From its inception in 1850, to this day, the Willard InterContinental Washington has been a favorite choice of US and international travelers. Known as the “Crown Jewel of Pennsylvania Avenue”, or the “Grand Dame of American Hotels”, the Willard InterContinental enjoys its place as a major force in the social and political life of Washington DC.
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in his hotel room at the Willard in 1963 in the days before his March on Washington.
Among the Willard’s many other famous guests are P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, General Tom Thumb, Samuel Morse, the Duke of Windsor, Harry Houdini, Gypsy Rose Lee, Gloria Swanson, Emily Dickinson, Jenny Lind, and Charles Dickens.
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