Map of Washington, D.C., with Truxton Circle highlighted in red
Truxton Circle is a neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C., bordered by New Jersey Avenue to the west, Florida Avenue to the north, and New York Avenue to the South. Politically, it is a part of Ward 5. Named for a traffic circle that was demolished in 1947, the neighborhood is reclaiming its identity after decades of being presumed nameless.
Truxton Circle is a residential neighborhood with late 19th-century houses and important and historical schools, including Armstrong Manual Training School (where Duke Ellington received his high school diploma) and the original Dunbar High School, the first all-black public high school in the United States.
The old traffic circle was constructed about 1900 at the intersection of Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street, centered on a large and ornate fountain built as a monument to Navy Commodore Thomas Truxtun.
The circle, which saw more than its share of traffic jams and accidents, was demolished in 1947. As it slipped into history, so did the identity of the predominantly African American neighborhood. It was sometimes lumped in with Shaw, or mistaken for Eckington to the north, or called by the dubious name of "Florida Park," but most residents considered it nameless.
It was only recently that name Truxton Circle returned to common usage, and there has even been some talk of rebuilding the circle itself. However, some older residents are ambivalent about or resistant to the label.
A small park, Truxton Park, lies at the corner of First Street and Florida Avenue.
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