Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.)
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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., 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 Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, is a structured urban park located in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Columbia Heights; it also abuts the nearby neighborhood of Adams Morgan. The park was designed and built between 1912 a ...
, 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 bounda ...
, and All Souls Church. 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 The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview
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.


Geography

In the
Northwest 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 sep ...
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 the ...
, Mount Pleasant, Park View, Pleasant Plains, and
Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...
. 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 Columbia Heights is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., on the Green and Yellow Lines. Due to successful redevelopment since the station's opening, Columbia Heights is one of the busiest Metro stops outside the downtown core, with ...
on the Yellow and Green lines of the
Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview
. 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, 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 William Joel Stone (May 7, 1848April 14, 1918) was a Democratic politician from Missouri who represented his state in the United States House of Representatives from 1885 to 1891, and in the U.S. Senate from 1903 until his death; he also served ...
, 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 A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
John Sherman, 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 Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, is a structured urban park located in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C., Columbia Heights; it also abuts the nearby neighborhood of Adams Morgan. The park wa ...
in the early 20th century. The park, also known as " Malcolm X Park", contains many statues of historic international and United States figures, including Joan of Arc, Dante Alighieri, and
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
.


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, Ambrose Bierce, Sinclair Lewis, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, and Justice John Marshall Harlan. 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 The Washington Palace Five (also known as the ''Laundrymen'') were an American basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that was a member of the American Basketball League. The team was owned by George Preston Marshall, who later brought the Was ...
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 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., 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 Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
,
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 rebra ...
, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Petco, and Washington Sports Club as well as 1,000 spaces of underground parking.
Chipotle A chipotle (, ; ), or ''chilpotle'', is a smoking (food), smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican cuisine, Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex cuisine, Tex-Mex and So ...
, CVS Pharmacy,
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 c ...
, 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 Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
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 Latin American Youth Center, CentroNia, Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN). The
Embassy of Ecuador, Washington, D.C. The Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C., is the Republic of Ecuador's diplomatic mission to the United States. It is located at 2535 15th Street N.W. in Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Heights neighborhood. The current building has been used as an ...
is on 15th Street. Notable historic structures in the neighborhood include the David White House,
Mary Ann Shadd Cary House The Mary Ann Shadd Cary House is a historic residence located at 1421 W Street, Northwest in Washington, D.C. From 1881 to 1885, it was the home of Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823–93), a writer and abolitionist who was one of the first African Amer ...
,
Embassy Building No. 10 Embassy Building No. 10 is a historic building located at 3149 16th Street NW Washington, D.C., in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Although as the name implies it was built to be a foreign mission, it was never in fact used as such; instead, i ...
,
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 mi ...
, Olympia Apartments, Clifton Terrace,
Hilltop Manor (The Cavalier Apartment Building) Hilltop Manor, now known as The Cavalier, is an historic structure located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. This building is one of several developments between architect Harvey H. Warwick and ...
, Trinity Towers, the Riggs–Tompkins Building, Park Road Courts, and
Truck Company F Truck Company F, at 1336-1338 Park Rd. NW in Washington, D.C., was built in 1900. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The listing included two contributing buildings. It was designed by architect Leon E. Dessez in ...
. 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 courts, tennis courts, a
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
(Banneker pool), a computer lab and other indoor and outdoor facilities. The center's main building was constructed in 1934 near Howard University and named for Benjamin Banneker. 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 A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brough ...
. In 2010,
Washington Parks and People Washington Parks and People is an alliance of community urban park partnerships based at the Josephine Butler Parks Center in the Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.) neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC. The organization's field headquarters, th ...
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 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 ...
*
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, su ...
*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 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. ...
(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 Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School is a charter school for adults in Washington D.C. History The Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center was started in the 1930s at Gordon Junior High, 35th and T Streets NW in Burleith, Washington ...
*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 Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher between 1898 and 1919. After the 1919 season he continued to make periodic ...
(1876–1965) - professional baseball player and coach * Sekou Biddle - D.C. politician * Djakarta - artist, comedian and actress *
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
- jazz musician and composer, lived in Columbia Heights from 1919 to 1922. Purchased first house at 2728 Sherman Avenue NW. *
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
- 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 - Columnist for CNN, teacher at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School and Professor for Columbia University *
John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a stat ...
(1826-1886) - soldier and politician *
Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable is a Cuban-American physician-scientist. He is the director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Early life and education Pérez-Stable was born in Cuba. In the early 1960s, his parents, ...
- director of National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities *
Jeannine Smith Clark Jeannine Smith Clark (October 5, 1928 – ) was a Washington, D.C. educator and activist who served on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution from 1983 to 1994. Life and career She was born Jeannine Smith, was the second of seve ...
(1928 – 2018) - educator and activist * David Weigel - journalist for The Washington Post


In popular culture

The 1993 film '' In the Line of Fire'' features a scene where a call from John Malkovich'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 "''Doll ...
'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 Klaatu may refer to: *Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Klaatu (''The Day the Earth Stood Still''), the protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film and its 2008 remake * Klaatu (band), a Canadian progressive-rock group formed in 1973 ** Klaa ...
, 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.)