The Old Korean Legation, prominently located on the north side of Logan Circle, was initially a private residence designed by Thomas M. Plowman in the Second Empire style and constructed by Joseph Williams in 1877. Seth Ledyard Phelps, a veteran of the Civil War who also served as a DC Commissioner and Minister to Peru, resided here until 1885, when he passed away.
The United States and Korea established formal diplomatic relations that same decade, in 1882, with Korea sending its first permanent diplomatic envoy, Park Jeong-yang (Pak Chung Yang), to Washington five years later. Korea's presence in a growing, international city furthered its assertion of sovereign status, separate from China. After a short stint at a property that is no longer standing (located at 1513 O Street NW), the Korean Legation moved into the former Phelps Residence in 1889. Korea purchased the property two years later.
During its years of operation, the Korean Legation supported Korean students who enrolled at U.S. universities, including the George Washington University and Howard University in Washington. Additionally, a program for Korean students was established at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, where over 30 Korean students eventually attended, including Korean independence activist Kim Gyu-sik (Kimm Kiusic).
Other important individuals associated with the first diplomatic envoy in the 1880s and the Korean Legation between 1887 and 1905, include: Seo Gwang-beom, who, amongst many other accomplishments, helped document Korean music through wax cylinder recordings that can now be found at the Library of Congress; Seo Jae-Pil (Philip Jaisohn), who was the first Korean immigrant to gain American citizenship and the first Korean immigrant to obtain a medical degree from a U.S. university, and who also organized the first overseas Korean independence movement; and Syngman Rhee, who was also involved in the overseas independence movement and became the Republic of Korea's first president in 1948.
At the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), Korea's sovereignty from China was recognized. However, Korea soon found itself in the middle of Russian and Japanese conflict, which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Following Japan's victory, a treaty was forced on Korea in 1905, resulting in the closure of the Korean Legation that same year. By 1910, Japan had annexed Korea. That year, a Japanese minister sold the former legation building to a private American citizen. Over the following years, the closed legation inspired independence activists and the wider Korean diaspora.
After serving as a private residence, the building housed the Local 639 (Teamsters Union) headquarters and then served as an office for the National Council of Negro Women. Between 1977 and 2012, it was, once again, a private residence, at which time the Republic of Korea purchased the former legation – 107 years after its closure. From 2015 to 2018, Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration restored the property to its 1889 to 1905 appearance. It is now open as the Old Korean Legation Museum.
The three-story Old Korean Legation, clad in red brick masonry, is located on Logan Circle behind a short iron and steel fence. The primary facade, facing 13th Street NW, includes two projecting bays and a central tower with a pair of oval windows in its steep mansard roof. The tower is the location of the main entrance – a pair of wood and glass paneled doors located at the top of a staircase, just behind the porte-cochère. The south elevation along Logan Circle has a semi-circular projecing bay (and chimney) and double-story porch that is enclosed on the first floor and open on the second. Just north of the building's projecting bay is a small garden, recently completed. Its most prominent feature is a bullomon (a carved stone gate), which symbolizes Korean-American relations.
The building, in line with its Second Empire styling, has window hoods, decorative brackets supporting the cornice, and a mansard roof clad with slate and topped with cast-iron cresting. Both the exterior and interior exhibit details from the era's Eastlake Movement.
The building's metal and granite porte-cochère, accessed by a semicircular driveway from 13th Street, was added by the Korean government in 1891. Due to a street widening, it was demolished in 1950. During the 2015 to 2018 restoration, it was reconstructed – thanks in-part to guidance from an 1893 photograph. The porte-cochère pediment includes a symbol from the Korean flag (Taegeukgi).
DC Inventory: July 25, 2024
National Register: September 9, 2024
Within Logan Circle Historic District and Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District
This site is a part of the Finding Asian American History in Washington DC digital tour.
]]>This row house is notable for its significance as the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and as the DC residence of Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), educator and civil rights leader. The row house transitioned from a single-family home for the upper-middle class in the late-nineteenth century to a boarding house and shop in the early twentieth century. The house was the headquarters of the NCNW from the 1940s to the 1960s. Comprised of fifteen rooms, one kitchen, and two bathrooms, the Council House served as the headquarters for NCNW, Mary McLeod Bethune’s residence until 1949, and guest accommodations for out-of-town visitors.
In January 1966, a fire damaged the Council House. While the building’s core remained intact, extensive water and smoke damage forced the NCNW to relocate. For nearly eleven years, the house lay dormant. It was not until 1975, when the Council House was listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, that the NCNW successfully raised funds needed to renovate and restore both the main and carriage houses. In the fall of 1977, the Bethune Historical Development Project began, and in November 1979, the home reopened to the public as a museum and archives for the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Black women’s history. Today, the headquarters still function as a museum and archive, administered by the National Park Service. Each transition exemplifies the shifting nature of the Logan Circle area. During the past century, this neighborhood changed from an affluent, nearly all-white community to an enclave of the Black elite, and finally, to a racially diverse district. Bethune’s association with the house made it a center of activity in the 1940s as a meeting place for the NCNW and prominent figures, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Church Terrell.
DC Inventory: May 9, 1975
National Register: October 15, 1982
National Historic Site: December 11, 1991
Within Logan Circle and Greater Fourteenth Street Historic Districts
This site is included on the Women's Suffrage in Washington DC for its connection to the National Council of Negro Women and their efforts to make voting more accessible to Black women.
]]>Designed by R.G. Russel in the High Victorian Gothic style, this large red brick building stands as the only nonresidential building in the Logan Circle Historic District, and is the only structure listed as a designated landmark in its own right.
After extensive planning, the building was constructed between 1882 and 1884 as the Vermont Avenue Christian Church. President James A. Garfield stood as a member of the congregation and served on the building committee--after his assasination in 1881, the site was dedicated in his honor. Two years after his death, his widow, Lucretia R. Garfield, donated the rose window that stretches over the entryway and choir loft.
Various congregations passed through and used the church, with the current group (Mount Olivet) acquiring the property in 1953. The members of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement, hosting Martin Luther King Jr., distributing food and supplies after the 1960s Riots, and participating in the Solidarity Day Parade.
Today, the Mount Olivet Lutheran Church continues to operate as a place of spiritual engagement and community support.
DC Inventory: July 24, 1968 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within the Logan Circle Historic District and the Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District.
]]>This equestrian statue honors John A. Logan, a politician and veteran of the Mexican–American War and Civil War. The monument is located in the center of Logan Circle, a small public park and traffic circle at the intersection of 13th Street, P Street, Rhode Island Avenue and Vermont Avenue, N.W. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, John Logan was elected to the Illinois State Senate and later the U.S. House of Representatives. On April 2, 1862, he resigned from Congress and entered the U.S. Army as a Colonel. Despite entering the army from civilian life, Logan was regarded as a competent officer and outstanding field commander. After the war, Logan returned to Washington and resumed his career in politics. He was reelected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican and later to the U.S. Senate. Shortly after Logan's death in 1886, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee (SAT) began working on plans to erect a monument in his honor. Congress agreed to help provide funding for the project, and approved plans for the monument on March 2, 1889. Franklin Simmons, an American artist working in Rome, was chosen to be the sculptor. The monument was installed in what was then known as Iowa Circle and formally dedicated on April 9, 1901. General Logan is depicted as a man of dignity and determination. He sits erect on his horse with his sword drawn. Allegorical figures on the north and south ends represent War and Peace, and the statue’s long sides contain bas-reliefs of important scenes from the general’s life. The panel on the west shows Logan presiding over a council of war. The eastern panel depicts the General receiving the senatorial oath of office. Except for the sub-base of pink granite, this elaborate memorial is made entirely of bronze.
Part of Civil War Monuments
DC Inventory: March 3, 1979
National Register: September 20, 1978
Within Logan Circle Historic District and Fourteenth Street Historic District
]]>The Logan Circle Historic District appears much the same today as it did when it first developed during the last years of the 19th century. Although a large number of these impressive single-family townhouses have now been converted into apartments and rooming houses, very few exterior changes have been made. In contrast to other late 19th century neighborhoods, where demolition, rebuilding, and "rehabilitation" have stripped away much of the period character, half a century of neglect in Logan Circle has left the area deteriorated, but remarkably intact. Demolition has been confined to three structures, and in most cases even such small but important atmospheric details as iron fences and handrails remain in their original form.
The Logan Circle Historic District is an example of a prosperous, late‑19th century residential neighborhood constructed around one of the L'Enfant circles and is a remarkably coherent example of architectural expression from the gaslight era. Many of the buildings in this district date from about 1875 to 1900 and are large, individually designed brick and stone houses that create a continuous street facade of Late Victorian and Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Approximately 135 contributing buildings make up the district.
DC Listing (preliminary identification): November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
DC Inventory: March 28, 1972
National Register: June 30, 1972
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