We are now leaving Scott Circle, where 16th Street tunnels under Rhode Island Avenue, and heading up Rhode Island Avenue towards Logan Circle at 13th Street. We see a change in the neighborhood. No more downtown type office buildings. We now see some residential buildings, both midrise apartments and elegant row houses.

But there is more than just this. There are about six hotels on these three blocks, including the Beacon, the Darcy and a Holiday Inn, to mention three. But the picture below is of the Viceroy Hotel, a 180 room upscale hotel which has an art gallery inside and a tube of toothpaste outside.

But there’s even more. Washington is the home of many associations, as everyone knows. But some of these are often overlooked. Such as the National Society United States Daughters of 1812, located at 1461 Rhode Island.

Located in a older house, the NSUSD1812 has a museum and library, open to the public upon request. I have never been in, but the library is an extensive library of the period, and the small museum filled with items donated by members. Even without making special arrangements,  though, you can see an important piece of American history. The flagpole in front of the society is not just a flagpole. It is the original mast from the USS Constitution, ” Old Ironsides”. The Constitution,  available to visit in Boston Harbor, was first floated in 1797, and was particularly busy during the War of 1812.

And again because this is Washington, there are a few hundred embassies scattered across the city, including the very unattractive Australian embassy at 16th Street, which was recently completed.

And then there’s the Hungarian embassy at 15th.

The Hungarian embassy is located in one of the few remaining late 19th century mansions in this neighborhood. And a special house that at times has served as the residence of Alexander Graham Bell, Vice President Levi Morton, and Secretary of State Elihu Root. It was constructed in 1879 and remodeled by famed architect John Russell Pope in 1912. In front of the embassy, which is surrounded by a wrought iron fence, is a statue of a Hungarian freedom fighter to commemorate the 1956 failed insurrection.

And then we get to Logan Circle, named for Civil War general John A. Logan, who later became a Senator from Illinois, and a Vice President candidate in 1886.

The sculptor of Logan’s statue is Franklin Simmons. The base was designed by Richard Morrris Hunt, who also designed the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Breakers in Newport RI.

Interestingly, one of the bas-reliefs is flawed.

This relief shows Vice President Chester Arthur swearing Logan in as a Senator. Unfortunately,  Arthur never did this. He wasn’t vice president at the time.

Around Logan Circle are some magnificent mansions. Look at this one.

Ulysses S. Grant lived there for a while.

Next time, we will find we are getting closer to Washington, a dynamic city, rather than Washington, the capital of the country.