Page 140 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

138  W ASHINGT ON , DC AREA B Y AREA

e Woodrow second term in 1921. Edith Galt
Wilson House Wilson arranged for the home
to be bequeathed to the nation.
2340 S St, NW. Map 2 E1. Tel (202) Since then the building has been
387-4062. q Dupont Circle. Open maintained as it was during the
10am–4pm Tue–Sun (summer: to
8pm Thu). Closed Federal hols. & 8 President’s lifetime, containing
7 ∑ woodrowwilsonhouse.org artifacts from his life, such as his
Rolls-Royce, and reflecting the
Located in the Kalorama style of an upper-middle-class
neighbor hood, the former home home of the 1920s. The house
of Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), today belongs to the National
who served as president from Trust for Historic Preservation.
1913 to 1921, is the only
presi dential museum within
the District of Columbia. r Embassy Row
Wilson led the US through Massachusetts Avenue. Map 2 D1–F2.
The Lincoln Theater, a late-night World War I and advocated q Dupont Circle. See also pp148–9.
entertainment venue on U Street the formation of the League
of Nations, the precursor to Embassy Row stretches along
w 14th and the United Nations. Although Massachusetts Avenue from
U Street NW exhausted by the war effort, Scott Circle toward Observatory
Wilson campaigned tire- Circle. It developed during the
Map 2 G2. q U Street-Cardozo. lessly for the League. Depression when many of
In 1919 he collapsed Washington’s wealthy
The intersection of 14th Street from a stroke and families were forced to
and U Street NW is the gateway became an invalid for sell their mansions
to one of Washington’s most the rest of his life. Many to diplomats, who
vibrant neighborhoods. Until believe that Wilson’s bought them for foreign
the middle of the 20th century, second wife, Edith Galt, missions. Since then,
U Street, once known as Black assumed many of the many new embassies
Broadway, hosted many presidential duties have been built, often
prominent African-American herself (she guided his in the vernacular style
entertainers, including Duke hand when he signed of their native country,
Ellington and Pearl Bailey. documents). Unable to making Embassy Row
They performed at the Lincoln leave his sickbed, Wilson architecturally fascinating.
Theater and the Howard Theater saw his dream, the League Located at No. 2315
as well as in many nightclubs. of Nations, defeated in Massachusetts Avenue,
Known as Automobile Row, the Senate. In 1920 he Statue of Churchill, the Embassy of Pakistan
14th Street was lined with posh was awarded the Nobel British Embassy is an opulent mansion
car showrooms. But after the Peace Prize – small built in 1908, with a
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther consolation for the mansard roof (four steep sloping
King in 1968 both 14th Street failure of the League. sides) and a rounded wall that
and U Street burned in the Wilson and his wife moved hugs the corner.
ensuing riots. Businesses to this town house, designed by Farther down the road, at
fled the area and for decades Waddy B. Wood, at the end of his No. 2349, is the Embassy of
it was left to drug traffick-
ing and crime. In 1997
the well-respected local
company Studio Theatre
bought a derelict car
showroom and construc-
ted a state-of-the-art
performance space.
Restaurants, high-end
apartments, music
venues, and bars
followed. Today,
U and 14th is a thriving
corridor for late night
entertainment. Of note
is the famous Ben’s Chili
Bowl (1213 U Street NW),
a landmark restaurant
established in 1958. An elaborately decorated room in the Georgian Revival Woodrow Wilson House

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm