Barracks Row is a commercial strip along 8th Street SE that connects the Navy Yard and

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

neighborhoods in the Southeast Quadrant of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

south of Eastern Market between M St. SE and Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The area takes its name from the Marine Barracks, also known as 8th & I, which it faces along 8th Street SE. Barracks Row, DC

History

Barracks Row is the oldest commercial district in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

due to its proximity to the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrativ ...

, established in 1799, and the Marine Barracks, established in 1801. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the neighborhood entered a decades-long decline, which was hastened by the building of the

Southeast Freeway The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

in 1962, which bisected the corridor, and the 1968

race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. In 1999, the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

chartered Barracks Row as a Main Street, a program dedicated to revitalizing struggling commercial districts. Since that time, the northern end of the strip nearest the Eastern Market

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

station at

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...

has seen a rejuvenation. However, the southern end has not experienced the same build-up, largely due to the continued existence of the Southeast Freeway, which acts as a large physical barrier to continued development. Much of this development has been spurred by Barracks Row Main Street, an organization that continues to play an active role in the neighborhood's growth.

References

External links

Barracks Row Main Street

Tour of Duty: Barracks Row Heritage Trail

Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., official site

Washington Navy Yard//CNIC Naval District Washington, official site
Streets in Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill {{WashingtonDC-geo-stub