Featured Historic Districts
      Introduction
      Logan Circle
      Residential Architecture
      Religious Architecture
      Public Architecture
      Commercial Architecture
      Residents
      Greater 14th St. Area Today
      Logan Circle Comm. Assoc.
      Credits
   Designation Procedures
   and Criteria
   Frequently Asked Questions

Public Architecture

Washington City Orphan Asylum, c. 1865 Southeast corner of 14th and S streets © Library of Congress

Historically, the public buildings that served the Greater Fourteenth Street and Logan Circle neighborhoods dated to the late nineteenth century and were modest in scale and architecture. While the firehouse, YWCA, and schools were constructed to serve the local community, the hospitals and orphanages, such as the Washington City Orphan Asylum on Fourteenth Street and Louise Home on Massachusetts Avenue, were generally established to serve the entire city. These institutions not only provided much needed social services, but also offered an employment base for local residents.

Most of the governmental, institutional, and educational buildings that once flourished in this area have been demolished and replaced by residential buildings. The exception, the Berrett School, stands at Fourteenth and Q Streets. The three-story, red brick building with corbeled brickwork was built in 1889 and named for D.C. Postmaster Gabriele Berret.