Meridian Hill Park

After the interest shown in my post about the old yellow mansion, I thought I would share some more pictures of Meridian Hill Park and a little of its' history.Also known as 'Malcolm X Park', the park was officially named Meridian Hill because it was on the exact longitude of the original District of Columbia milestone marker. This land has had many purposes over the years, including being home to the campus of George Washington University (known as Columbian college at the time).

The park is large, 14 acres, and lies between 15th & 16th streets NW running north and south and W & Euclid streets in Columbia Heights, not far from Dupont circle. Dc is known for some of it's art deco apartment buildings, including this one on 16th street facing the park.Many grand old mansions line this part of town which mostly now house embassies and organization headquarters.The lucky ones are really kept up well and retain a lot of their original details, such as this canopy on one embassy bordering the park.I've always loved this community group building which looks a lot like an English country manor plopped down in the city!

The concrete work is made up of very small patterns of stones or aggregate -a very rough texture popular in the 1930s at the time of the parks inception.Love these obelisks too!

This fine bronze statue of Joan of Arc from 1922 is a copy of one done by Paul Dubois. It was donated by the 'Ladies of France in Exile in New York' (isn't that a bit odd -who were they and how did it end up in DC I wonder?).

This marble statue of 'Serenity' by Jose Clara has seen better days but retains her serene composure.

The park is planned formally with a series of fountains and rows of trees surrounding a lawn on the upper half of the park and terraced water gardens on the lower half (seen at the top of the post).

On lucky days the fountains play and drown out the sound of cars rushing by. An oasis in the middle of urban DC!