Penn Quarter is a neighborhood in the East End of Downtown Washington, D.C. north of Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Its boundaries are not well established, but they appear to extend along F Street NW from 5th to 10th Streets, and approximately H Street on the north where Penn Quarter abuts or partially overlaps with Chinatown. Penn Quarter is southeast of the Metro Center shopping district. Penn Quarter has been rejuvenated over the past several decades, stimulated first by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC) and later, following the recession in the 1990s, by the Verizon Center, a sports, concert and event arena that opened nearby at 7th and F streets in 1997 as the MCI Center. Penn Quarter now boasts a variety of entertainment and commercial establishments including museums, theaters, restaurants, bars, and contemporary art galleries. The area is also home to a popular farmers market and several food, wine, art, and culture focused festivals.
Revitalization
Penn Quarter's initial growth occurred under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation whose Pennsylvania Avenue Plan called for a mixed-use neighborhood. It was to include residences, offices, theaters and other cultural venues, retail, hotels, and restaurants in both new and renovated buildings framing new parks and plazas. Revitalization started with a number of developments west of the FBI Building to 15th Street, most significantly the renovation of what today is the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, and the creation of new parks and plazas, including Pershing Park, Freedom Plaza, and the Navy Memorial. Market Square, The Pennsylvania, and the former flagship store of Lansburgh's department store on 7th Street were at the forefront of the revitalization efforts east of the FBI Building beginning in the mid-1980s. The nearby Verizon Center, which opened in 1997, stimulated the revitalization of adjacent blocks to the north and east and the Penn Quarter neighborhood to the south.
Penn Quarter is home to many restaurants, cultural, and entertainment venues in Washington, D.C. On Thursday afternoons in spring, summer, and fall, the FRESHFARM Penn Quarter farmers market is open on 8th Street, just south of E Street. The Newseum is located at the intersection of 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The building also includes offices and television studio space, The Source restaurant by Wolfgang Puck, and the Newseum Residences, an apartment rental community. The neighborhood is served by a variety of recreational and entertainment facilities including seven theaters, Lucky Strike bowling and several exercise clubs. Other neighborhood amenities include several coffee shops and a teahouse / restaurant on 8th Street; three salons with day spas; the nearby Landmark E Street Cinema, which screens independent films; Regal Theater; and shops selling clothing, jewelry, ice cream, and books, among other things. Over the past thirty years the neighborhood has transformed from a sleepy, nondescript part of downtown into a vibrant 24-hour residential and commercial community.
Notable places
Attractions located in or near Penn Quarter include:
- Calvary Baptist Church
- Canadian Embassy
- Crime & Punishment Museum
- Ford's Theatre & Booth Alley
- Goethe-Institut
- International Spy Museum
- J. Edgar Hoover Building â€" FBI headquarters
- Lansburgh's historic flagship department store building â€" now defunct
- Madame Tussauds Washington D.C.
- Marian Koshland Science Museum â€" National Academy of Sciences
- National Museum of Women in the Arts
- National Building Museum
- National Portrait Gallery
- Newseum â€" Freedom Forum
- Petersen House
- Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Harman Center for the Arts â€" includes the Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Surratt House â€" now Wok 'n Roll Restaurant
- U.S. Navy Memorial
- Verizon Center
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Transportation
Penn Quarter is served by the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter, Metro Center, Judiciary Square, and Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro stations, Metrobus, and the DC Circulator, which connects Georgetown, Union Station, and the attractions on the National Mall to Penn Quarter.
References
Further reading
- Zibart, Eve "Penn Ultimate", Washington Post September 10, 2004. [1]
External links
