Financial Historic District (Washington, D.C.)

Financial Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites
Financial Historic District map after the 2017 boundary increase
Location	Original boundary: 15th Street, from Pennsylvania Avenue to I Street NW, Boundary increase: K Street, 14th & G Streets NW Washington, D.C.. U.S.
Area	10.7 acres (4.3 ha)
Architect	Multiple
Architectural style	Multiple
NRHP reference No.	84003900[1] (original) 100000540 (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 12, 2006
Boundary increase	January 12, 2017
Designated DCIHS	October 5, 1984 July 28, 2016

The Financial Historic District, previously known as the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District, is a historic district in Washington, D.C. The boundaries of the historic district include 38 buildings, 2 of which are non-contributing properties. Before 2016, the historic district included 20 buildings. The construction of the Treasury Building just east of the White House played a significant role in the financial district's development. Major banks and other financial institutions wanted to be close to the Treasury Building; therefore, many of the historic district's buildings were constructed along 15th Street NW, from Pennsylvania Avenue to I Street.

Many of the buildings on 15th Street were constructed in the Beaux-Arts style, inspired by the City Beautiful movement of the late 1890s and early 1900s. Additional architectural styles represented in the historic district include neoclassical, Colonial Revival, and Renaissance Revival. Architects who designed these buildings included local and national prominent people. Those represented in the historic district include local architects Jules Henri de Sibour, Appleton P. Clark Jr., Waddy Butler Wood, George S. Cooper, Mihran Mesrobian, Paul J. Pelz, George Oakley Totten Jr., and B. Stanley Simmons. Architects from other parts of the country that designed buildings in the historic district include James H. Windrim, Bruce Price, York and Sawyer, Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, Cass Gilbert, and Carrère and Hastings, amongst others.

The historic district was added to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (DCIHS) in 1984, one month after Rhodes' Tavern was demolished after a long legal battle to save the building. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2006. In 2016 and 2017, the historic district was renamed the Financial Historic District and expanded to better include the historic financial center in downtown Washington, D.C.

Amongst the contributing buildings in the historic district are three National Historic Landmarks: the Lafayette Building, the Treasury Building, and the United Mine Workers of America Building. In addition, there are around 20 additional contributing properties that are individually listed on the NRHP.