Columbus Fountain Park

Address: Columbus Circle, Union Station area, Washington, D.C.

Hours: Fountain accessible year-round; park spaces are public

The Columbus Fountain is a public fountain and sculptural memorial located in Columbus Circle immediately in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C. It commemorates Christopher Columbus and serves as a civic landmark at the station entrance.

The work consists of a central figurative sculpture atop a fountain basin with accompanying allegorical figures and ornamentation, and it is frequently photographed by visitors arriving at or departing from Union Station. The site functions as a visible plaza and meeting point on the station forecourt.

The monument was commissioned and installed as a civic memorial and forms part of the city’s early 20th-century program of public sculpture. It is maintained as outdoor public art within the urban streetscape.

The fountain sits on the Massachusetts Avenue/First Street NE traffic circle at Union Station, on the edge of the Capitol Hill neighborhood and close to downtown Washington.

• Access: The fountain and sculpture are directly adjacent to the plaza and entrance of Union Station, making it easy to visit on foot from the station and the Union Station Metro stop.

Located at Columbus Circle adjacent to Union Station in Washington, D.C. Union Station is served by the Metro (Red Line), Amtrak, MARC and VRE trains; the circle is an easy walk from the station exits.

• Visit early morning for the best light on the statuary and fewer stroller traffic on the National Mall sidewalks.
• Combine a visit with nearby sites (the National Archives and Judiciary Square) to make the short trip efficient.
• Notice the little human details: pigeons on the fountain edge, engraved names and the worn bronze where hands have rested for decades.