Georgetown University (Usa) – Location, Campus, Facts
Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in the United States. It is located in Washington, D.

Georgetown University, Usa.
- Country
- Usa
- Coordinates
- 38.9072° N, 77.0728° W
Georgetown University overview
Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in the United States. It is located in Washington, D.C., in the Georgetown neighborhood at approximately 38.9078°N, 77.0722°W, and its main campus covers about 104 acres. Founded in 1789 by John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, Georgetown University is formally identified as the country's oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education. The university combines undergraduate liberal arts programs with graduate and professional schools, and it maintains named professional units such as the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center.
Georgetown University coordinates
Georgetown University is commonly mapped at approximately 38.9072° N, 77.0728° W, or 38.9072, -77.0728 in decimal degrees.
Degrees: 38.9072° N, 77.0728° W
Decimal: 38.9072, -77.0728
Where Georgetown University is located
Georgetown University sits in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., occupying a compact urban campus on a bluff above the Potomac River. The campus fronts the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and is contiguous with the historic streets of the Georgetown neighborhood. Street-level campus elements concentrate around Healy Hall and the central quadrangle, while university-owned facilities extend into nearby blocks and separate properties for professional schools. The university exists within the municipal and federal jurisdictions of the District of Columbia, which affect land use, historic preservation, and institutional governance for the site and its built fabric.
Why Georgetown University is important
Georgetown University matters for its formal combination of religious founding, professional education, and proximity to national institutions. The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, established in 1919, is a distinctive programmatic feature that anchored the university’s long-standing emphasis on international affairs education in the United States. Georgetown University Law Center and other professional units provide accredited graduate-level training in law and public service, reflecting the institution’s role in producing practicing professionals. The campus contains Healy Hall, a designated National Historic Landmark, which preserves nineteenth-century academic architecture within an active university. Georgetown University’s location in the U.S. capital has led to sustained curricular connections to diplomacy, public policy, and legal practice, giving the institution a measurable institutional profile in those fields.
History of Georgetown University
Georgetown University originated in 1789 when John Carroll, later appointed the first Catholic bishop in the United States, founded the school as a college for higher learning in the new nation. The institution grew through the nineteenth century as a regional center for Catholic education, adding graduate and professional instruction as the federal city expanded. The university established a law faculty in the late nineteenth century and formally created the Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1919, marking a widening of curricular ambitions toward international affairs. Over the twentieth century, Georgetown University consolidated its campus in the historic Georgetown district, erected purpose-built libraries and laboratories, and expanded professional offerings in business, medicine, and public policy. Throughout its development, the university preserved core nineteenth-century buildings while adapting new facilities to modern academic needs, producing a layered institutional landscape that documents long-term educational growth.
Natural features of Georgetown University
The physical campus of Georgetown University combines steep urban topography with a mix of nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture. Healy Hall forms the architectural centerpiece, exhibiting High Victorian Gothic forms and ornate masonry that anchor the campus skyline. The university’s core quadrangle and axial pathways reflect nineteenth-century collegiate planning adapted to the bluff above the Potomac River. Later twentieth-century additions include Lauinger Library, notable for its late modernist concrete expression and functional arrangement of stacks and reading rooms. Campus materials range from red brick and carved stone in historic structures to concrete and glass in modern academic blocks. The relative compactness of the 104-acre main campus concentrates these contrasting building types within walkable blocks and visible sightlines that define Georgetown University’s built character.
Environment, protection, and monitoring of Georgetown University
Georgetown University is governed by a president and a Board of Directors that oversee academic policy, campus stewardship, and built-environment decisions. Healy Hall’s designation as a National Historic Landmark places defined preservation obligations on the institution and triggers review processes for significant alterations. The university operates an institutional library system and archival repositories that maintain special collections, Jesuit records, and historical documents relevant to its mission and heritage. Campus planning at Georgetown University is conducted within District of Columbia regulatory frameworks for land use and historic preservation, and institutional facilities management implements maintenance, restoration, and energy-efficiency programs to sustain both modern laboratories and historic masonry buildings. These governance arrangements structure long-term conservation of the campus fabric and institutional holdings.
Georgetown University facts
- Georgetown University was founded in 1789 by John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, establishing it as the country's oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education.
- The main Georgetown University campus occupies roughly 104 acres on a bluff above the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, adjacent to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
- The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, founded in 1919, was among the earliest U.S. institutions formally devoted to professional international affairs education.
- Healy Hall's High Victorian Gothic architecture and interior libraries anchor Georgetown University's historic core, and the building is listed as a National Historic Landmark for architectural and educational significance.
- Georgetown University operates under a president and Board of Directors, maintaining academic programs across undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools while stewarding archives, special collections, and a registered historic campus.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the coordinates of Georgetown University?
Georgetown University is commonly mapped at approximately 38.9072° N, 77.0728° W, or 38.9072, -77.0728 in decimal degrees.