Between weather and holidays, there has been a gap since the first three 16th Street posts, on September 23, 25, and 27. We had started at the White House, and moved first through Lafayette Square,  and four blocks up 16th Street to Scott Circle. In those short four blocks, we saw four or five hotels, three small museums, the headquarters of the AFL-CIO, the NEA, and the American Chemical Society, the home of the Russian ambassador, two churches and more.

Now, we continue up the next two “only in Washington” blocks. We can’t look at everything, but we can see and learn a lot.

For example, there are four embassies on these two blocks, our first of many. Right on Scott Circle, we see the new Australian embassy, first occupied about three years ago. I find it quite undistinguished on the exterior, but the interior tells another story.

Then, we see the Serbian embassy, located in a 110 year old commercial building, bought by Serbia only two years ago.

Up the street from Serbia, we run into Kazakhstan’s embassy, in an 1888 house which had been home to a Vice-President, a Senator, and a publisher, among others. In front of the embassy, you see a replica of the Golden Warrior Monument, the larger original of which stands in Republic Square, Almaty. Its story is interesting. You may want to look it up. Or not.

The fourth embassy is that of the El Salvador. It is different from most because it is not located in its own building, but is in rented space in a new office building located at 1400 16th Street NW.

This building houses more than this embassy. Among its many tenants are CTIA (the powerful, if little known, trade and lobbying association for the wireless communications industry), the Washington affairs office of the University of Notre Dame, and the Avesta Ketamine Clinic, among other tenants. The ketamine clinic interests me most. I really only know about ketamine through Matthew Perry’s tragic death, but  apparently, it can be quite useful in treating depression and anxiety if controlled. This clinic seems to know what it is doing.

Of course, we don’t want to forget the churches. There are two on these two blocks. The First Baptist Church is located just up from the Australian embassy. The building was completed in 1955 on the site of the congregation’s 1890 church structure. The previous church was apparently architecturally important, with a 140 foot high tower, and controversial when proposed for demolition. But even this building was not the congregation’s original. Established way back in 1802, First Baptist has had several locations, including one on 13th Street which it sold to one John Ford, who converted it into Ford’s Theater.

One trivia point about First Baptist, and one question. Trivia: during the two years that the present building was under construction, the church conducted services a few blocks up the street at the Jewish Community Center (we aren’t there yet). The question: what 100 year old former U.S. President worshipped at First Baptist?

The other church is the Founding Church of Scientology of D.C. its building is unchurchlike and I don’t know if there are other tenants as well. It was originally built as an apartment house, with one luxurious apartment on each floor. But that was long ago. It has been many things since. Just have not checked today’s uses out.

Ine final point for the day. There is a nice upscale hotel, with a very appealing restaurant and outdoor cafe, on 16th Street at Scott Circle, just across from the Australian embassy. I did not get a good photo.

It is the Banneker Hotel, named after the same Benjamin Banneker that DC named its academic magnet high school after. The hotel is called the Banneker, because he was the surveyor who first laid out 16th Street moving north from the then proposed  White House in the late 18th century. And 16th Street was laid out as a meridian. I don’t really understand what that means, but we will learn more when we get further up 16th Street to Meridian Hill Park.

Moving on to my next scheduled activity. Will proofread later. But I did try to be careful.