In the 1980s, NBC aired a sitcom called “227,” set in Washington, D.C. Someone on a listserv I’m on asked, “[Did] they ever establish in that series where in DC it was supposed to be set?”
I did a little poking around and found out that the show takes place at 227 Lexington Place. Anyone familiar with the District knows that street addresses are often (if not always) suffixed with the name of its respective quadrant, one of four subdivisions of the city based on the location of the Capitol Building: Northwest (NW for short), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE) and Southwest (SW). For example, the White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW; Union Station is at 60 Massachusetts Avenue NE; and so on. Lacking the quadrant identifier, we cannot immediately locate where the show supposedly takes place.
Enter Google Maps (or your favorite online mapping application — I just happen to like Google’s). A search for 227 Lexington Place does not turn up a building location. It does point out that Lexington Place indeed exists in the NE quadrant, though. The street runs parallel to D and E streets from 6th to 7th.
Because of the way D.C. streets are named and numbered, buildings along Lexington Place would be numbered from 600 to 699. If 227 Lexington Place actually existed, assuming the street stretched out that far, it would likely have an Exxon gas station right next to it.
Interestingly enough, my current place is numbered 227. But I’m not telling you which street it’s on.
