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Sheridan Circle is a traffic circle and park in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The traffic circle, one of two in the neighborhood, is the intersection of 23rd Street NW, Massachusetts Avenue NW, and R Street NW. The buildings along this stretch of Massachusetts Avenue NW are part of Embassy Row, which runs from Scott Circle to Observatory Circle. Sheridan Circle is a contributing property to the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District and the Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In addition, the equestrian statue of General Philip Sheridan is 1 of 18 Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C., that were collectively listed on the NRHP.
The area around Sheridan Circle did not develop until the 1880s-1890s. Local officials extended Massachusetts Avenue NW past what was then the city's boundary, now Florida Avenue, in hopes of recreating the residential success of Dupont Circle. The Sheridan-Kalorama area was previously home to large estates and country homes. These lands were eventually sold and the traffic circle's name was changed from Decatur Circle, in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur, to Sheridan Circle, in honor of Civil War General Philip Sheridan. It took many years for the equestrian statue of Sheridan to be created, and the dedication of the memorial took place in 1908. By that time, houses were being built around the circle, including the first one, the Alice Pike Barney Studio House.
The remaining homes around the circle were elaborate mansions, designed by some of the top local and national architects. During the Great Depression, some of the residences were sold to foreign countries. This occurred again after World War II and into the 1950s. Some of the embassies and ambassadorial residences facing Sheridan Circle include Romania, Ireland, Greece, Vietnam, Kenya, Egypt, South Korea, Latvia, and Turkey.
Two violent moments that occurred at Sheridan Circle were the assassination of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt by Chile's Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional. Those that took part in the car bomb attack were expatriates who supported Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. There is a small monument by the circle in honor of the two victims. The other violent moment took place in 2017 when clashes broke out between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) supporters and Kurdish separatists who were protesting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The protesters and reporters were beaten by Erdoğan's security detail. The victims later opened a civil case against the Turkish government.
Dupont Circle, a neighborhood to the east, became a fashionable residential area in the 1880s. Development past the Dupont Circle boundaries began that same decade, and by 1887, the lots along Massachusetts Avenue had been plotted. Soon, there were large residences being built along the avenue towards Decatur Circle. In the 1890s, the city's boundary was extended past Rock Creek, but city officials had to build a new bridge over the creek and pave Massachusetts Avenue before further development could occur.
In the years following World War I, there was an explosion in growth of new buildings in the area. Many prominent local and national architects designed palatial residences around Sheridan Circle. During the Great Depression, many of the local residences were sold to foreign nations or various groups. After World War II ended, many of the area residences were renovated into embassies, ambassadorial residences, and attachés.
Examples include the following: the Edward Hamlin Everett House, designed by George Oakley Totten Jr., is the ambassadorial residence for Turkey; the mansion at 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, designed by William Penn Cresson, is the Irish embassy; the mansion at 1607 23rd Street NW, designed by Carrère and Hastings, is the Romanian embassy; the Joseph Beale House, designed by Glenn Brown, is the ambassadorial residence for Egypt; 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, designed by Totten Jr., is the Greek embassy; the Emma S. Fitzhugh House, designed by Wood, Donn & Deming, is the ambassadorial residence for the Philippines; and 2249 R Street NW, designed by Nathan C. Wyeth, is the ambassadorial residence for Kenya. Additional countries who own buildings on the circle include South Korea (consular section) and Lion Building. The American Society of International Law's headquarters is on the east side of the circle at 2223 Massachusetts Avenue NW.
According to news reports, Luis Posada Carriles was at the meeting that decided on Letelier's death and also about the Cubana bombing two weeks later. Letelier and Moffitt are commemorated with a small plaque embedded in the grass along the curb where they died, near the Irish and Romanian embassies. In 2023, Chilean President Gabriel Boric visited the memorial site where he placed flowers.
20th-century
The stone bridge that carried people and goods over Rock Creek on Massachusetts Avenue was replaced with an iron bridge in 1901, which was also replaced in the 1940s and named the Charles C. Glover Memorial Bridge. The large residences built along Massachusetts Avenue were designed by prominent architects from Washington, D.C., as well as ones from other major cities. Most of the residences built around Sheridan Circle were free-standing mansions, occupied by prominent members of society. The first house to be constructed that faced the circle was the Alice Pike Barney Studio House, an eclectic example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, which Alice Pike Barney used as an art studio and residence. Foreign governments also became interested in building stylish, large embassies around the circle.
Sheridan statue
A statue to honor General Sheridan was originally proposed to stand on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue NW near 13th Street NW, at what is now Freedom Plaza. Sheridan's widow advocated to erect the statue at Sheridan Circle instead, with which the statue commission agreed. John Quincy Adams Ward was selected to sculpt the statue. Mrs. Sheridan rejected his original model, saying it was not a good likeness of her husband, and the statue commission rejected Ward's model. The commission and Mrs. Sheridan both approved of a model created by Gutzon Borglum, one that was modeled after Philip Sheridan Jr. The statue and the surrounding park were dedicated on November 27, 1908, and is one of 18 Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C., listed on the NRHP on September 20, 1978, and the DCIHS on March 3, 1979.
Assassination
On September 21, 1976, Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt were killed by a car bomb in the circle. Letelier had been foreign minister in the ousted Salvador Allende government of Chile. The bombing was blamed on Chilean DINA agents. Michael Townley, a DINA U.S. expatriate among those convicted for the crime, confessed that he had hired five anti-Fidel Castro exiles to booby-trap Letelier's car. According to Jean-Guy Allard, after consultations with the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations leadership (including Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch), those selected to carry out the murder were Cuban Americans José Dionisio Suárez, Virgilio Paz Romero, Alvin Ross Díaz, and brothers Guillermo and Ignacio Novo Sampoll.
21st-century
Clashes
On May 16, 2017, dozens of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) supporters and Kurds separatists clashed with Turkish security officials at Sheridan Circle. Turkish security personnel beat journalists and protesters during the skirmish. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visiting the ambassadorial residence on the circle, watched the clashes from a distance. During a civil suit by some of the PKK supporters against the Turkish government, a U.S. judge denied Turkey's citing the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act as to why the case should be dismissed.
Gallery
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