Capitalsaurus Court
Capitalsaurus Court is a commemorative section of F Street SE honoring DC's official dinosaur
Capitalsaurus Court was named for being the site of the discovery of the first dinosaur fossil found in DC. In 1898, construction workers laying sewer pipes found a six-inch piece of bone that looked like a fossil. The contractor sent the bone to the Smithsonian, where it was identified as a dinosaur vertebrae.
The Smithsonian believes the bone is from the tail of a bipedal dinosaur in the same family as the Tyrannosaurus rex, but its precise species remains undetermined. In 1911, a paleontologist declared the bone was from species named Creosaurus potens. Ten years later, a Smithsonian researcher determined that the bone actually came from a Dryptosaurus, a dinosaur that has been found in New Jersey. In the 1980s, a palentologist compared the bone to other Dryptosaurus fossils and determined that the bone found in DC could not be the same species; he declared it a new species, the Capitalsaurus. This was quickly questioned by other researchers, and the National Museum of Natural History’s collections catalog continues to identify the fossil using the 1911 designation, Creosaurus potens.
Whether or not you accept Capitalsaurus as a unique species of dinosaur, it has become a part of DC’s history and culture. Capitalsaurus became the official dinosaur of DC in 1998 after a campaign by local elementary school students. The street where the fossil was discovered was designated by the city in 2000, and January 28, 2001 was declared Capitalsaurus Day by the DC mayor to commemorate the date the fossil was discovered
In addition to the street signs on each corner of the block, a decorative art installation adorns a light post on the south side of the street. The red, metal sign depicts one dinosaur chasing another under two trees and the caption, “Capitalsaurus chasing a Falcarius.” This is part of the Capitol Hill Animal Art Project, which added sculptures of animals to lettered streets in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. D Street is represented by a dog, E Street by an emu, and the Capitalsaurus Court block of F Street highlights DC’s unique jurassic history with a Falcarius dinosaur.
The species of bone discovered in DC a century ago continues to be debated, but scientists agree it is evidence that dinosaurs lived and died in the District of Columbia more than 100 million years ago. The meat-eating Capitalsaurus was likely 30 feet long and 15 feet high, making it the same size as some of the houses found on the block of F Street SE known as Capitalsaurus Court. It’s worth a visit to imagine dinosaurs walking through a DC neighborhood and to wonder how many fossils lie undiscovered beneath the city.
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Address
Capitalsaurus Court
Metro Station
- Capitol South (OR, BL, SV)
- Navy Yard-Ballpark (GR)
- Eastern Market (OR, BL, SV)
Directions
Capitalsaurus Court is the block of F Street SE between 1st Street SE and 2nd Street SE
Cost
Free
Hours
Open 24 hours but best in the daylight
Length of Adventure
15 minutes
Website
http://lims.dccouncil.us/Download/185/B13-0170-ENGROSSMENT.pdf
