File:Twin-20 Washington Upright Pole - Washington DC.jpg

English: A Twin-20 Washington Upright Pole near the Adams Library of Congress Building on Independence Avenue SE in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has legislative authority to establish design standards for lampposts in the District of Columbia. In 1911, CFA member and artist Francis Davis Millet designed the "Millet post" -- a 10 foot-3 inch pole used as a temporary lighting standard.

In December 1922, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Captain John E. Wood, D.C. government electrical engineer W.B. Hadley, and PEPCO officials designed a single-globe and double-globe post. The one-globe lamppost was approved.

Captain Wood; Schenectady, New York, electrical engineer James Gosling; and CFA member Henry Bacon (who also designed the Lincoln Memorial) redesigned the double-globe post. The CFA approved this version, which was called the "Bacon double-lamppost".

The single-globe lamppost costs $5,000 each. Six types of lamps are used: sodium-vapor, metal halide, mercury-vapor, LED, fluorescent, and incandescent. Sodium-vapor lamps are used almost universally throughout the city, except for the Monumental Core, where metal halide lamps are used. LED lamps are being introduced. Most globes used in the city are plastic, and consist of the acrylic globe (which costs $125) and the prismatic polycarbonate globe (which costs $200).

Federal law and D.C. regulations require historic streets to use the Washington Upright Pole, while non-historic streets may use the less fancy "Decorative Teardrop Pole" or the downright ugly 1960s-style "Cobrahead Pendant Pole).

Some streets are not historic but are classified as Special Streets because they are part of the National Highway System, are "gateway" streets which lead motorists into the heart of the city, "important" streets which are critical to the integrity of the L'Enfant Plan, and streets which exist within the Monumental Core. All Special Streets use Washington Upright Poles.