1007.1 Historic properties are recognized through designation as historic landmarks or historic districts in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites, Washington, DC’s official list of historic properties. Listing in the NRHP provides additional recognition by the federal government. Listed properties gain protection under District and federal preservation laws and are eligible for benefits like preservation tax incentives. Washington, DC’s historic districts are highlighted in Map 10.1, and its historic landmarks are highlighted in Map 10.2. Historic landmarks and districts in Central Washington are shown in Map 10.3.

1007.2 Figure 10.2: List of Historic Districts

ID	NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICTS	ID	OTHER DISTRICTS
1	Anacostia	37	Armed Forces Retirement Home
2	Blagden Alley/Naylor Court	38	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
3	Bloomingdale	39	Congressional Cemetery
4	Capitol Hill	40	Federal Triangle
5	Cleveland Park	41	Fort Circle Parks
6	Downtown	42	Fort McNair
7	Dupont Circle	43	Gallaudet College
8	Emerald Street	44	Georgetown Visitation
9	Financial	45	Glenwood Cemetery
10	Foggy Bottom	46	Immaculata Seminary
11	Fourteenth Street	47	Langston Golf Course
12	Foxhall Village	48	Marine Barracks
13	George Washington University/Old West End	49	Marjorie Webster Junior College
14	Georgetown	50	McMillan Park Reservoir
15	Grant Circle	51	Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
16	Grant Road	52	Mount Vernon Seminary
17	Kalorama Triangle	53	National Arboretum
18	Kingman Park	54	National Mall
19	Lafayette Square	55	National Zoological Park
20	LeDroit Park	56	Observatory Hill
21	Logan Circle	57	Potomac Gorge
22	Massachusetts Avenue	58	Potomac Park (East and West)
23	Meridian Hill	59	Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway
24	Mount Pleasant	60	Rock Creek Park
25	Mount Vernon Square	61	Roosevelt Island
26	Mount Vernon Triangle	62	Saint Elizabeths Hospital
27	Pennsylvania Avenue	63	Seventeenth Street
28	Shaw	64	Smithsonian Quadrangle
29	Sheridan-Kalorama	65	Walter Reed Army Medical Center
30	Sixteenth Street	66	Washington Cathedral and Close
31	Strivers' Section	67	Washington Monument Grounds

32	Takoma Park	68	Washington Navy Yard
33	U Street	69	Young Browne Phelps Spingarn Education Center
34	Union Market
35	Washington Heights
36	Woodley Park

1007.3 Map 10.1: Historic Districts*

1007.4 Map 10.2: Historic Structures (see next page for inset area)

1007.5 Map 10.3: Inset Map of Existing Landmark Structures and Sites 1007.5

1007.6

Today, Washington, DC has more than 700 historic landmarks and nearly 70 historic districts, about half of which are local neighborhoods. In all, about 30,000 properties are protected by historic designation. Historic landmarks include the iconic monuments and symbolic commemorative places that define Washington, DC as the nation’s capital, but they also include retail and commercial centers, residences, and the places of worship and leisure of thousands of residents who

call the District home.

1007.7 Policy HP-1.5.1: Designation of Historic Properties

Recognize and protect significant historic properties through official designation as historic landmarks and districts under both District and federal law, maintaining consistency between District and federal listings.

1007.8 Policy HP-1.5.2: Evaluation Criteria

Maintain officially adopted written criteria for listing in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites and apply them consistently so that properties meet objective standards of significance to qualify for designation (see Figure 10.2). Use the criteria to evaluate the potential eligibility of properties for historic preservation planning purposes, as well as for designation. Apply the federal criteria of evaluation for listing in the NRHP when applicable.

1007.9 Policy HP-1.5.3: Leadership in Designation

Systematically evaluate and nominate significant District-owned properties for historic designation. Encourage, assist, or undertake the nomination of privately owned properties as appropriate in consultation with owners, ANCs, and community groups.

1007.10 Policy HP-1.5.4: Voluntary Preservation

Engage property owners and communities in designation efforts and encourage voluntary preservation. Seek consensus on designations when possible and apply designation criteria with sensitivity to the rights of property owners and the interests of affected communities.

1007.11 Policy HP-1.5.5: Historic District Designation

Use historic district designations as the means to recognize and preserve areas whose significance lies primarily in the character of the community as a whole, rather than in the separate distinction of individual structures. Ensure that the designation of historic districts involves a community process with full participation by affected ANCs, neighborhood organizations, property owners, businesses, and residents.

1007.12 Policy HP-1.5.6: Consulting the Public on Designation

Ensure that the views of property owners, ANCs, neighborhood organizations, and the general public are solicited and carefully considered in the designation process.

1007.13 Policy HP-1.5.7: Updating Designations

Evaluate existing historic landmark designations periodically, and, when appropriate, update older designations to current professional standards of documentation. Evaluate historic district designations as appropriate to augment

documentation, amend periods or areas of significance, or adjust boundaries.

1007.14 Action HP-1.5.A: Nomination of Properties

Act on filed nominations without delay to respect the interests of owners and applicants, and to avoid accumulating a backlog of nominations. When appropriate, defer action on a nomination to facilitate dialogue between the applicant and owner or to promote efforts to reach consensus on the designation.

1007.15 Action HP-1.5.B: Nomination of National Register Properties

Nominate for historic landmark or historic district designation any National Register properties not yet listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.

1007.15a Text Box: Designation Criteria for Historic Landmarks and Districts

Historic and prehistoric buildings, building interiors, structures, monuments, works of art or other similar objects, areas, places, sites, neighborhoods, and cultural landscapes are eligible for designation as historic landmarks or historic districts if they possess one or more of the following values or qualities:

1. • Events: They are the site of events that contributed significantly to the heritage, culture, or development of Washington, DC or the nation.
2. • History: They are associated with historical periods, social movements, groups, institutions, achievements, or patterns of growth and change that contributed significantly to the heritage, culture, or development of Washington, DC or the nation.
3. • Individuals: They are associated with the lives of persons significant to the history of Washington, DC or the nation.
4. • Architecture and Urbanism: They embody the distinguishing characteristics of architectural styles, building types, or methods of construction, or are expressions of landscape architecture, engineering, or urban planning, siting, or design significant to the appearance and development of Washington, DC or the nation.
5. • Artistry: They possess high artistic or aesthetic values that contribute significantly to the heritage and appearance of Washington, DC or the nation.
6. • Creative Masters: They have been identified as notable works of craftsmen, artists, sculptors, architects, landscape architects, urban planners, engineers, builders, or developers whose works have influenced the evolution of their fields of endeavor or are significant to the

development of Washington, DC or the nation.

1. Archaeology: They have yielded or may be likely to yield information significant to an understanding of historic or prehistoric events, cultures, and standards of living, building, and design.

1007.15b Additionally, to qualify for designation, they shall possess sufficient integrity to convey, represent, or contain the values and qualities for which they are judged significant. To qualify for designation, sufficient time shall have passed since they achieved significance or were constructed to permit professional evaluation of them in their historical context.

1007.16 Action HP-1.5.C: Nomination of Federal Properties

Encourage federal agencies to nominate their eligible properties for listing in the NRHP and to sponsor concurrent nomination of these properties to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. When appropriate, seek other sponsors to nominate eligible federal properties to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.

1007.17 Action HP-1.5.D: Inclusiveness in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites

Nominate properties to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites that recognize the significance of underrepresented District communities and all aspects of local history.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).