A long time ago DC once had its own Arc de Triomphe

HistoryHistoryBy Dan Malouff (Editorial Board) April 1, 2020

Photo from the DC Public Library by BeyondDC licensed under Creative Commons.

Paris’s Arc de Triomphe is world famous, but did you know DC once had its own version?

The Washington, DC Victory Arch sat on Pennsylvania Avenue, at the corner of New York Avenue and 15th Street NW.

It was a temporary structure built to commemorate the end of World War I. This photo, from 1919, shows the US Army on parade following the end of the war. Presumably, the arch was made of plaster, like the White City of Chicago, and thus never intended to be permanent.

Here’s another view, showing the arch from ground level.

This article was first published on February 11, 2016. It’s interesting to look back at the region’s history, so we are sharing it again.