The City of Washington, D.C. is majestic urban habitat. It's my favorite East Coast city and among the most beautiful capitals in the world. I love bicycling in and around the region and commuted from both Kensington, Maryland and Georgetown by the Potomac. It's superb architectural design, sensible land use planning and overall humanity are apparent in the open space, graceful streets, avenues and circles that invite admiration. Pierre L'Enfant designed the central plan for the city and utilizes many structural elements used in gay Paris. Washington is truly a glorious environment, rich in just about everything that symbolizes the American dream. With its many parks and public spaces, the wholeness and scale is admirable. From the formality of Capitol Hill, hosting magnificent edifices to Justice, Knowledge and bipartisan administration, to the Mall, with its impressive monuments of Art and Science, to the funky brownstones of Dupont Circle and Georgetown, this is the way to do a city. Against this stunning stage, the business of Washington transpires.
The world's largest
government is host to supplicants of every nature. Law firms lobby and
litigate, think tanks advocate policy platforms, public relations firms
advocate and promote the business interests of their clients. The entire world
watches every action with a million scribes observing with close focus, while
spin meisters spin the news. With a supporting cast of thousands, worker
drones rub shoulders with Captains of Industry, Princes and Paupers. All
stream into the city on foot, bicycle, bus, Metro and, of course cars. Way too
many cars for the narrow streets designed for a century earlier. This apocalyptically
creates colossal congestion every weekday. It is well noted that the average
speed of movement today is far less than during the horse and buggy days. And
into this, sail the Couriers and Messengers, with unequaled grace, courage and
efficiency. They own the streets.
Couriers slowly acquire territorial knowledge of their pickups and
destinations. In a city as compact and tolerable as this, getting around is surprisingly
easy. Shortcuts are learned and travel is self-optimized. Given the vast array
of pompous names and business titles, the crowded radio frequencies we shared,
a convenient shorthand entered into the vernacular to describe clients and
routes and destinations. Some have hilarious double meanings.
I take full responsibilty for any errors in spelling and categorization and addresses in making this list. Many have no doubt moved from where they were in the mid-80's. I'd appreciate your letting me know of any oversights or updates, should the time or interest exist.
Russell SOB
Dirksen SOB
Hart SOB
Rayburn HOB
Longworth HOB
Cannon HOB
US Mayors Conference 1620 I 4th *
US Governors Association 444 North Capitol St
Library of Congress
Supreme Court
Drug Enforcement Administration 1405 I Street *
Export Import Bank 811 Vermont *
Freddy Mae 1770 G Street LL
COMSAT 950 L'Enfant Plaza *
OJARS 633 Indiana *
Congressional Budget Office 3rd and D SW *
General Accounting Office 441 G Street *
Department of Labor *
Department of Justice *
Department of Education *
Department of Health and Human Services *
Department of Transportation 7th and Constitution
Department of Agriculture 14th and Constitution *
Department of Housing and Urban Development 7th and Constitution*
Department Corp of Engineers 10 Mass Ave *
Nussbaum and Owen
#1 Thomas Circle
Arendt Fox
1050 Connecticut 6th
Greenwell Goetz
1333 H 410 *
Akin and Gump
1333 New Hampshire Avenue 4th (takin a dump at A & G)
Arnold and Porter
1200 New Hampshire Blvd 8th (now at 555 12th St. NW)
Howery and Simon
1730 Penn B1
Gladstone and Associates
2030 M
Burston Marsteller
1800 M Street
Seyfarth and Shaw
1111 19th Street 5th
Peat Marwick and Mitchell
1990 K Street
Skidmore Owens and Associates
1201 Pennsylvania
JBG and Associates
1250 Connecticut 8th Floor
Campbell Peachy and Associates
404 7th Avenue NW
Malarkey Associates
1301 Pennsylvania Upper Lobby
Touche and Ross
1900 M Street 4th
American Bankers Association
1120 Conn 6th
Mobil
1100 Connecticut Ave 620
Bechtel
1620 I 703
National Forest Products
1619 Mass Ave
National Association of Broadcasters
1800Mass Ave
National Rifle Association
1600 Rhode Island Ave Thomas Circle
National Institute of Highway Safety
600 New Hampshire 4th
IBM
1801 K 6th
Heritage Foundation
214 Mass Ave NE *
National Association of Realtors
14th Street
ASTA
4400 MacAuthor Blvd
American Federation of Teachers
#11 Dupont Circle 5th
National Association of Airline Pilots
15th and Mass Ave.
PADCO
1834 Jefferson Place
B'Nai B'Rith
1640 Rhode Island Ave
Arab American Foundation
1875 Connecticut
Hill and Knowlton
1333 H Street * Tobacco Apologists
Cassidy and Associates
655 15th Street *
Kamber and Associates
1899 L Street 502
Western
1204 Wisconsin Ave
Greenpeace
1346 Conn 810
Humane Society
2100 L Street
Center
for Science for the Public Interest
1700 17th
Handgun Control
110 Maryland Ave NE
Kennedy Center
National Film Institute
America Civil Liberties Union
Time Magazine
1050 Conn *
CNN
111 Mass Ave *
Reuters
1333 H 400
United Press International
1400 I 700
Grace and Company
3255 Grace Street
GeorgeTown *
KRON
444 North Capitol Street
Gannett
1000 Wilson Rosslyn, Va
Uniphoto
1071 Wisconsin Ave
McGraw Hill
1120 Vermont Ave 510 *
CBS
2020 M Street
ABC
1717 De Salles
The presence of an asterisk * indicates fond memories of sites which regularly issued massive multiples. These were the highlight of most couriers days. Numerous deliveries (5-50) originating from one location, such as a press release or Capitol Hill lobbying effort. These invariably led to a feeding frenzy of joy for couriers close enough to be assigned the work.