Talk:Washington, D.C. street design conspiracy theory
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[edit] There is evidence...
... that the streets of DC were designed by a Satanic conspiracy.
Driving in the District is, after all, hell. MDB (talk) 12:41, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
- Yes, the streets are like spaghetti. Secret Squirrel (talk) 12:59, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
[edit] The Actual Conspiracy
The Founding Fathers and the architect decided to amuse themselves by putting in a few 'street patterns' whose only significance would be to puzzle map-readers in later generations.
The UK city of Bath apparently also has some 'Masonic arrangements.' 212.85.6.26 (talk) 19:05, 8 November 2010 (UTC)
[edit] J Street
There actually is no J Street in the alphabetic sequence, with several unsatisfying explanations:
- Pierre L'Enfant hated Chief Justice John Jay
- I and J were interchangeable in writing of the period.
For that matter, there's no B Street, but some early designs do seem to include them -- the names were changed to Independence and Constitution Avenues.
There isn't a X, Y, or Z Street, for probably practical reasons. Howard C. Berkowitz (talk) 07:24, 25 December 2011 (UTC)
[edit] Not A Conspiracy, just common themes of the day
Freemasonry has played a much greater role in society of the past. Its ideals of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", helped shaped the thoughts of many great leaders of the time and since. This is not a Satanic conspiracy, but a philosophy of living that has played a big part in the culture of the United States, and its ideals as a nation.
Freemasonry also trades in a great number of symbols used as metaphors representing principles to build a nation by, as well as direct the common man. These symbols are derived from mathematics/geometry, and were incorporated into the street layout and architecture of DC, and many other cities, in the same way that corporate logos are incorporated into modern day architecture.
These serve as touchstones to remind people trained a certain way of certain ideas. In the past, these were ideals such as "Truth", "being square in your dealings with others", "being plumb", liberty and freedom and so forth. In our modern world, the golden arches remind us to eat hamburgers, the a peacock or searchlights remind you to watch a TV network.
The star (5 or 6 pointed), pentagram, pentagon, triangle, square, circle, pyramid (truncated or not), obelisk, the number 13, the number 33, and so forth are common symbols in freemasonry, and each have a specific meaning or meanings tied to morality pageants that teach certain principles of life. Given the strong Masonic influence on various US Presidents over the years, it should be no surprise that these symbols appear in the street layout of Washington, as reminders to future (Masonic) leaders to deal squarely and honestly with his constituents and the affairs of his nation.
So it is right to pull back from the nutters, as these symbols are by no means evidence of a satanic conspiracy.
But also don't be absolutely blind and say that it is pure chance, as it is not. It is like denying that a cross attached to a church is purely by chance, and has nothing to do with Christianity.
Washington was designed to have these symbols from day one.
As I say all of this, DC does not fully resemble its original plans, as many changes to its layout and territory have occurred since its inception and design by l'Enfant, including the star/pentagram "over" the White House. A perfect example of this is Alexandria, Virginia, which was originally part of DC, and completed the perfect square that DC was to have been, but was retroceded to Virginia in later times. — Unsigned, by: 198.96.178.33 / talk / contribs
- Which just goes to show the quality of "research" done by the typical conspiracy theorist. SophieWilder 09:24, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
[edit] The actual conspiracy
... involves some variant on [1]. 82.44.143.26 (talk) 14:57, 18 July 2014 (UTC)
[edit] I heard of a similar Conspiracy Theory
Something about all cities being laid out on a 36x36 grid, and if yu add it up to "36 + 35 + 34, etc. you get 666. The nuttier go on to go on about the "Babylonian and Egyptian origins" of the layout the significance of how Washington DC is on the Top-Right four squares, etc. and the Conspiracy Minded go on about the Masonic Origins.
Is there anything that isn'r of babylonian origin am I a freemason for pointing my fucking index finger?--サトセレ (talk) 09:52, 3 November 2014 (UTC)
[edit] Checked Google Maps... The pentagram exists
Hey guys, This is false:
"The claims about the D.C. street layout are easily refuted just by looking at an actual map of the city. Conspiracy literature will show Rhode Island Ave., Vermont Ave., Massachusetts Ave., Connecticut Ave., and K Street making up five lines of a pentagram. A look at the actual street map[8] shows that Vermont and Connecticut Avenues do not extend south of K street so there is no point below that, and ergo, no bottom point of any pentagram pointing at the White House. Further, Rhode Island Ave. does not extend west of Connecticut Ave. so not only does this alleged "pentagram" not have five points, it doesn't even have four. It is purely the product of someone's overactive imagination."
here's a link to the same Google Maps link the author uses to "debunk" the pentagram shape: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/washington+dc+Connecticut+avenue/@38.9035916,-77.0350602,15z
You can easily see it for yourself. Or you can easily see it here:
http://pasteboard.co/2s7dEhAF.png
Having said that..... whether or not it's a giant conspiracy is a totally different discussion! but the "pentagram" shape certainly IS there, going from Dupont Cir NW to the White House to Logan Cir NW to Washington Cir Park to Mt Vernon Sq
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