Page 138 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

136  W ASHINGT ON , DC AREA B Y AREA

and the navigational arts)
supporting a marble basin.
The park area around the
fountain draws a cross section
of the community – chess
players engrossed in their
games, cyclists pausing at
the fountain, picnickers, and
tourists taking a break from
sightseeing. Do not stray into
the Circle after dark as it may
not be safe at night.
In the early 20th century
the Dupont Circle area was
a place of grand mansions.
Its fortunes then declined
The elaborate fountain at the heart of the Dupont Circle intersection until the 1970s, when
Washingtonians began to
8 Iwo Jima Statue 9 Dupont Circle buy the decaying buildings.
(US Marine Corps Map 2 F2 & 3 A1. q Dupont Circle. The district is now filled with
Memorial) art galleries, bars, restaurants,
This area to the north of the and bookstores. The old
Meade St, between Arlington National White House gets its name Victorian buildings have
Cemetery & Arlington Blvd. Map 1 B5. from the fountain and is at the been divided into apartments,
q Rosslyn. 7 intersection of Massachu setts, restored as single family homes,
Connecticut, and New or converted into small office
The horrific battle of Iwo Jima Hampshire Avenues, buildings. Dupont Circle was
that took place during World and 19th Street, also the birthplace of
War II was captured by photo ­ NW. At the heart the LGBT movement
grapher Joe Rosenthal. His of this traffic in the city in the
Pulitzer Prize­winning picture island is the early 1960s and
of five Marines and a Navy Francis Dupont 70s, but now
Corpsman raising the American Memorial there are only
flag on the tiny Pacific island Fountain, named a few gay bars
came to symbolize in the for the first naval Playing chess in and clubs left in
American psyche the heroic hero of the Civil War, Dupont Circle the neighborhood.
struggle of the American forces Admiral Samuel Francis
in the war against Japan. Dupont. Built by his family, 0 National
This image was magni ficently the original memorial was a Geographic
translated into bronze bronze statue that was moved
by sculptor Felix eventually to Wilmington, Museum
DeWeldon and paid Delaware. The present marble 1145 17th St at M St, NW. Map 3 B2.
for by private donations. fountain, which was Tel (202) 857­7700. q Farragut North,
The three surviving soldiers constructed in 1921, Farragut West. Open 10am–6pm
from Rosenthal’s photograph has four figures daily. Closed Dec 25. & 7 =
actually posed for DeWeldon; (which represent ∑ nationalgeographic.com/
the other three men, however, the sea, the museum
had been killed in further wind, the
fighting on the islands. stars, This small museum is located
The Iwo Jima Memorial in the National Geographic
is dedicated to all Society’s headquarters,
members of the designed by Edward Durrell
Marine Corps Stone, the architect behind
who have died The Kennedy Center. A series
defending their of permanent and temporary
country. exhibitions documents the
richness of nature and the
diversity of human culture all
over the world. Past exhibitions
include the “Terra­Cotta
Warriors” and an
exploration of the
Golden Age of
A poignant memorial to the men who died in the battle of Iwo Jima the pharaohs.

136-137_EW_Washington.indd 136 04/04/17 2:39 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm