Pennsylvania Avenue Old Post Office Building

Shops and offices line the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, but you cross the street to the south side to look at the row of street vendors. You can't resist anymore. You dig into your pocket and pull out some of the strange-looking American money to buy a Washington T-shirt for yourself, a Washington coffee mug for your teacher, and some Washington postcards to send to your friends. The vendors have set up shop in front of the Internal Revenue Service building. This is the agency that collects our taxes.

Pennsylvania Avenue FBI Building

As you continue your stroll along Pennsylvania Avenue, you reach the Department of Justice on the left and the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation Building on the right. You stop to look at the large panels on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the Hoover Building. They tell the story of some of our Presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Above the panels fly replicas of the American flag as it looked at different times in our history.

Pennsylvania Avenue U.S. Navy Memorial

Between 7^th and 9^th Streets, you pass the U.S. Navy Memorial on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue. A low waterfall lines the avenue and a bandstand is in the center of the memorial.

Pennsylvania Avenue Temperance 2 Statue

Right behind "Temperance" is the National Bank of Washington. A huge banner on top of the building and a small sign near the door tell you this is Washington's Oldest Bank. It was organized in 1809.

Pennsylvania Avenue Temperance Statue

Just across 7^th Street is a smaller sculpture to "Temperance." This piece honors the fight to stop people from drinking alcoholic beverages. Some people consider this the ugliest statue in Washington, D.C., but it stands today where it has for over 100 years. For many of those years, the sculpture stood in front of the Apex Liquor Store.

Pennsylvania Avenue General Winfield Scott

The other statue shows Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, another Civil War hero who was severely wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

Pennsylvania Avenue Grand Army of the Republic

You stop at a street vendor to get a hot dog and soda. You will see vendors all along Pennsylvania Avenue, selling everything from ice cream to souvenirs of Washington.

Crossing Pennsylvania Avenue again, you walk back to 7^th Street to see two more Civil War statues. One honors the Grand Army of the Republic. That was a name for the Union army that fought to keep the country together.

Pennsylvania Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

In the northwest corner of the National Archives grounds, at 9^th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, you stop to read a marble block in a small grassy plot: "In Memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1882-1945." He is the only President to serve more than two 4-year terms in office. He was elected and re-elected four times. This marble block is the only memorial in the city to President Roosevelt (although a larger memorial is being planned). The President once said he only wanted a memorial marker about the size of his desk, and that is what this marble block is.

Pennsylvania Avenue Past Prologue Statue

At 7th Street, you come to the National Archives building. That is where our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are on display, the cornerstone documents of the United States. The National Archives building rests on the spot where Tiber Creek used to flood Pennsylvania Avenue in the early 1800's. This is where Dr. Gunton's young druggist lost a shoe in the ooze in 1807. The pavement is solid today, and there's no chance you'll lose your shoe.

Pennsylvania Avenue North Side Ladies Shoe Shop

On the north side of the avenue is a "Ladies Shoe Shop." One sign in the window says, "Help Wanted." A second sign says, "20-30% Off." A third sign says, "Going Out of Business."