Farragut Square as seen from its
southeast corner, with Connecticut Avenue's office-block canyon
stretching to the northwest behind the statue.
Farragut Square is a
city square in Washington,
D.C.
's Ward 2. It is bordered by
K Street NW on the north, I Street NW to
the south, and on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW,
and it interrupts
Connecticut Avenue NW.
It is
serviced by two stops on the Washington Metro
rail system, Farragut
North
on the Red
Line and Farragut West
on the Blue and Orange lines.
In the center of the square is a statue of
David G. Farragut, a Union
admiral in the
American Civil War famous for rallying
his fleet with the cry, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" He
was the "First Admiral in the Navy." Its only inscription is
"Farragut." The statue was sponsored by an act of
Congress, authorizing $20,000 on
April 16, 1872. It was sculpted by
Vinnie
Hoxie and dedicated April 25, 1881 by
President and Mrs.
James A. Garfield.
The statue of Admiral Farragut, which
was reportedly cast from the propeller of his flagship, the
Hartford.
The statue
and park are maintained by the National Park Service and administered
as part of its National
Mall
and Memorial Parks unit. A proposal to build
an underground parking garage below it was rejected in 1961.
Farragut Square is a hub of
downtown DC, at
the center of a bustling daytime commercial and business district.
The neighborhood includes major hotels, legal and professional
offices, news media offices, travel agencies, and countless
restaurants including two underground food courts. Sometimes events
are scheduled for the lunchtime crowds which gather in and around
the square, such as the free "Farragut Sounds in the Square"
jazz concert series, held every Thursday from
noon to 2 p.m. from July 3 to August 19. With its heavy pedestrian
traffic, it also serves as a popular site for leafletting, TV
camera opinion polls, and for commercial promotions and political
activity such as
canvassing and
demonstrations.
The most prominent institution on the square is the Army Navy Club,
on the southeast. Since the commercial building boom of the 1960s,
there is little residential property in the area, and the square is
mostly quiet after business hours. Many of the sandwich shops and
coffeehouses that cater to neighborhood
workers close before the dinner hour, as do the many street
vendors. In recent years, however, especially since the 2003
rehabilitation of the park, movie screenings and similar evening
activities have become more common, as have nightclubs in adjacent
downtown areas.
The square is a known hangout for bicycle messengers and for
pigeons, sparrows, and a few starlings.
References
- Farragut Square on Google Maps
- Farragut statue
- Statues, Monuments, and Memorials in National
Capital Parks, from National Park Service
External links
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