History
Do you know the other Watergate?
Before "Watergate" became synonymous with a group of buildings and a scandal, it was the name applied to something else. And it's something that most of us are very familiar with, especially if you're an avid runner who heads down to the Lincoln Memorial, on the Potomac River side.
Image by George Calhoun on SmugMug.
There are a series of steps between the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River, which give the odd impression that one is supposed to either ascend from the river or descend into it. Well, that's because they were in fact built for that purpose.
The steps were originally intended for grand arrivals of dignitaries and heads of state, who would arrive by boat. They would pull up to the steps and be greeted by the grandeur of our shining new monument to the greatest president of them all.
Well, it didn't really work out that way and they weren't really put to their intended use. They were eventually used after a proposal to park a barge on the Potomac as a stage for concerts. The steps made an excellent venue for summer music concerts.
On July 14th, 1935, the first concert was to be held there and the national Symphony Orchestra would perform. The Washington Post had the following article in the paper that morning.
Wagner's dramatic overture, "Die Meistersinger," will open the concert by the National Symphony Orchestra this evening at the Watergate, thus launching a summer symphony series for Washington. ...
Arrangements for accommodating the expected listeners have been completed. The barge and orchestra shell, anchored off the Watergate banks, has been equipped with modern sound amplification devices which will carry the music to all sections of the Watergate without tone distortion.
To expedite the seating of patrons, it has been requested that holders of the cheaper tickets enter from the upper level of the Watergate or the plaza of the Lincoln Memorial, and occupy places on the steps. Patrons holding higher priced tickets are to enter through the underpasses on the lower level. Box offices on both upper and lower levels will be open each concert evening at 6:30 P. M.
All tickets purchased in advance will have rain checks attached. If rain forces cancellation of a concert or interrupts a program before intermission time, the checks will entitle holders to admission at the following concert without additional cost.
The concerts had to stop in 1965 because jets had started flying into National Airport and the noise was just too loud to overcome.
The steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial around 1930. Image from the Library of Congress.
The steps leading up the the Lincoln Memorial around 1930. Image from the Library of Congress.
While the steps never really served their intended purpose, at least they were put to good use for a while.
After being retired as a music venue, it now serves to keep Washingtonians in shape, with painful sprints up the steps.
Jogger running up steps to Lincoln Memorial. Photo by Bill in DC on Flickr.
Cross-posted at Ghosts of DC.
Tom Cochran runs the blog Ghosts of DC, which reveals the fascinating history of people and places in Washington, DC. He was born in Falls Church and now lives in Columbia Heights with his wife and dog.   |
Comments
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by drumz on Jul 11, 2012 3:04 pm • link • report
by Alex B. on Jul 11, 2012 3:10 pm • link • report
by Thayer-D on Jul 11, 2012 3:34 pm • link • report
Good point. It's even unpleasant to ride one's bicycle along this stretch. Hopefully we're finally entering a period where some of this space can be clawed back for public use, rather than having it be a traffic sewer most hours of the day.
Fun Fact of the Day: I once rode my mountain bike up those stairs. And that was back in the era of 26" wheels.
by oboe on Jul 11, 2012 3:35 pm • link • report
by ptd on Jul 11, 2012 3:59 pm • link • report
From the top, no.
And I'm pretty sure that back in the real world, cars on a public road constitutes "public use." What obe, wants, as usual, is to privilege bikes over other transport forms.
I've gone running there often, and the trail isn't bad. For bikes, yes, not fun.
by charlie on Jul 11, 2012 4:02 pm • link • report
by Bossi on Jul 11, 2012 4:10 pm • link • report
Huh? There's one crosswalk at the top, and that's to cross the low-traffic Rock Creek and Potomac Pkwy. If you want to cross to the Lincoln Memorial, you either walk the long way around, or you play in traffic. Want to cross to the other side of the bridge? You play in traffic. Want to go to the Korean War Memorial without walking all the way around? You must dart across 6 lanes of speeding traffic with nary a stoplight or a crosswalk to be seen.
The roadway design for this area has more in common with freeway interchanges than it does with city streets.
by Alex B. on Jul 11, 2012 4:14 pm • link • report
by Tom on Jul 11, 2012 4:19 pm • link • report
by Frank on Jul 11, 2012 4:23 pm • link • report
by Jasper on Jul 11, 2012 4:49 pm • link • report
It is an easy walk to both the Vietnam memorials and the Lincoln. Could it be shorter - sure. Is it that hard, no. And it very easy coming from Memorial bridge.
There is almost always people on the steps, which belies your point about difficult access.
It is accessible to tourists -- no, not really. Everyone else from the top, yes.
by charlie on Jul 11, 2012 5:02 pm • link • report
by Vicente Fox on Jul 11, 2012 5:24 pm • link • report
Setting a real high bar here, aren't we?
And it very easy coming from Memorial bridge.
So long as you're on the right side of the bridge.
There is almost always people on the steps, which belies your point about difficult access.
No, it doesn't. I almost always see some people walking through Tysons Corner, too - that doesn't mean Tysons is therefore walkable, or that it wouldn't benefit from improvement.
All you have to do is look at the aerials of the roadway layout - it's half of a damn cloverleaf interchange. The next pedestrian-friendly cloverleaf interchange I see will be the first.
by Alex B. on Jul 11, 2012 5:27 pm • link • report
At most times of day, crossing at the bottom is a 2-3 minute wait for a traffic gap. Not very safe.
NPS should do something about the weird turret walkway with roundabout just south of the TR Bridge. I have no idea what it was supposed to be, but it's very poorly designed for bikes and pedestrians, and causes lots of conflicts.
by Matt C on Jul 11, 2012 5:29 pm • link • report
From the bottom, as I said, it would be very dangerous to cross the parkway. High traffic and not much visibility.
by charlie on Jul 11, 2012 5:37 pm • link • report
You're suggesting that I haven't been there?
I have. And the cars speed by like it's a freeway interchange, because that's how it's designed.
by Alex B. on Jul 11, 2012 5:47 pm • link • report
by beatbox on Jul 11, 2012 6:41 pm • link • report
I also recall how the jets taking off to the north from National Airport made a mess of that concert. Every couple of minutes, the music was drowned out by the roar of jet engines overhead.
by Mike S. on Jul 11, 2012 11:22 pm • link • report
If you follow the Rock Creek bike trail past the volleyball courts and down along Ohio Drive to the river you need to cross Ohio Drive to get to the steps of the Watergate.
But if you stay on the sidewalk on the west side of Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, which overlooks the river, rather than crossing over towards the volleyball courts, you will wind up on the uphill side of of the steps and you will not need to cross any traffic.
Ditto if you're coming from Virginia on the north sidewalk of the Memorial Bridge.
by Frank IBC on Jul 11, 2012 11:51 pm • link • report
The noise from the planes taking off from National was much worse back in the day, when it was all 727s with their extremely noisy low-bypass engines. Much better with the most recent generations of 737s and A320s.
by Frank IBC on Jul 11, 2012 11:54 pm • link • report
When I bike through this area, I am almost always en route to the Mount Vernon Trail, via the Memorial Bridge, so the "upper route" via the sidewalk along the final stretch of Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway is the route that I know the best.
Others, whose typical destination is the Mall, are probably more familiar with the lower route along Ohio Drive.
by Frank IBC on Jul 12, 2012 12:17 am • link • report
by Neutrino on Jul 12, 2012 12:22 am • link • report
by Drumz on Jul 12, 2012 12:32 am • link • report
Totally Rad'!
by Tina on Jul 12, 2012 9:55 am • link • report
by FoggyBottom on Jul 12, 2012 12:32 pm • link • report
by OG jindc on Jul 12, 2012 1:53 pm • link • report
by OG jindc on Jul 12, 2012 1:55 pm • link • report
by OG jindc on Jul 12, 2012 2:01 pm • link • report
by David C on Jul 14, 2012 11:41 pm • link • report
by David C on Jul 14, 2012 11:43 pm • link • report
by Rachel Fowler on Oct 8, 2012 10:03 am • link • report
by darin pace on Feb 23, 2013 5:33 am • link • report
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