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Make No Little Plans
Federal Triangle Heritage Trail
3 G-Men and G-Women
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is headquartered across Pennsylvania Avenue from this spot. Thanks to popular media, it may be one of the better-known government agencies. Since the 1930s Hollywood has found great stories among the "G-men" (government agents). The FBI often cooperates in these productions.
The FBI was established in 1908 as the Justice Department's detective unit. Its agents investigated allegations of investment fraud, opium smuggling, munitions trafficking, and other federal crimes. The agency's power increased during national security crisis and as it brought mob figures and other violent criminals to justice. Under the half-century directorship of native Washingtonian J. Edgar Hoover, the bureau grew in responsibility and helped professionalize modern law enforcement, emphasizing scientific analysis. Drawing on a century of experience, the modern FBI protects the nation against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, enforces U.S. criminal laws, and provides leadership for the nation's law enforcement organizations.
Formerly housed in the Department of Justice building to your left, the FBI relocated across the street in 1975. Designed by Charles F. Murphy, the building's modern brutalist style (from the French "Béton brut," or raw concrete) contrasts with the earlier buildings of Federal Triangle.
On this corner you can see the Justice Department's classically inspired Art Deco style night doors, torchares (light fixtures), and other decorative aluminum features. High above the doors is a colorful mosaic ceiling by local artist/craftsman John Joseph Earley.
Looking to your left along 10th Street, you can see the continuation of the city's street plan as Federal Triangle buildings frame the view to the National Museum of Natural History. |