildings. Most prominent citizens had already left the area to live in more fashionable neighborhoods. The area became mostly a neighborhood where office and judicial employees worked. With the construction of the Judiciary Square station, there was a sharp increase in commercial development. The largest project, Capitol Crossing, began in the 21st century.
There are many public artworks in the neighborhood, in addition to the Lincoln statue. The list includes the Darlington Memorial Fountain, George Gordon Meade Memorial, and Chief Justice John Marshall. Most of the neighborhood is listed as contributing properties to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, and the Square itself is included in the historic landmark designation for the L'Enfant Plan. Additional historic buildings besides City Hall and the Pension Building include the Adas Israel Synagogue, the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, Germuiller Row, and the Henry Daly Building.
Location The Judiciary Square plaza, which encompasses , is on Squares 487E, 488E, and 489E, and is bounded by 4th Street to the east, 5th Street to the west, D Street and Indiana Avenue to the south, and F Street to the north. The Judiciary Square neighborhood, which encompasses Squares 486, 488, 489, 490, 518, 529, 531, and 533, is roughly bounded by C Street, Constitution Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, 3rd and 4th Street to the east, G Street to the north, and 6th Street to the west. Along the north side of the Square is the Judiciary Square station of the Washington Metro.
Many of the structures in the Square are judicial buildings, owned by either the federal or local government, as was originally planned in the early history of the neighborhood. The neighborhood includes additional judicial and municipal buildings, commercial buildings, residential properties, and a church. South of the Square is John Marshall Park, which provides nearby workers a place to gather. Two buildings to the west of the park are the Embassy of Canada and the former Newseum, both of which are modern structures.
Additional modern structures in the neighborhood include the Judiciary Square station entrance, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and associated National Law Enforcement Museum, the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, Engine Company No. 2, John Marshall Park and its statues, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, although it incorporates the façades of several historic buildings.
History 18th century
When the decision was made to create a new capital city after the Revolutionary War, President George Washington selected engineer and architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design it. The L'Enfant Plan was presented in 1791, which included numerous large squares, connected by avenues. In L'Enfant's plan, the area that become Judiciary Square was Reservation 7 on land owned by David Burnes, and one of the largest out of the original 17 parcels included in his plan. It was designed to be three square blocks, in an area that would be home to the United States Supreme Court Building and other judicial buildings. The plan was to create a design that would form a triangle between the United States Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court Building.
After L'Enfant was fired and replaced with Andrew Ellicott, there were several changes made to the Square's plans, including size of the Square, removing building sites, and adding cross-through streets. The neighborhood around the planned Square was on sloping land that gradually reached street level at Pennsylvania Avenue. Goose Creek ran diagonally through the Square in addition to another tributary of the creek entering from the north.
Another plan for the city was completed in 1797 by James R. Dermott. Washington and President John Adams both selected this plan, which was more cohesive and did not include planned buildings, to be the final draft. The map includes the name, Judiciary Square, which does not appear on the L'Enfant Plan or Ellicott Plan.
19th century Development was slow around the Square. By 1802, there were six shanties occupied by Irish immigrants on the southern edge of the Square. There was also a small hospital around the Square to treat immigrants workers. That building was later converted into a poorhouse. The last building around the square at that time was a barn, which housed prisoners waiting to be transferred to other facilities. In 1802, the U.S. Congress ordered local government official Daniel Brent to construct a jail, later nicknamed the McGurck Jail after a murderer was confined there until his execution, in the center of the Square. George Hadfield designed the $8,000 two-story building.
Robert King produced a fourth version of a city map which showed Judiciary Square as rectangular. The first major building erected in the area was the District of Columbia City Hall, designed by Hadfield, which was constructed from 1820 to the 1840s. Despite the building not being completed, the city government and circuit court for Washington County, D.C., moved into it beginning in 1822. After city hall came into use, there was development in the neighborhood. Architect James Hoban lived in a house on the corner of 5th and D Streets. The city's registrar, William Hewitt, built a large home near 6th and D Streets, a few doors down from architect Charles Bulfinch.
The First Unitarian Church, designed by Bulfinch and now known as All Souls Church, Unitarian, was built in 1822 at the corner of 6th and D Streets. Other buildings constructed in the 1820s include a Masonic Temple and First Presbyterian Church, located on 4 1/2th Street, the Wesley Methodist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, designed by James Renwick Jr., the American Theater, and public baths. The area's houses of worship were numerous. In addition to the aforementioned churches, German immigrants built St. Mary Mother of God Church and a synagogue for the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Years later, the Adas Israel Synagogue was built at 6th and G Streets by Eastern European and Russian Jews.
A new jail designed by Robert Mills was built on the northeast corner of the Square in 1839, replacing the one built in 1802. The former jail was renovated into the Washington Infirmary Hospital, operated by Columbian College, now known as George Washington University. A few years later public school Fifth Street Schoolhouse was built near the hospital. In 1840, the Rittenhouse Academy opened at 3rd Street and Indiana Avenue, which was a sign that area residents could afford tuition.
In the following decades, Judiciary Square had a heavily residential population. By the 1850s-1860s, its proximity to the courthouses attracted lawyers, judges, and clerks to the neighborhood, while its location between the White House and the Capitol made it ideal for government employees. Among its most prominent residents around this time were Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Senator Thomas Hart Benton, Vice President John C. Calhoun, statesman Daniel Webster, and Mayor Richard Wallach. There were still many empty lots on the north and east sides of the Square during this period, possibly due to the sloping terrain or proximity to the jail.
During the Civil War, the buildings surrounding the Square were commandeered by the federal government and used as medical facilities for wounded Union soldiers. The Washington Infirmary Hospital was also converted into a military hospital. Tragedy struck on November 3, 1861, when a fire broke out inside the hospital, resulting in several deaths. A new hospital, U.S. General Hospital, was constructed in the Square, as was the nearby Providence Hospital, which survived for almost 100 years. One building constructed during the war and faced the Square contained a small library, founded by Elida B. Rumsey, and her fiancé, John A Fowle. Congress allocated money for them to construct a one-story building on the Square to use as a library, which was completed on their wedding day in 1863.
As the war continued in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, shocking the city's residents. An association was soon formed to raise money for a monument to the slain president. On the three year anniversary of Lincoln's death, the statue of Abraham Lincoln by sculptor Lot Flannery was installed in front of City Hall, becoming the first monument in the nation honoring Lincoln.