History of the Meridian Hill

At the time Washington, D.C. was created in 1791, the land now known as Meridian Hill Park was originally owned by Georgetown merchant Robert Peter, and it was called Peter's Hill.

When President Thomas Jefferson surveyed the land in 1804, he marked it Meridian Hill since it was a mile and a half north on the White House  meridian, one of four prime meridians in DC. After the War of 1812, Commodore David Porter bought the land, naming it Meridian Hill and constructing a mansion.

The estate was later used as a military camp during the Civil War and suffered damage from a fire. In 1867, the land was subdivided, and 20 years later the Hendersons, a wealthy couple, purchased several lots and built the Henderson Castle on the west side of 16th Street.

Henderson Castle aka Boundary Castle on Meridian Hill circa 1890s is now Beekman Place

Row houses around Meridian Hill before park’s Construction