Editing Embassy Row (section)

==History==
Considered Washington's premier residential address in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Massachusetts Avenue became known for its numerous mansions housing the city's social and political elites. Consequently, the segment between [[Scott Circle]] and [[Sheridan Circle]] gained the nickname "[[Millionaires' Row]]".

The [[Great Depression]] of 1929 led many to sell their homes; the often illustrious and expansive estates were well-suited for housing diplomatic missions as well as lodges of social clubs, giving Embassy Row its present name and identity. The relocation to Embassy Row of diplomatic representations, many of which had been established in [[Meridian Hill Park|Meridian Hill]] in previous decades, was further catalyzed by the construction of the [[British Embassy in Washington D.C.|British Embassy]], commissioned in 1925 and completed in 1930, and the [[Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C.|Japanese Embassy]], built in 1931. The greatest number of embassies and chanceries moved to Embassy Row and the neighboring Kalorama neighborhood in the 1940s and early 1950s.<ref name=Traceries>{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District|date=1989|url={{NRHP url|id=89001743}}|author=Emily Hotaling Eig and Julie Mueller, Traceries}}</ref>

On the southeastern section of the row, between Scott Circle and [[Dupont Circle]], many individual houses and mansions were replaced by larger office or apartment buildings between the 1930s and the 1970s. More recently, several prominent [[think tank]]s have clustered in that area, which has occasionally been referred to as [[Think Tank Row (Washington DC)|Think Tank Row]].

Many of Embassy Row's diplomatic buildings open to the public once a year in May, an initiative nicknamed Passport DC. This event was started in 2007 by the embassies of member states of the [[European Union]], and extended in 2008 to other countries around the world under coordination by [[Cultural Tourism DC]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Passport DC Still Opening Doors — And Not Just to Embassies|url=http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8334:passport-dc-still-opening-doors--and-not-just-to-embassies&catid=1486:may-2012&Itemid=499|date=May 2012|website=The Washington Diplomat}}</ref> Within this program, the EU embassies still open on a separate day, labelled EU Open House. A separate program, the Embassy Series, started in 1994 and coordinates concerts organized in the embassy buildings.<ref>{{cite web|website= The Embassy Series|url=http://www.embassyseries.org/about-the-embassy-series/|title=About Us}}</ref>

Embassy Row is protected as the [[Massachusetts Avenue Historic District (Washington, D.C.)|Massachusetts Avenue Historic District]], created in 1974 following controversy about the demolition of historic townhouses on 1722-28 Massachusetts Ave NW.<ref>{{cite web|website=District of Columbia |title=Massachusetts Avenue Historic District brochure |date=2000 |url=http://planning.dc.gov/OP/HP/District%20Brochure%20pdfs%204.1.2/Massachusetts_Ave_Brochure.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232557/http://planning.dc.gov/OP/HP/District%20Brochure%20pdfs%204.1.2/Massachusetts_Ave_Brochure.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-26 }}</ref> Many of its notable buildings are listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites.<ref>{{cite web|website=District of Columbia |url=http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/Maps+and+Information/Landmarks+and+Districts/Inventory+of+Historic+Sites |title=DC Inventory of Historic Sites |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228165206/http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/Maps+and+Information/Landmarks+and+Districts/Inventory+of+Historic+Sites |archive-date=2013-12-28 }}</ref> Because few historic buildings remain on Scott Circle, the eastern boundary of the Historic District was set on 17th Street NW, but, since three embassies are located there and none farther east, Scott Circle is included in this article's definition of Embassy Row. The Western boundary used here is identical to that of the Historic District, namely Observatory Circle. However, some (e.g. real estate professionals) describe Embassy Row as extending as far west as [[Wisconsin Avenue|Wisconsin Avenue NW]].