Judiciary Square

Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses, as well as a number of important federal and municipal office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, H Street NW to the north, 6th Street to the west, and the I-395 access tunnel to the east.

The center of the Judiciary Square neighborhood is an actual plaza by the name of Judiciary Square, so named because it is adjacent to or inclusive of most of the courthouse buildings in the area. The square itself is situated between 4th and 5th Streets, with D Street to the south and F Street to the north.

Among the courts in Judiciary Square are the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; the four buildings of the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse (which houses both the municipal court and the D.C. Court of Appeals); the E. Barrett Prettyman building, which houses United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and the United States Tax Court.

Other buildings and notable landmarks in Judiciary Square are the FBI's Washington field office; the U.S. Department of Labor; the headquarters for the Fraternal Order of Police; the Government Accountability Office (GAO); the Jackson Graham Building, where the Washington Metro transit system is headquartered; the United States Army Corps of Engineers; the National Building Museum, also known as the Old Pension Building; D.C. city offices at One Judiciary Square; the Washington, D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles; the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial; the American Association of Retired Persons headquarters, and monuments to Albert Pike, José de San Martín (which has since been moved to Virginia Avenue), and John Marshall.

An 1868 statue of Abraham Lincoln — the first public monument ever built to Lincoln, funded by Washington residents starting just days after his assassination — stands in the plaza at the south entrance to the "old courthouse" that now houses the D.C. Court of Appeals. Historically, the building was the D.C. City Hall until 1908, when city government moved to the newly built John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. However, Judiciary Square once again became the site of District government between 1997 and 2001, when the Wilson Building was being renovated and the Council and Mayor had temporary chambers and offices in the One Judiciary Square building.

The neighborhood is served by the Judiciary Square station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro.

History

During the first half of the 19th century, Judiciary Square had a heavily residential population. Its proximity to the courthouses drew a number of lawyers, judges, and clerks to the neighborhood, while its location between the White House and the U.S. Capitol made it ideal for government employees. Among its most prominent residents were Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, Vice President John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. As of 2006, however, nearly all of the once plentiful rowhouses in the area were gone, with the remaining houses mostly centered around the intersection of 5th and D Streets.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the eastern side of Judiciary Square became an enclave of Italian immigrants in Washington - the equivalent of a Little Italy (although it was never called that). The Italian neighborhood rested on the eastern edge of the square proper, stretching eastward to about 2nd Street NW. The heart of the community was Holy Rosary Church, a chapel built at 3rd and F Streets NW. [http://www.holyrosarychurchdc.org/churchhistory.html] The neighborhood lasted well into the 20th century, with a particular surge of Italian immigrants in the 1950s and 60s; in the mid 1970s, however, construction of the I-395 northbound extension through the city gutted about half of the neighborhood and forced its remaining residents to move away from the heavy commuter traffic. Today the former Italian enclave is dominated by Federal office buildings and law offices for the trial attorneys who argue in Judiciary Square courthouses, although Holy Rosary Church remains standing and continues to draw a heavily Italian congregation along with its "Casa Italia" cultural center next door.