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Columbia Heights is a
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in Northwest
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, Na ...
, United States. It has diverse demographics, the
DC USA DC USA is an vertical power center, i.e. a multilevel enclosed urban shopping center anchored by big box stores. It is located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. A ''Washington City Paper'' poll named DC USA the "Best Desi ...
shopping mall and many restaurants, BloomBars, Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, Howard University,
Banneker Recreation Center Banneker Recreation Center is an historic structure located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building was built in 1934 and was named for Benjamin Banneker, a free African American who assisted in the survey of boundar ...
, and
All Souls Church All Souls Church, All Soul's Chapel, and variations, may refer to: United Kingdom * Church of All Souls, Bolton * All Souls' Church, Halifax * All Souls Church, Hastings * All Souls' Church, Blackman Lane * All Souls Church, Langham Place * All So ...
. Developed as a Washington suburb after the American Civil War, growth accelerated in the early 1900s. The extension of the DC streetcar system in 1914 made the neighborhood a popular place to live among federal workers. In the 1940s, the designation of Cardozo High School as a "colored" school resulted in a demographic shift and the neighborhood became predominantly African-American. The
1968 Washington, D.C., riots The Washington, D.C., riots of 1968 were a four-day period of violent civil unrest and rioting following the assassination of leading African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1968. Part of the broader Ki ...
devastated the area and turmoil in the 1970s and 1980s followed. Beginning in the late 1990s, the addition of a Washington Metro station and other initiatives led to the redevelopment of the neighborhood. Columbia Heights is very diverse: no racial group constitutes a majority. Housing includes condominiums and townhouses as well as
public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...
.


Geography

In the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., Columbia Heights borders the neighborhoods of U Street Corridor (Cardozo/Shaw),
Adams Morgan Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include t ...
, Mount Pleasant, Park View, Pleasant Plains, and
Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east–west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twel ...
. On the eastern side is Howard University. The streets defining the neighborhood's boundaries are 16th Street to the west, Spring Road to the north; Sherman Ave to the east, and Florida Avenue to the south. It is served by the Columbia Heights station on the Yellow and Green lines of the Washington Metro. There is " splendid panoramic view of downtown DC from the hilltop at Francis L. Cardozo Education Campus," Other rooftops in the neighborhood also have noted views.


History


19th century

Once farmland on the estate of the Holmead family (called "Pleasant Plains"), Columbia Heights was part of Washington County, District of Columbia. (It was within the District but outside the borders of the city of Washington; the southern edge of Columbia Heights is
Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Bounda ...
, which was originally called "Boundary Street" because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City.) In 1815 an engraver from England, William J. Stone, purchased a 121-acre tract of the Holmead estate—east of Seventh Street Road (present-day Georgia Avenue), and north of Boundary Street—and established his own estate known as the Stone Farm. Nearby, construction of the first building for Columbian College, now George Washington University, was completed in 1822 on the campus which was bounded by Columbia Road, 14th Street, Boundary Street (Florida Avenue) and 13th Street. The area began developing as a suburb of Washington soon after the American Civil War, when horse-drawn streetcars delivered residents of the neighborhood to downtown. The northern portion of modern-day Columbia Heights (i.e., north of where Harvard Street currently lies) was, until the 1880s, a part of the village of Mount Pleasant. The southern portion still retained the name of the original Pleasant Plains estate, though it was also known as "Cowtown." In 1871, Congress passed the D.C. Organic Act, which eliminated Washington County by extending the boundaries of Washington City to be contiguous with those of the District of Columbia. Shortly afterward, in 1881–82, Senator
John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served a ...
, author of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, purchased the land north of Boundary Street between 16th Street and 10th Street, including the Stone farm, developing it as a subdivision of the city and calling it Columbia Heights in honor of the college at its heart. (The neighborhood's eastern, major traffic artery, Sherman Avenue, is named after its early developer.) Much of Sherman's purchase was land belonging to Columbian College. The college moved to the center of Washington's downtown business district and in 1904, changed its name to The George Washington University, in an agreement with the George Washington Memorial Association. By 1912 Columbian, now George Washington, relocated its major operations to Foggy Bottom. The federal government purchased some of the college's former land and built Meridian Hill Park in the early 20th century. The park, also known as "
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
Park", contains many statues of historic international and United States figures, including Joan of Arc, Dante Alighieri, and James Buchanan.


20th century

Upscale development in Columbia Heights circa 1900 was designed to attract upper level managers of the Federal government, U.S. Supreme Court justices, and high-ranking military officers. An imposing mansion known as "Belmont" marked the entrance to the neighborhood between Florida and Clifton Streets. The mansion was emblematic of the confidence that the affluent placed in the concept that Columbia Heights represented the ideal suburb. In the early 1900s, many of Washington's wealthiest and most influential people lived in the neighborhood. Residents included authors
Jean Toomer Jean Toomer (born Nathan Pinchback Toomer; December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, though he actively resisted the association, and with modernism. His reputatio ...
,
Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...
, Sinclair Lewis, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, and Justice
John Marshall Harlan John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 – October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his ...
. In 1901, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia renamed streets all over the District in accordance with a newly adopted street-naming system. In Columbia Heights, Clifton Street, Roanoke Street, Yale Street, Princeton Street, Harvard Street, Columbia Road, Kenesaw Avenue, Kenyon Street, Dartmouth Street, and Whitney Avenue were renamed Adams Street, Bryant Street, Channing Street, Douglas Street, Evarts Street, Franklin Street, Girard Street, Hamlin Street, Hooker Street, and Irving Street, respectively. In 1902, there was a building boom in North Columbia Heights, with the expansion of the streetcar down 11th St, 14th St and 16th St. Homes were being built for between $2,000 and $5,000 and a total of five million dollars' worth of homes were being built. In 1904, the Columbia Heights Citizen's Association published an illustrated brochure entitled "A Statement of Some of the Advantages of Beautiful Columbia Heights." (PD

The publication describes Columbia Heights as a "residential section populated by public and spirited citizens." Residents at that time were "ever alive to the mental, moral, and spiritual advancements of their homes surroundings." The neighborhood organization sponsored competitions for landscaping house lots and offered prizes to the best kept lawn and garden, at the same time fought the erection of street poles and overhead telegraph and telephone lines. 1904 was also the year that Congress authorized changing the names of streets to align with the alphabetical and orderly naming convention of the Old City (i.e., below Boundary Street, now Florida Avenue). The name changes were put into effect the following year. By 1914, four street car lines served the section providing transportation to Downtown (Washington, D.C.), downtown Washington in twenty minutes. The neighborhood also became the home of the Washington Palace Five professional basketball team. The popularity of the neighborhood resulted in the construction of several large apartment buildings during the beginning of the twentieth century that changed the suburban character of the area into a more urban and densely populated district. As of mid-century, however, Columbia Heights retained much of its upscale residential appeal, supporting establishments such as the ornate Tivoli Theatre movie house (completed in 1924).
J. Willard Marriott John Willard Marriott, Sr. (September 17, 1900 – August 13, 1985) was an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the founder of the Marriott Corporation (which became Marriott International in 1993), the parent company of the world's l ...
and his wife opened an A&W Root Beer franchise on 14th street in 1927, before creating the Marriott hotel chain. The neighborhood was adjacent to Washington's thriving middle-class black community and came to be home to some of its most notable citizens by the 1930s. In 1949, during the era of racial segregation in the public schools, Central High School, a white high school that bordered the southern edge of Columbia Heights, did not have enough students. It was renamed as Cardozo High School and designated as a "colored" high school to accommodate the growing
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
population in the neighborhood. Significant demographic changes began in the late 1940s when African-American residents began to buy apartment buildings previously owned by whites, and in the 1950s blacks bought individual homes in ever increasing numbers. The neighborhood was a strong middle-class African-American enclave in Washington, along with the nearby Shaw neighborhood and Howard University, through the mid-1960s. The neighborhood was featured in various clips, and as the home of protagonists Helen and Bobby Benson, in the 1951 film '' The Day the Earth Stood Still''. In 1968, following the assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, the
1968 Washington, D.C., riots The Washington, D.C., riots of 1968 were a four-day period of violent civil unrest and rioting following the assassination of leading African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1968. Part of the broader Ki ...
ravaged the 14th St. Corridor in Columbia Heights, along with the commercial U Street corridor nearby, and many other Washington neighborhoods to the east. Many middle-class residents moved out to the suburbs, resulting in a drop in business. As a result, many homes and shops remained vacant for decades. Some remaining residents could not afford to move, and struggled with problems of poverty and violence related to drugs. In addition to African Americans, the neighborhood had an increasing number of Latino immigrants and their descendants as residents.


1999-present

In 1999, the city announced a revitalization initiative for the neighborhood focused around the Columbia Heights Metro station, which opened that year. The opening of the Metro station served as a catalyst for the return of economic development and residents. Nearby, Giant Food supermarket opened, and Tivoli Square, a commercial and entertainment complex, dating from the 1920s was renovated. There had already been positive developments along lower 14th Street and the U Street corridor. On March 5, 2008,
DC USA DC USA is an vertical power center, i.e. a multilevel enclosed urban shopping center anchored by big box stores. It is located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. A ''Washington City Paper'' poll named DC USA the "Best Desi ...
, a shopping mall across the street from the Columbia Heights Metro station opened. It includes stores of Target,
Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebr ...
,
Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...
,
Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
, Petco, and Washington Sports Club as well as 1,000 spaces of underground parking.
Chipotle A chipotle (, ; ), or ''chilpotle'', is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex and Southwestern United States dishes. It comes in dif ...
,
CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...
,
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...
, Cava, also opened. As of 2018, approximately 22% of the housing stock in the neighborhood was reserved for low income renters.


Demographics

The 2000 census figures estimated Columbia Heights had a 58% African-American population, including some African immigrants of the 20th century and later, and government and professional class; 34% Hispanic population; 5.4% white population; and 3.1% other. The 2010 census figures estimated Columbia Heights had a 43.5% African-American population, including government and other professional class; 28.1% Hispanic population; 22.9% White population; 3.2% Asian population; and a 2% Other population. In 2012, Columbia Heights was named one of the fastest gentrifying neighborhoods in the United States.


Local institutions

The Columbia Heights Farmers Market, across the street from
DC USA DC USA is an vertical power center, i.e. a multilevel enclosed urban shopping center anchored by big box stores. It is located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. A ''Washington City Paper'' poll named DC USA the "Best Desi ...
, provides neighborhood shoppers with locally produced food. In January 2005, the
GALA Hispanic Theatre GALA (Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanos) Hispanic Theatre is a theater located at 3333 14th St NW in Washington, D.C. It hosts plays in Spanish and English, as well as dance, music, poetry, spoken word, art and films. History The GALA Hispani ...
moved into the newly refurbished Tivoli Theatre as its first permanent home. This former
movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
, built in 1924, had been vacant since 1976. GALA is a theater company dedicated since the 1970s to performing Spanish-language plays. In November 2006, the Dance Institute of Washington, a minority-led professional ballet and dance center, opened a facility across the street from the Tivoli Theatre. The neighborhood is also home to several organizations that serve minorities such as the Greater Washington Urban League, the local affiliate of the
National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...
, The Latin American Youth Center, CentroNia, Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN). The Embassy of Ecuador, Washington, D.C. is on 15th Street. Notable historic structures in the neighborhood include the David White House, Mary Ann Shadd Cary House, Embassy Building No. 10,
Meridian Manor Meridian Manor is an historic structure located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. George T. Santmyers designed the structure in the Colonial Revival style. It exemplifies the speculative m ...
, Olympia Apartments, Clifton Terrace, Hilltop Manor (The Cavalier Apartment Building), Trinity Towers, the Riggs–Tompkins Building, Park Road Courts, and Truck Company F. The Banneker Community Center, a unit of the
District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation The District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is an executive branch agency of the government of the District of Columbia in the United States. The department plans, builds, and maintains publicly owned recreational facilities ...
, contains playing fields,
Basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor su ...
s, tennis courts, a swimming pool (Banneker pool), a
computer lab A computer lab is a space where computer services are provided to a defined community. These are typically public libraries and academic institutions. Generally, users must follow a certain user policy to retain access to the computers. This us ...
and other indoor and outdoor facilities. The center's main building was constructed in 1934 near Howard University and named for
Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731October 19, 1806) was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. He was a landowner who also worked as a surveyor and farmer. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a fr ...
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 because of its important role in the development of the black community in Washington, D.C. Columbia Heights Green is a garden in a former wrecking yard. In 2010, Washington Parks and People purchased the land for $1. Community work days are every Saturday. The garden has community beds. The Columbia Heights Day Festival is a one-day street festival is a celebration of the diversity and community of Columbia Heights.


Education

Residents are zoned to District of Columbia Public Schools. Public schools in Columbia Heights include: ;High schools * Cardozo Education Campus *
Benjamin Banneker Academic High School Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is a magnet high school located in Washington, D.C., that was originally built to serve as a neighborhood Junior High School. The school's name commemorates Benjamin Banneker, an African-American scientist, s ...
*Bell Multicultural Senior High School *Booker T. Washington Public Charter School for the Technical Arts ;Middle schools *Lincoln Middle School ;Elementary schools * Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View (Until 2008, two separate schools) * Tubman Elementary School ;Public Charter Schools *DC Bilingual Public Charter School *AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School *Capital City Public Charter School * Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School *Children's Studio Public Charter School *E. L. Haynes Public Charter School *YouthBuild Public Charter School *The Next Step Public Charter School *Booker T. Washington Public Charter School for the Technical Arts


Notable residents and former residents

* Nick Altrock (1876–1965) - professional baseball player and coach * Sekou Biddle - D.C. politician *
Djakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
- artist, comedian and actress * Duke Ellington - jazz musician and composer, lived in Columbia Heights from 1919 to 1922. Purchased first house at 2728 Sherman Avenue NW. * Marvin Gaye - musician; attended
Cardozo Senior High School Cardozo Education Campus, formerly Cardozo Senior High School and Central High School, is a combined middle and high school at 13th and Clifton Street in northwest Washington, D.C., United States, in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Cardozo i ...
*
Geovanny Vicente Geovanny Vicente-Romero is a Dominican political strategist, lawyer, columnist, international consultant and university professor who teaches strategic communications at Columbia University as an associate lecturer. He specializes in public poli ...
- Columnist for
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...
, teacher at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School and Professor for Columbia University * John A. Logan (1826-1886) - soldier and politician * Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable - director of National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities * Jeannine Smith Clark (1928 – 2018) - educator and activist * David Weigel - journalist for The Washington Post


In popular culture

The 1993 film ''
In the Line of Fire ''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 American political action thriller film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Written by Jeff Maguire, the film is about a disillusioned and obsessed former C ...
'' features a scene where a call from
John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
's character is traced to a building on Park Road. When
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Dolla ...
's character and other police officers arrive on the street, they spot Malkovich walking past the Old Columbia Heights Firehouse and a chase ensues. Klaatu, the alien in the 1951 film '' The Day the Earth Stood Still'', played by Michael Rennie, boards in a house at 1412 Harvard Street for his stay in Washington. In 2012, Columbia Heights was shown in '' Homeland'', in season 2 episode 8.


References


External links


Columbia Heights Day Festival

Historic Neighborhoods: Columbia Heights Heritage Trail, Cultural Tourism DC

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Columbia Heights – A Washington DC neighborhood

Creation of the North Columbia Heights Green

History of Columbia Heights building boom – Ghosts of DC

Old Columbia Heights: Where the Streets Have New Names

Photos of Columbia Heights After the '68 Riots
{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.)