Ward Four's Contours

Did you ever wonder what were the exact roads and boundaries that contain Ward 4? You can view the latest official 2012 Ward 4 map here, provided by the District of Columbia’s Office of Planning. Here you will see, unsurprisingly, the cap of the DC diamond consisting of its borders with Maryland. The right lower point of the diamond turns abruptly onto Kennedy Street Northeast, which after a hop on South Dakota Avenue slides gently down Riggs Road then plummets south on North Capitol Street. After a longer bumpy descent on Rock Creek Church Road Northwest and a step down New Hampshire Ave, the boundary gently rises up Spring Road. The boundary makes only a little jump on 16th Street, a major artery that virtually bisects the ward, then continues along Piney Branch Parkway. The boundary swerves northward on Rock Creek then veers east along Military Road. After one more abrupt descent on part of 27th Street, the boundary rises steadily northeast to the final left lower point of the diamond cap. It would be interesting to compare this current map with previous maps and sift through what politics shaped the borders. And then there is the rich history within these contours...