Farragut Square is a

city square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW, and interrupts

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was on ...

NW. It is the sister park of McPherson Square two blocks east. It is serviced by two stops on the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

rail system: on the Red Line and on the

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, Orange, and

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Lines. Farragut Square is a hub of downtown D.C., 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 many 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 Fridays series, held every Friday from 9 a.m. to dark from July through September, which features outdoor work and relaxation spaces, among other attractions. The park is the scene of popular D.C. pastimes like outdoor movies and

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

in the park. With its heavy pedestrian traffic, it also serves as a popular site for food trucks, leafleting, TV camera opinion polls, and for commercial promotions and political activity such as

canvassing Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...

and

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

. 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

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

s 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. Monday through Friday, several food trucks congregate on streets surrounding Farragut Square.

Statue

In the center of the square is a statue of David G. Farragut, a Union

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, authorizing $20,000 on April 16, 1872. It was sculpted by Vinnie (Ream) Hoxie and dedicated April 25, 1881 by President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. The statue and park are maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

and administered as part of its

National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...

and Memorial Parks unit. A proposal to build an underground parking garage below it was rejected in 1961.

References

External links

Panorama of Farragut SquareThree Random Stories from Farragut Square
- Ghosts of DC blog {{authority control Squares, plazas, and circles in Washington, D.C. National Mall and Memorial Parks Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Downtown (Washington, D.C.)

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...