 The Tenleytown–AU Metro station is one block north of the circle, where one is able to catch a free shuttle to the main campus of American University a little less than a mile away.Into the late nineteenth century, much of Northwest Washington west of the Rock Creek valley was rural, with Wisconsin Avenue (then known as "Georgetown and Rockville Pike" or "the Tenley Road" in Tenleytown) being one of the only major roads through the area.In 1902, as part of a report to the United States Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, the D.C. Park Commission proposed that a traffic circle be constructed at the junction of Wisconsin and Nebraska Avenues.