About the Park
Meridian Hill Park in the Columbia Heights neighborhood is where Washington Parks & People came into being. We have worked together with neighbors and community partners to bring about the transformation of what was once the single most violent park in the capital region. Today, Meridian Hill/Malcolm X is one of the city’s safest spaces to learn, play, and explore.
A Garden Fit for An Aristocrat, Open to the Public
In 1819, John Porter erected a mansion here on Meridian Hill so called because it was on the exact longitude of the original District of Columbia milestone marker, set down on April 15, 1791. In 1829, the mansion became departing President John Quincy Adams’s home. After its conversion to a public park, Union troops encamped on the grounds during the Civil War.
The U.S. government purchased the grounds in 1910 and hired landscape architects George Burnap and Horace Peaslee who planned an Italian style garden. The structures made revolutionary use of concrete aggregate as a building material.
Notable Features
- The thirteen basin cascading fountain is the longest in North America
- Joan of Arc statue is only equestrian statue of a woman in Washington, D.C.
- Dante statue
- James Buchanan Memorial
Park Maps
