Riding the L2? (From Chevy Chase Circle to Farragut Square)

Ambling up and down one of DC’s leading thoroughfares, the L2 Metrobus’s path along Connecticut Avenue covers major ground in the northwest section of the city. In the years following World War I, Connecticut Avenue developed into a major residential and commercial corridor, with high-style apartment buildings popping up along the avenue. Residents were able to move farther away from downtown and commute using public transportation – first on streetcars, then on buses, and eventually on Metrorail – or their own vehicles.


As one of the neighborhoods found along the DC/Maryland state line, Chevy Chase is one of many streetcar suburbs developed to house residents farther from downtown. It became more popular as streetcar lines extended into Maryland, with bridge construction across the Rock Creek and Klingle valleys allowing for pedestrian, streetcar, and automobile traffic to easily pass through. The neighborhood is known for its apartment buildings on Connecticut Avenue, as well as single-family homes found along the adjacent tree-lined streets. The neighborhood also includes numerous businesses, including some that are housed in historic landmarks: the Chevy Chase (Avalon) Theater, Chevy Chase Savings Bank, and Chevy Chase Arcade (the latter of which includes a rare interior landmark designation).


Moving south through Van Ness and Cleveland Park, more architecturally-significant apartment buildings contribute to the residential character and density of the avenue, such as the Ponce de Leon, Tilden Hall, 3901 Connecticut Avenue, Sedgwick Gardens, and the Kennedy-Warren. Cleveland Park, another early streetcar suburb, includes a commercial strip of restaurants and shops that is anchored by the famous Art Moderne style Uptown Theater, designed by John J. Zink and completed in 1936.


Continuing over the Klingle Valley Bridge, the L2 passes by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and through the Woodley Park Historic District. The bus then makes its only detour from Connecticut Avenue, turning east onto Calvert Street and passing over the Duke Ellington Bridge, which crosses the Rock Creek Valley. Here, the L2 crosses paths with the 90 and 96 Metrobus routes, which carry passengers across the city in a southeast-northwest direction. The L2 then moves southwest along Columbia Road, passing through the Adams Morgan neighborhood (which includes the Kalorama Triangle and Washington Heights historic districts), before rejoining Connecticut Avenue at the curving concrete of the Brutalist style Washington Hilton.


After rejoining Connecticut Avenue, the L2 moves through the Dupont Circle Historic District – a long-time commercial destination for both locals and tourists – and makes its way downtown. South of the circle, Connecticut Avenue becomes much more commercial in character, with many office buildings visible through the bus’s windows, as well as famous Washington landmarks like the Mayflower Hotel. Approaching Farragut Square, commemorative monuments, like the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial, come into view. Finally, arriving at Farragut Square, a popular public park with the Admiral David G. Farragut Statue at its center, the bus makes its final stop before making the trek back up to Chevy Chase Circle.


This tour hopes to draw your attention to the historic and architecturally-significant gems along the L2 Metrobus route. Start at the historic site that’s closest to you! If you’re traveling southeast on the L2, click “Next” to follow along. If you’re traveling northwest, click “Previous."

Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain

As the discussion around who and why a person receives a memorial continues, the Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain serves as one example of changing opinions regarding a person’s legacy. Commissioned by his wife, Edith McAllister Newlands…

Chevy Chase Theater (Avalon Theater)

Built in 1922 by noted local architects Upman and Adams, the Chevy Chase Theater reflects a "high-style" example of a neighborhood movie house. The main auditorium features a stage, organ screens, and proscenium characteristic of movie theaters built…

Chevy Chase Savings Bank

As more people moved to DC in the early 20th century, newly-established neighborhoods, like Chevy Chase, drew local businesses, including banks to deposit and withdraw money, to support the neighborhoods’ local residents. Many banks were located…

Chevy Chase Arcade (and Interior of Arcade)

A notable landmark in the Chevy Chase commercial strip, the Chevy Chase Arcade was planned by the Chevy Chase Land Company as one of four business centers, alternating with apartments, along Connecticut Avenue NW. It illustrates early efforts to…

Engine Company No. 31

Engine Company No. 31 was among the new generation of modern stations built with motorized apparatuses in mind. Arranged principally on one floor, the station was similar in design to Albert L. Harris's (1869-1934) other T-shaped plan, Engine Company…

The Ponce de Leon

Built in 1928 by architect David L. Stern, the Ponce de Leon apartment building is situated in one of the more architecturally significant blocks in the apartment building corridor that runs along Connecticut Avenue. The brick building presents a…

Ambassador Romuald Spasowski House

Built in 1926, this stately two-story, Colonial Revival-style, stone house can be found in the suburban neighborhood of Forest Hills. In 1979, the Polish government purchased the house at the encouragement of then-ambassador Romuald Spasowski…

Colonel William R. Davis House

The house at 3020 Albemarle Street, NW is located in the Forest Hills subdivision of Washington, DC, an early-20th-century close-in suburb. Built in 1924, it is of frame and stucco construction. The building represents the early work of master…

INTELSAT Headquarter Building

Designed by architect John Hamilton Andrews, the INTELSAT office building is a distinctly Modernist  complex, identifiable through its glass and metallic silver finishes, modular and segmented design, and irregular, octagonal collection of office…

Tilden Hall

The five-story, Colonial Revival-style Tilden Hall apartment building was designed by noted architect Frederic B. Pyle (1867-1934) and constructed between 1922 and 1924 by the P.F. Gormley Company as a “high-class” apartment hotel.As such, Tilden…

3901 Connecticut Avenue NW (and Lobby)

The garden-style construction at 3901 Connecticut Avenue NW fulfilled many of the aesthetic and logistic needs of the residents that lived there. The building had direct streetcar access that allowed commuting workers to easily travel to and from…

Sedgwick Gardens (and Interiors)

Designed by Mihran Mesrobian in 1931 for Max Gorin, the president of the Southern Construction Company, Sedgwick Gardens is a significant Art Deco building. Mesrobian designed many significant buildings in Washington, including the Hay-Adams…

Cleveland Park Historic District

The Cleveland Park Historic District is an intact community integrating residences, apartment buildings and neighborhood retail shopping located on a hill overlooking the city center but separated from it by Rock Creek Park, a deep geological chasm.…

Uptown Theater

The Uptown Theater is prominently located along Connecticut Avenue NW in the Cleveland Park Historic District. Designed by John J. Zink – a notable and prolific movie theater architect from Baltimore – the theater’s Art Deco/Moderne design is…

Klingle Valley Bridge

The Klingle Valley Bridge—also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle Valley and DC Bridge No. 27—carries Connecticut Avenue over the deep, wooded ravine of the Klingle Valley in northwest DC. The historic route of Klingle Road runs…

The Kennedy-Warren

In February 1931, D.C. Permit to Build #140167 was issued to Kennedy-Warren, Inc. to erect an eight-story apartment hotel at an estimated cost of $3,200,000. Architect Joseph Younger's original design of the Art Deco-style Kennedy-Warren apartment…

Cathedral Mansions

Cathedral Mansions, a grand garden-style apartment building with over 400 units, was one of the first buildings constructed by Harry Wardman after D.C.'s 1920 zoning laws changed. Built in the Classical Revival style, the three buildings that make up…

National Zoological Park Historic District

The National Zoological Park was established by an Act of Congress in 1889. By 1900, the Zoo's size had increased significantly due to three successive additions, which were followed by additional land acquisitions in 1921 and 1923, as well as a…

Woodley Park Historic District

Platted in the mid-1870s, Woodley Park was originally conceived as a residential suburb which its promoters described as the finest country seats ever offered for sale near the urban center, a mere 20 minute walk from Dupont Circle. Construction in…

Duke Ellington Bridge (Calvert Street Bridge)

Built in 1935, this bridge replaced the 1891 iron trestle bridge that had been constructed in the same location. The Commission of Fine Arts considered bridge designs for this site for years before finally settling on Paul Philippe Cret’s…

Kalorama Park and Archaeological Site

The three-acre Kalorama Park contains the Kalorama Playground Archaeological Site, also known as the John Little House. The site represents the remains of John Little’s home and farm and is the place from which Hortense Prout, an enslaved woman,…

Kalorama Triangle Historic District

The development of the Kalorama Triangle neighborhood illustrates the transition from a rural to an urban environment that marked Washington's growth into a 20th century city. Kalorama Triangle maintains the integrity of its original visual…

Washington Heights Historic District

The Washington Heights Historic District contains one of the most eclectic, yet cohesive collections of historic buildings in the Adams Morgan area. Platted in 1888, the neighborhood features intact groups of late 19th-century row houses along its…

The Wyoming (and Interior of Entrance Pavilion)

In its essentially unaltered state, the Wyoming stands as a reminder of the elegance and the quality of design, workmanship, and materials characteristic of the Golden Age of the apartment building in the early years of the twentieth century. The…

Alvin Mason Lothrop House

Proudly positioned at the apex of Connecticut Avenue, this monumental Beaux Arts residence was constructed between 1908 and 1909 after the plans of the noted local firm of Hornblower and Marshall for local merchandising magnate Alvin Mason Lothrop…

General George B. McClellan Statue

This bronze equestrian statue of General George B. McClellan stands at the crest of a hill overlooking Connecticut Avenue in the Kalorama Triangle neighborhood of Northwest Washington. McClellan rose to prominence as a major general during the Civil…

Washington Hilton

Constructed in 1962-65, the Washington Hilton was hailed for its sinuous massing, its use of column-and-slab construction throughout, and its uniform precast concrete wall panels—in sum, a sharp departure from local traditions. Architect William B.…

George S. Fraser House

Completed in 1890, the George S. Fraser House was designed by Hornblower and Marshall, a prominent Washington architecture firm. The Fraser home is architecturally indicative of the firm’s stylistic originality in the 1880s and 1890s. Defined as an…

James G. Blaine House

Built from 1881 to 1882 and designed by architect John Fraser, this house was the residence of James G. Blaine until 1883. Blaine served as Secretary of State under Presidents Garfield and Harrison and later became the first President of the…

Dupont Circle Historic District

The Dupont Circle Historic District encompasses one of the city's most elegant historic residential neighborhoods, notable for superior examples of Victorian rowhouse architecture in Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque styles, as well as some of…

Patterson House (Washington Club)

The Washington Club (Patterson House) is a neoclassical palace, designed by Stanford White of the famous turn-of-the-century New York architecture firm McKim, Mead and White, completed in 1903.The house was built for Mrs. Robert Patterson of Chicago.…

William J. Boardman House

The Embassy of Iraq's consular office, also known as the Boardman House, was built in 1893 following designs by Hornblower & Marshall and is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. William J. Boardman and his family were the first…

Herbert Wadsworth House (Sulgrave Club)

Wadsworth House is a Grand Adamesque mansion, one of only two remaining on Dupont Circle. Built between 1900 and 1901, the house was the winter residence of millionaire gentleman farmer Herbert Wadsworth (1851-1927) from western New York, and his…

McCormick Apartments

The McCormick Apartments is a landmark apartment building on Embassy Row whose inhabitants once included Andrew W. Mellon. It consists of four stories, a mansard, and a raised basement. The top-floor apartment commemorates Andrew Mellon's national…

Christian Heurich House (and Interiors)

Built between 1892 and 1894 for successful German-American brewer Christian Heurich (1842-1945), the Heurich House is the city’s finest and best-preserved example of Richardsonian Romanesque residential architecture. It is among the nation’s most…

John Witherspoon Statue

Born in Scotland, John Witherspoon came to the colonies in 1768 to serve as the first president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. In June of 1776, Witherspoon arrived in Philadelphia as a newly-elected delegate to the…

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial

Known as one of America’s most influential poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poetry mastered rhyme and meter to tell stories of the country’s past and expansive landscape. After receiving a memorial at Westminster Abbey in England, the Longfellow…

Saint Matthew’s Cathedral and Rectory

St. Matthew's Cathedral is one of the most impressive houses of worship in the United States. The simplicity of the exterior contrasts with the rich decorations of the interior. Its imposing copper ribbed dome is one of the visual focal points of the…

Nuns of the Battlefield Monument

The Nuns of the Battlefield Monument, honoring the nuns who tended wounded and sick soldiers during the Civil War, features a large bronze relief panel that depicts the life-sized figures of twelve nuns, who wear various habits. At either end of the…

Waggaman-Ray Commercial Row

The Waggaman-Ray Commercial Row exemplifies an unusually coordinated effort on the part of developers, architects, and merchants during the 1920s to transform Connecticut Avenue into an exclusive shopping area, deliberately modeled after Fifth Avenue…

Elizabeth Arden Building

The Elizabeth Arden building, a six-story office building with commercial space on its first floor, is the work of Mott Schmidt, one of the leading 20th-century architects working in the Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival style. Built in 1929, the…

Demonet Building

The Demonet Building sits on the corner of Connecticut Avenue and M Street, and has been a witness of the social and environmental changes on the Avenue since its construction during the late-19th Century. It is believed that the architect of the…

Mayflower Hotel

Designed by the New York architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore in association with Washington architect Robert F. Beresford, the Mayflower is a large, first-class hotel by a firm noted as national leaders in the design of this building type. It…

Barr Building

The Barr Building was built by prominent real estate developer John L. Barr, for whom it was named, and designed by architect B. Stanley Simmons, with whom Barr often collaborated. It is executed in a soaring Gothic Revival style that is not common…

Admiral David G. Farragut Statue

Standing high upon a twenty-foot-tall granite pedestal, this impressive bronze statue of Admiral David G. Farragut serves as the centerpiece of Farragut Square along Connecticut Avenue between K and I Streets N.W. It was erected by the U.S.…

Hill Building

At the time of the Hill Building’s construction in 1925, commercial real estate development in downtown DC started replacing pre-Victorian and Victorian residential buildings. These former residences, many of which then housed private and…