Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.

Lafayette Square
Aerial view of Lafayette Square (foreground).
Location within Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′58″N 77°02′12″W / 38.899508°N 77.036558°W / 38.899508; -77.036558Coordinates: 38°53′58″N 77°02′12″W / 38.899508°N 77.036558°W / 38.899508; -77.036558
Area	7 acres (2.8 ha)

Lafayette Square is a seven-acre (30,000 m²) public park located within President's Park, Washington, D.C. directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east, and Pennsylvania Avenue. It is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution, and includes a prominent statue of early 19th century President and general Andrew Jackson on horseback. The square and the surrounding structures were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1970.

History

Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette by Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié, 1891.

Planned as part of the pleasure grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, this square was originally called "President's Park", which is now the name of the larger National Park Service unit. In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson had Pennsylvania Avenue cut through the park, separating it from the White House grounds. In 1824, the park was officially renamed in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French military leader whose involvement was crucial in securing victory in the American Revolutionary War.

Lafayette Square has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the War of 1812, and many political protests and celebrations. In 1851, Andrew Jackson Downing landscaped Lafayette Square in the picturesque style.

On February 27th, 1859 Representative Daniel Sickles killed Philip Barton Key II in Lafayette Square. Key had come to the park for an assignation with Sickles' wife, only to be discovered and killed by the congressman.^[1]

The Jackson Memorial (pictured here circa 1900), was erected in Lafayette Park in 1853

Today's plan, with its five large statues, dates from the 1930s. In the center stands Clark Mills' equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, erected in 1853. In the four corners are statues of foreign Revolutionary War heroes: Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette^[2] and Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau of France, Brigadier General Thaddeus Kosciuszko of Poland, and Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben of Prussia.

Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto are founders of the White House Peace Vigil, the longest running anti-nuclear peace vigil in US history, at Lafayette Square.^[3]^[4]

References

↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/05/15/a-few-bad-days-in-washington-d-c-history/
↑ "Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette, (sculpture)". Inventory of American Sculpture, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. Smithsonian American Art Museum. IAS DC000217.
↑ The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue
↑ Colman McCarthy (February 8, 2009). "From Lafayette Square Lookout, He Made His War Protest Permanent". The Washington Post.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C..

White House Complex

White House

Executive
Residence

Basement	Basement Chief Floral Designer

Ground floor	China Room Office of the Curator Diplomatic Reception Room Library Map Room Vermeil Room

State floor	Blue Room Cross Hall East Room Entrance Hall Family Dining Room Grand Staircase Green Room Red Room South Portico State Dining Room Chief Usher

Second floor	Center Hall Dressing Room East Bedroom East Sitting Hall Family Kitchen Lincoln Bedroom Lincoln Sitting Room President's Bedroom President's Dining Room Private Sitting Room Queens' Bedroom Queens' Sitting Room Treaty Room Truman Balcony West Bedroom West Sitting Hall Yellow Oval Room

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East Wing

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Annex

Surrounding streets

15th Street
17th Street
Constitution Avenue
E Street
East Executive Avenue
H Street NW
Hamilton Place
Jackson Place
Madison Place
Pennsylvania Avenue
State Place
West Executive Avenue

Streets of Washington, D.C.

Numbered Streets	7th Street 14th Street 16th Street 18th Street

Lettered Streets	H Street K Street M Street P Street U Street

State-named roadways	Connecticut Florida Georgia Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia Wisconsin

Border avenues and streets	Capitol Streets North East South Border Avenues Western Eastern Southern Mall Boundaries Constitution Independence

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Circles	Anna J. Cooper Barney Benjamin Banneker Chevy Chase Columbus Dupont Garfield Grant Lincoln Memorial Logan Observatory Peace Pinehurst Randle Scott Sheridan Sherman Tenley Thomas Ward Washington Westmoreland

Squares	Farragut Franklin Freedom Lafayette Lincoln McPherson Mount Vernon Seward Stanton Union

Parkways	Clara Barton George Washington Memorial Oxon Run Rock Creek & Potomac Suitland

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