| Thomas Circle | |
|---|---|
 Facing north across Thomas Circle towards National City Christian Church, Luther Place Memorial Church,and in the foreground, the equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Logan Circle, Northwest, Washington, D.C. | |
| Coordinates | 38°54′20″N 77°01′55″W / 38.90566°N 77.03196°W |
| Roads at junction | 14th Street, M Street, Massachusetts Avenue, Vermont Avenue NW |
| Construction | |
| Type | Traffic circle |
| Maintained by | DDOT |
Thomas Circle is a traffic circle in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States. It is located at the intersection of 14th Street, M Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and Vermont Avenue NW. A portion of Massachusetts Avenue travels through a tunnel underneath the circle. The interior of the circle includes the equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas, a Union Army general in the Civil War.
The area around present-day Thomas Circle was included as an intersection in the 1791 L'Enfant Plan, but plans to make it a circle took place the following year. Development around the circle was slow, due to the area being in the city's "countryside." A few large houses were built around the circle before the Civil War, but major changes took place in the second half of the 19th-century. The circle was improved with landscaping, a horse-drawn rail for commuters, and sewer lines. The statue of Thomas was dedicated in 1879, the same year one of the city's first apartment buildings was constructed, the Portland Flats.
During the late 19th-century, the area became less desirable due to Dupont Circle and Logan Circle becoming more popular with upper-class citizens. Several of the old homes were replaced or used for non-residential purposes. The horse-drawn rail car was replaced with streetcars, allowing more people to travel north of the circle and build homes in new neighborhoods. During the first half of the 20th-century, the imposing National City Christian Church was built on the northwest edge of the circle. The other church facing Thomas Circle is Luther Place Memorial Church, built in the early 1870s.
Many historic buildings, including the Wylie Mansion and Portland Flats, were replaced with office buildings and hotels. The circle itself was significantly altered in the 1950s by building new traffic islands around the statue, eliminating access to the park and statue. This was reversed in the 2000s, restoring the original design of Thomas Circle. The Lutheran church, the Thomas statue, and the circle itself are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (DCIHS). Both churches on the circle are contributing properties to the Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District.