Beginning in the 1890’s, before Woodley Park was a reality, the fire and police departments installed cast iron callboxes around the city so that citizens could report fires and police could communicate with each other. First they were powered by gas. By the 1930’s, they were powered by electricity. By the 1970’s, they were obsolete.
The call boxes remained functionless on our street corners until 2000, when Cultural Tourism DC began ART ON CALL, a project created to use the callboxes to bring art and history to neighborhoods.
The Woodley Park Community Association participated in this program by restoring the callboxes as an art and history project. The boxes were refurbished and painted. Woodley Park’s unique history is told with stories and pictures in each box.
Time took its toll and in 2016, with the generous support of our neighbors, the callboxes were remade into the attractive monuments to the history of our neighborhood you see today.
In 2020, the Call Boxes were refreshed with minor repairs and repainting, with donations from neighbors and local businesses.
All in all, we have eight call boxes in our neighborhood:
- Cortland & 29th [Mirhan Mesrobian]
- Connecticut across from the Zoo [Redwood]
- Woodley Rd & Woodley Pl [Million Dollar Bridge]
- Woodley & 27th [Harry Wardman]
- Woodley & 28th [Long and Winding Woodley Road]
- Cathedral & 28th [From Woodley to Woodley Park]
- Garfield & 27th [Woodley Road Neighbors]
- Cathedral by Maret [Woodley Estate]
