Pennsylvania Avenue

Pennsylvania Avenue is an important street in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The street runs for seven miles inside Washington, but the stretch from the White House to the United States Capitol building is considered the most important as effectively the 'heart' of the city. It continues on the other side of the Capitol for many miles, through the Capitol Hill neighborhood, over the Anacostia River on the John Philip Sousa Bridge, and well into Prince George's County, Maryland, where, in addition to its street name, it is designated Maryland State Highway 4. Similarly the street continues northwest past the White House ending in Georgetown. Called "America's Main Street," it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches and civilian protests.

Laid out by Pierre L'Enfant, Pennsylvania Avenue was one of the earliest streets constructed in the federal city. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson considered the Avenue an important feature of the new Capital. After inspecting L'Enfant's plan, President Washington referred to the thoroughfare as a "Grand Avenue." Jefferson concurred, and while the "grand avenue" was little more than a wide dirt road, he planted it with rows of fast growing Lombardy poplars. The symbolically important street was named for Pennsylvania as consolation for moving the capital from Philadelphia.

Although Pennsylvania Avenue extends seven miles, the expanse between the White House and the Capitol constitutes the ceremonial heart of the nation. Washington called this stretch "most magnificent & most convenient" and it has served the country well. At one time, Pennsylvania Avenue provided an unobstructed view between the White House and the Capitol. The construction of an expansion to the Treasury Building blocked this view and supposedly President Andrew Jackson did this on purpose. Relations between the president and Congress were strained and Jackson did not want to see the Capitol out his window.

Ever since an impromptu procession formed around Jefferson's second inauguration, each United States president, except Ronald Reagan has paraded down the Avenue after taking the oath of office (Reagan paraded down the first time, in 1981, but didn't do so the second time, in 1985, because of freezing cold temperatures, which high winds made dangerous). From William Henry Harrison to Lyndon Johnson the funeral corteges of seven of the eight presidents who died in office and a former president followed this route. Franklin Roosevelt was the only president who died in office whose cortege didn't follow this route. Lyndon Johnson was the only former president whose funeral cortege followed this route because it was along the route from the Capitol to the National City Christian Church, where he worshipped often, because the funeral was held there. Abraham Lincoln's funeral cortege solemnly proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1865, and only weeks later the end of the American Civil War was celebrated when the Army of the Potomac paraded more joyously down the street.

Not just the scene of official functions, Pennsylvania Avenue is the traditional parade and protest route of ordinary citizens. During the depression of the 1890s, for example, Jacob Coxey marched 500 supporters down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to demand Federal aid for the unemployed. Similarly, on the eve of Woodrow Wilson's 1913 inauguration, Alice Paul masterminded a parade highlighting the women's suffrage movement. In July 1932, a contingent of the Bonus Expeditionary Force carried flags down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House where they planned to form picket lines. Pennsylvania Avenue also has served as a background for more lighthearted celebrations, including a series of day and nighttime Shriner's parades in the 1920s and 1930s.

Other locations of interest along Pennsylvania Avenue include the Old Post Office Pavilion, the National Theatre, and the Renwick Gallery. The Warner Theatre uses a Pennsylvania Avenue mailing address, although the theater itself is nearby on 13th Street.

Security measures

After the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, the Secret Service closed the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to vehicular traffic. Pedestrian traffic, however, was still permitted. After the September 11, 2001 attacks this policy was made permanent. Near the White House traffic is redirected to H Street or Constitution Avenue both of which eventually link back with Pennsylvania Avenue. However, pedestrian traffic along Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House is now back. Plans drafted by District officials after the September 11th attacks call for Pennsylvania Avenue downtown being used as a dividing line for any mass evacuation of the city. People north of the avenue would be directed north while those south of the avenue would directed south. No vehicles would be allowed to cross the avenue.

Portions of this article are from the Library of Congress's American Memory project. [1] (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may23.html)

External link

• Pennsylvania Avenue restoration project (http://www.whitehouse.gov/pennproject/index.html)

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