Blagden Alley–Naylor Court Historic District | |
![]() Naylor Court street sign | |
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Location | bounded by 9th, 10th, M and O Sts., NW, Washington, District of Columbia |
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Coordinates | 38°54′44″N77°01′33″W / 38.912222°N 77.025833°W , |
Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival; Late Victorian |
NRHP reference No. | 90001734 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 16, 1990 |
Designated DCIHS | November 13, 1990 |
The Blagden Alley-Naylor Court Historic District is a neighborhood in the Shaw district of Washington, D.C., characterized by two alleyways, Blagden Alley and Naylor Court, bounded by 9th, 10th, M and O Sts., NW.
The names Blagden Alley and Naylor Court were derived from two 19th-century property owners, Thomas Blagden and Dickerson Nailor. [2]
After the Civil War, residential development in Washington, DC, expanded north from downtown to the Blagden Alley-Naylor Court area and attracted several prestigious, affluent residents, including Blanche Bruce, the first African-American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate, whose historic house is adjacent to the south entrance to Blagden Alley. [2] Many African-Americans migrated to Washington during this time and came to live in the alley itself in simple dwellings, including lean-tos, and shanties. [3]
Local residents saw the alley dwellings as a nuisance, and Congress passed a law banning their construction in 1892. [3] In the early 1930s, reformers led by Eleanor Roosevelt sought to eradicate deplorable living conditions in alleys citywide and used Blagden Alley as their model. [4]
Much of the neighborhood suffered damage in the 1968 Washington, D.C. riots, and the alley dwellings were largely abandoned. [3]
In 1990, the Blagden Alley Association of local homeowners submitted an application to the District's Historic Preservation Review Board to have Blagden Alley and Naylor Court designated as a historic district. [4] It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 1990. [1] The listing included 156 contributing buildings, with the majority constructed in the 19th century, including three houses dating back to the 1830s and 40s. [5] In addition to the Blanche K. Bruce House, the work of several notable architects were identified, including Queen Anne style brickwork on buildings designed by Nicholas T. Haller, the Romanesque Revival style of Thomas Franklin Schneider and Paul J. Pelz, the Classical Revival style of B. Stanley Simmons and Albert H. Beers, and also a residence designed by T. J. Collins. [5] [6]
The D.C. Archives and Record Center moved into the former B.F. McCaully & Co. Tally-Ho Stables in Naylor Court in 1990, but the facility fell into disrepair over the next decade - the archives hold the original wills of Dolley Madison, Francis Scott Key, Frederick Douglass, Henry Adams, Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell and Louis D. Brandeis. [7] [8]
In 1996, the alleys were rezoned from residential to commercial. [9] New development accelerated with the opening of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center nearby in 2003. [3]
Blagden Alley was home to a thriving arts scene in the late 1990s, centered around the Signal 66 Art Space and the Planet Vox TV studio. [9] [10] Fight Club DC, an indoor skate park and music venue, was in Blagden Alley in the mid-2000s. [11] The alley walls and garage doors display a collection of murals and mosaics, part of the D.C. Alley Museum, founded in 2015. [10] One of the more notable murals is "LOVE" by Lisa Marie Thalhammer. [12]
Cafes, restaurants, and bars began opening in the alleys after 2010. A sandwich shop, SUNdeVICH, opened in Naylor Court in 2011, to citywide acclaim. [13] The A&D Tavern opened at the 9th St. entrance to Naylor Court in late 2012. The owners of the building restored a faded sign on the building for "Julius Viedt Jr. Groceries." [14] La Colombe Coffee Roasters opened its first D.C. location in Blagden Alley in 2014. [3] Michelin-starred restaurant The Dabney opened in 2015, and the cocktail bar Columbia Room from award-winning mixologist Derek Brown opened in 2016. [15]
The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private non-profit institution; it is adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the Judiciary Square Metro station. The museum hosts various temporary exhibits in galleries around the spacious Great Hall.
Logan Circle is a historic roundabout park and neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. The majority of Logan Circle is primarily residential, except for the highly-commercialized 14th Street corridor that passes through the western part of the neighborhood. In the 21st century, Logan Circle has been the focus of urban redevelopment and become one of Washington's most expensive neighborhoods. Today, Logan Circle is also one of D.C.'s most prominent gay neighborhoods.
Shaw is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in the Northwest quadrant. Shaw is a major entertainment and retail hub, and much of the neighborhood is designated as a historic district, including the smaller Blagden Alley-Naylor Court Historic District. Shaw and the U Street Corridor have historically have been the city's hub for African-American social, cultural, and economic life.
The U Street Corridor, sometimes called Cardozo/Shaw or Cardozo, is a commercial and residential district in Northwest Washington, D.C., most of which also constitutes the Greater U Street Historic District. It is centered along a nine-block stretch of U Street from 9th to 18th Streets, which from the 1920s until the 1960s was the city's black entertainment hub, called "Black Broadway" and "the heart of black culture in Washington, D.C.". After a period of decline following the 1968 riots, the economy picked up with the 1991 opening of the U Street Metro station. Subsequent gentrification diversified the population, which is 67% non-Hispanic White and 18% African American. Since 2013, thousands of residents have moved into new luxury apartment buildings. U Street is now promoted as a "happening" neighborhood for upscale, "hip", and "eclectic" dining and shopping, its live music and nightlife, as well as one of the most significant African American heritage districts in the country.
Bloomingdale is a neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., less than two miles (3 km) north of the United States Capitol building. It is a primarily residential neighborhood, with a small commercial center near the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and First Street NW featuring bars, restaurants, and food markets.
Petworth is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is bounded to the east by the Armed Forces Retirement Home and Rock Creek Cemetery, to the west by Arkansas Avenue NW, to the south by Rock Creek Church Road NW and Spring Road NW, and to the north by Kennedy Street NW.
Capitol View is a neighborhood located in southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is bounded by East Capitol Street to the north, Central Avenue SE to the southwest and south, and Southern Avenue SE to the southeast. Still overwhelmingly African-American, it is a thriving middle class neighborhood. Parts of the neighborhood became one of the city's most violent and drug-ridden areas in the 1980s and 1990s. The Capitol View neighborhood saw several large, poorly maintained public housing projects demolished in the 2010s. The government of the District of Columbia partnered with private real estate developers to construct the Capitol Gateway mixed-use development between 2000 and 2010.
Fairlawn is a working class and middle class residential neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C., United States. It is bounded by Interstate 295, Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Minnesota Avenue SE, Naylor Road SE, and Good Hope Road SE.
Langston Terrace Dwellings are historic structures located in the Langston portion of the Carver/Langston neighborhoods in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C. The apartments were built between 1935 and 1938 and they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The Janney Elementary School is a public elementary school from Pre-K through 5th grade. A part of the District of Columbia Public Schools, it enrolls approximately 740 students.
O Street Market, also known as Northern Market, is a historic structure located at 1400 7th Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Built in 1881, it is one of three 19th-century public market buildings still standing in the city, along with Eastern Market and Georgetown Market. The market was listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in 1968 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The most distinctive architectural element of the Gothic Revival building is its corner tower on 7th and O Streets.
Shaw Junior High School, now known as Asbury Dwellings, is an historic structure located in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2008.
Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View is a bilingual elementary school in Washington, D.C. Named after Blanche Bruce and James Monroe, it has been located in the historic Park View School in the city's Park View neighborhood since 2008. It is part of the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Mount Vernon Triangle is a neighborhood and community improvement district in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Originally a working-class neighborhood established in the 19th century, present-day Mount Vernon Triangle experienced a decline in the mid-20th century as it transitioned from residential to commercial and industrial use. The neighborhood has undergone significant and rapid redevelopment in the 21st century. It now consists mostly of high-rise condominium, apartment and office buildings. Several historic buildings in the neighborhood have been preserved and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Mount Vernon Triangle is now considered a good example of urban planning and a walkable neighborhood.
The Dabney is a restaurant located in Blagden Alley, in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Chef-owner Jeremiah Langhorne opened the restaurant in 2015, focusing on Mid-Atlantic cuisine. The Dabney was named one of the Best New Restaurants of 2016 by Bon Appétit magazine, it was a awarded a Michelin Star in 2017, and Chef Langhorne won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic in 2018.
The Codman Carriage House and Stable is a historic building located at 1415 22nd Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The industrial building was constructed in 1907 as a carriage house and stable for socialite and art collector Martha Catherine Codman, who lived a few blocks north in her home, later known as the Codman–Davis House. She commissioned her cousin, Ogden Codman Jr., an architect and prominent interior decorator who also designed her home. He designed it in a Second Empire style.
The Brookland Bowling Alleys is an Art Deco-style building in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C., that housed a bowling alley from its construction in 1939 until 1950. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
The District of Columbia Archives, formally, the Office of Public Records Management, Archival Administration, and Library of Governmental Information, is the state-level archives of the District of Columbia. Its principal archival holdings reside in a converted stable in the Blagden Alley-Naylor Court Historic District and its much larger collection of retained records sit in leased space at the Washington National Records Center and in various D.C. government office buildings.
Cita Sadeli is a D.C. based art director, muralist, designer and illustrator. Sadeli has worked with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution.