Washington, DC's beautiful Meridian Hill Park

[Cirrus]

Meridian Hill Park is a 12-acre green space in the middle of some of Washington's most dense neighborhoods (map). The park is terraced along the slope of Meridian Hill, so named because it sits directly on top of what was once the United State's Prime Meridian. Until 1884 every country designated its own Prime Meridian.

Last weekend I stopped there to take some pictures. Here they are.

Since the park is terraced, it is surrounded by walls. This is unfortunate, since they block off the park from the sidewalk and limit access, but at least the walls are attractive.





The lower level is extensively landscaped in a Victorian Romantic tradition. The main feature is a lily pond, which is surrounded by other landscaping and statuary.









The focus of the hill slope is a terraced cascading waterfall. Unfortunately, the pumps weren't on the day I took these pictures.









The hills flanking the waterfall on either side are somewhat less formal, but in the same style.





At the top of the hill there is another plaza, centered around the city's only female equestrian statue: Joan of Arc.



Frankly, Joan is a little creepy.



From this plaza you can look down on the lower level.







Behind the plaza there is a shady area, with some paths.





And finally, the great lawn.



And that's Meridian Hill Park.

Watch out soon for more DC neighborhood pictures. I am planning a multiple-thread series for the fall.

[Nightsky]

Looks like a very beautiful park!

[VTnardo]

I lived in Arlington for the past three years, spending many weekend nights in AdMo and U Street, but I've never seen or heard of this park. Thanks for sharing!

[ColDayMan]

Cincinnati has a similar park (terrace fountain and everything) called Mt. Ault Park. And this park should be remembered...for CAKELOVE!!!

[Cirrus]

^
Gorgeous.

[Coldrsx]

Now THAT is a right and proper park.

[hauntedheadnc]

Very nice indeed!

[Thundertubs]

One of my favorite city parks anywhere. Although, it's too bad the view to the south is terminated by that ugly mid-rise.

Keep posting stuff like this. I think a lot of people don't realize what a beautiful and urban city DC is away from the Mall.

[CPVLIVE]

Tremendous - would love to see that waterfall functioning. That's how you do a great urban park.

[giovanni sasso]

wow, i've spent a decent amount of time in adams morgan, but i've never even heard of this park. looks great.

but ... a statue of james buchanan??? that's crazy.

[jg6544]

Gorgeous, as I remember it. When I lived in Washington, the neighborhood was on the edgy side and the park wasn't completely safe, but I still enjoyed visiting it. You should go back and take some pictures when the fountains are on.

[Expat]

I LOVE this park. One of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. The story of the Missouri senator's wife that got it started is interesting, as well.

When I lived in Dupont Circle & Adams Morgan I visited the park often for dog walking. Unfortunately, it was often a bit scary. That was years ago, hope it is better now.

Someone mentioned the 'ugly' high-rise at the end of the park. I kind of like that apartment building and always imagined how nice it would be to have one of those balconies overlooking the park.

[Cirrus]

The bottom part of the park is totally safe all the time. I frequently take visitors there late at night to eat cupcakes bought on U Street.

The upper part is not exactly "dangerous", but it's where a lot of homeless people gather to sleep, so people do tend to avoid it at night.

[destroycreate]

By far the nation's most elegant city...great stuff

[Ex-Ithacan]

Great urban park. The last few years I've been taking visitors there (sorry gio, I wasn't familiar with it when you were here). Nice pics Cirrus, thanks.

[EastSideHBG]

Good stuff!

[LSyd]

thanks for the pics. i love this park. i remember first seeing it at night in 1994 on a school trip with a sign labeling it as "Malcolm X Park." it looked pretty but very gritty and slightly dangerous.

then in 2007 ex-ith took me back and i was blown away by its beauty.

-

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by LSyd

i remember first seeing it at night in 1994 on a school trip with a sign labeling it as "Malcolm X Park."

Like most of the parks in Washington, Meridian Hill is part of the US National Park Service*. Therefore its name is determined by Congress, not the city. Officially it has always been Meridian Hill Park, but in the late 60s the city of DC wanted to change it to Malcolm X Park. There was a bill introduced in Congress to do so, but it failed. So the official name is and has always been Meridian Hill, but the name Malcolm X is also unofficially attached. It was more popular in the 70s and 80s when Washington was so overwhelmingly black.


* A note about the National Park Service. It may sound great for all your city parks to be national parks, but it's actually a real thorn for the city. Since parks aren't city land, we can't put bus stops on them or anything like that without going through massive amounts of red tape. And since the National Park Service is mainly concerned with historical sites and big expansive nature preserves, they don't really understand the concept of busy pedestrian urban parks, resulting in many that are dramatically underdesigned and overregulated. Meridian Hill is an exception (along with Dupont Cirlce and some others), but many of DC's parks and squares are only a shadow of what they could be, because NPS thinks of them as untouchable preserves rather than places for people to go.