Sixteenth Street Heights is a large neighborhood of rowhouses, duplexes, and American Craftsman and American Foursquare detached houses in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Sixteenth Street Heights is a large neighborhood of rowhouses, duplexes, and American Craftsman and American Foursquare detached houses in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Definitions of Sixteenth Street Heights' boundaries vary, although the neighborhood can be broadly outlined by 16th Street on the west, Georgia Avenue on the east, Missouri Avenue to the north, and Arkansas Avenue to the south. [1] The 16th Street Heights Tax Assessment Neighborhood is defined as 16th Street on the west, Missouri Avenue on the north, Georgia Avenue on the east, and Upshur Street on the south. [2] [3] However, it is also common to view Kennedy Street or Longfellow Street as the northern border of 16th Street Heights. All of 16th Street Heights lies within ZIP code 20011.
Adjoining neighborhoods include:
Sixteenth Street Heights is one of the most demographically diverse neighborhoods in the city.[ citation needed ] The homes along 16th Street and its surrounding corridor are primarily owned by affluent residents, while the commercial corridors of 14th Street and Georgia Avenue cater to middle- and lower-middle-class Hispanic and African American customers.[ citation needed ]
Unlike the neighboring areas of Brightwood, Columbia Heights, and Petworth, 16th Street Heights has few commercial districts. Aside from a handful of corner shops in other areas of the neighborhood, businesses are confined to Georgia Avenue, 14th Street between Buchanan Street and Decatur Street, and the area surrounding the intersection of 14th Street, Colorado Avenue, and Kennedy Street. The Columbia Heights business district also extends to Shepherd Street in the southern end of the neighborhood. Many residents drive elsewhere for most of their shopping. [1]
The 14th and Colorado area was once home to Colorado Kitchen, [4] and Twins Lounge, a notable jazz club. Both have closed. [5]
More than 45 churches line 16th Street between Silver Spring, Maryland, and Lafayette Square. In 2008, the LDS Church bought a convent on 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) at the corner of 16th Street and Emerson Street and demolished it. They sought to build a meetinghouse on the site with a 105-foot (32 m) steeple. Neighborhood outcry was fierce; many residents displayed lawn signs that read, "Too Big, Too Much, Too Many." Opponents of the church sought to extend southward the Sixteenth Street Heights overlay zone, [6] which is divided into SSH-1 from Military Road to Colorado Avenue and SSH-2 from Colorado to Decatur. [7] Both restrict non-residential uses and associated parking by requiring Board of Zoning Adjustment approval. [3] [8] After much discussion, approval was granted to build the church, which was completed in October 2012 and is now home to two Mormon congregations: the Washington, DC, 3rd Ward and the Mount Pleasant Spanish-speaking Branch.
Sixteenth Street Heights is next to Rock Creek Park, a 1,754-acre (7.1 km2) national park that bisects the District of Columbia. Park facilities near 16th Street Heights include the Carter Barron Amphitheater and the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center, which is the home of the Citi Open tournament (formerly, Legg Mason Tennis Classic). [9]
The Hamilton Recreation Center at 1340 Hamilton Street has a 60-foot (18 m) by 40-foot (12 m) athletic field, a basketball court, a playground, and a small multi-purpose room. [10] The Upshur Recreation Center at 4300 Arkansas Avenue has a baseball/softball field, two basketball courts, a computer lab, a kitchen, a medium-sized multi-purpose room, a playground, and a swimming pool. [11] The Twin Oaks Community Garden, at 1425 Taylor Street, has 40 plots and hosts a Junior Master Gardener Program. [12] [13] [14]
A part of Washington County until passage of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, Sixteenth Street Heights was developed as a series of subdivisions.
Streetcar lines on 14th Street and Georgia Avenue accelerated the growth of the area. The 14th Street line, which originally stopped at Park Road, was extended in late 1906 to spur growth in the area. [15] [16] Two historic streetcar facilities are currently used by Metrobus: the Capital Traction Company car barn at 4615 14th Street, NW, is now the Northern Division garage, and the 14th and Colorado turnaround is the terminal for some 52, 53, and 54 buses.
The initial generation of residents was largely white and Jewish. In the 1960s, the neighborhood became mostly African-American. [1] [17]
In the 21st century, Sixteenth Street Heights has seen a tremendous transformation. Houses on every street are being renovated inside and out. [1] Many young families have moved in because homes in Sixteenth Street Heights tend to be more affordable than similar ones in many other neighborhoods in DC and close-in suburbs. They are also attracted by the diverse housing stock and the proximity to Carter Barron Amphitheater and Rock Creek Park.
Much of 16th Street Heights was once part of Maple Grove Farm, an 80-acre (320,000 m2) nursery acquired in May 1854 by John Hennessy Saul, who led improvements of the Mall, Capitol, and White House grounds. [18] By 1892, Saul's son, Bernard Francis Saul, founded the B.F. Saul Company to sell land in individual lots and take notes as mortgages to speed the sale. [19]
The subdivision known as Saul's Addition was generally bounded by Buchanan Street, Piney Branch Road, Gallatin Street, and Georgia Avenue. Two public buildings were planned: the John Dickson Home for Aged Men (now occupied by the LAMB Public Charter School) and West Elementary School (which has been replaced by a modern building on the same site). [15]
Numerous restrictions were put in the deeds of Saul's Addition lots. Some, including the requirement that all homes be fully detached and the prohibition of commercial and multifamily buildings, remain largely in effect through zoning laws. Others have been dropped or ruled illegal, such as the restriction on the sale of lots to people of color, which was struck down in 1948 by the Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer. [20]
The area to the north of Saul's Addition was subdivided as Fourteenth Street Terrace. While similar to Saul's Addition, the deeds did not prohibit semi-detached houses, and many duplexes can be seen on the 1300 blocks of Gallatin, Hamilton, and Ingraham Streets. [15]
Sixteenth Street Heights is represented as part of Ward 4 on the Council of the District of Columbia. Muriel Bowser served as councilperson before she became the city's mayor in 2015. Janeese Lewis George is the current Ward 4 councilperson. Most of Sixteenth Street Heights lies within Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4C.
Three neighborhood organizations serve 16th Street Heights: the 16th Street Heights Civic Association; the 16th Street Neighborhood Association; and the Carter Barron East Neighborhood Association, whose boundaries are Decatur Street to the south, Longfellow Street to the north and 13th Street to the east. [1] The community is also served by the Friends Of The 16th Street Heights Parks.
Former Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools Michelle Rhee used to live in the neighborhood. [21]
Georgia Avenue–Petworth station is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., on the Green Line. It is located at the border of the neighborhoods of Petworth, Sixteenth Street Heights, and Park View in Northwest.
Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city, and it includes the central business district, the Federal Triangle, and the museums along the northern side of the National Mall, as well as many of the District's historic neighborhoods.
Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. It has diverse demographics, the DC USA shopping mall and many restaurants, BloomBars, Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, Howard University, Banneker Recreation Center, and All Souls Church.
Shepherd Park is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. In the years following World War II, restrictive covenants which had prevented Jews and African Americans from purchasing homes in the neighborhood were no longer enforced, and the neighborhood became largely Jewish and African American. Over the past 40 years, the Jewish population of the neighborhood has declined but the neighborhood has continued to support a thriving upper and middle class African American community. The Shepherd Park Citizens Association and Neighbors Inc. led efforts to stem white flight from the neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s, and it has remained a continuously integrated neighborhood, with very active and inclusive civic groups.
14th Street NW/SW is a street in Northwest and Southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C., located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) west of the U.S. Capitol. It runs from the 14th Street Bridge north to Eastern Avenue.
Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., United States are distinguished by their history, culture, architecture, demographics, and geography. The names of 131 neighborhoods are unofficially defined by the D.C. Office of Planning. Neighborhoods can be defined by the boundaries of wards, historic districts, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, civic associations, and business improvement districts (BIDs); these boundaries will overlap. The eight wards each elect a member to the Council of the District of Columbia and are redistricted every ten years.
Massachusetts Avenue is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington, D.C., and the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District is a historic district that includes part of it.
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.
Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962.
Brightwood is a neighborhood in the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C. Brightwood is part of Ward 4.
Pleasant Plains is a neighborhood in central Washington, D.C. largely occupied by Howard University. For this reason it is also sometimes referred to as Howard Town or, less frequently, Howard Village.
Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Maryland. Within the District of Columbia and a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Route 29. Howard University is located on Georgia Avenue.
Northeast Boundary is small neighborhood located in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Along with the Capitol View neighborhood, it is the easternmost neighborhood of the District of Columbia.
Pleasant Hill is a neighborhood located in Ward 5 of Northeast Washington, D.C. Pleasant Hill is contained between Allison Street NE and Bates Road NE to the north, Taylor Street NE to the south, the Washington Metropolitan Area Red Line tracks to the east, and North Capitol Street NW to the west. Pleasant Hill borders the adjacent neighborhoods of Fort Totten (north), North Michigan Park (northeast), Michigan Park (east), University Heights (south), Petworth (west), Brightwood Park (northwest), and Park View (southwest). It is adjacent to the Catholic University of America and even houses its athletic facilities. Pleasant Hill houses the Catholic University of America's soccer and football fields as well as its Raymond A. DuFour Athletic Center.
Brightwood Park is a small neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. in the United States. The neighborhood is bounded by Georgia Avenue NW to the west, Missouri Avenue NW to the northeast and Kennedy Street NW to the south. More recently, areas that are technically part of the northern extremity of the Petworth neighborhood have been increasingly referred to as Brightwood Park. Often these informal boundaries extend south to Emerson Street NW, and east to New Hampshire Avenue NW. Another definition places Hamilton Street NW as Brightwood Park's southern boundary. Yet another definition places Brightwood Park's southern boundary as Ingraham Street NW. The most expansive definition state Brightwood Park's borders as Missouri Avenue to the north, North Capitol Street on the east, Emerson Street to the south and Georgia Avenue on the west. It is located in Ward 4.
The Capital Traction Company was the smaller of the two major street railway companies in Washington, D.C., in the early 20th century.
The 14th Street Line, designated Routes 52, 54, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Takoma station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and L'Enfant Plaza station (52) of the Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro or Metro Center station (54) of the Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates at every 12 minutes frequencies during the day and 10-30 minutes during late night service. Trips roughly take 40-60 minutes to complete. Select trips begin/end at 14th Street & Colorado Avenue NW as well.
The Metropolitan Railroad was the second streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1864, running from the Capitol to the War Department and along H Street NW in downtown. It added lines on 9th Street NW, on 4th Street SW/SE, along Connecticut Avenue to Dupont Circle, to Georgetown, to Mount Pleasant and north along Georgia Avenue. In the late 19th century, it was purchased by the Washington Traction and Electric Company and on February 4, 1902, became a part of the Washington Railway and Electric Company.
Fort Stevens Ridge is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. built during the 1920s. The neighborhood comprises about 50 acres (0.20 km2) and is very roughly bounded by Peabody Street, Fifth Street, Underwood Street, and Ninth Street. As of the 2010 census, the neighborhood had 2,597 residents. It was named for nearby Fort Stevens, a Civil War-era fort used to defend the nation's capital from invasion by Confederate soldiers.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to District of Columbia:
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