Kent, Washington, D.C. on:
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Kent is a neighborhood in
The earliest habitation after the organization of the
D.C. Neighborhoods Map
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— ...
Washington, D.C. in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, bounded by Loughboro Road to the north, MacArthur Boulevard to the southwest, and Chain Bridge Road and Battery Kemble Park to the southeast. It is a suburban neighborhood, home to some of the most expensive homes in the city with an average home sales price in 2012 of $1.7 million ($ today).
Geography
Kent is a triangular-shaped neighborhood between Loughboro Road to the north, MacArthur Boulevard to the southwest, and Chain Bridge Road and Battery Kemble Park to the southeast. The area was long considered part of Palisades, the community that lies to the south, opposite MacArthur Boulevard. The neighborhood is bisected by Arizona Avenue which runs from southwest to northeast and divides it into two distinct areas. The hilly western section was developed in the 1930s and 1940s in a suburban style of that time with similar-looking Colonial-style houses. The east developed more organically beginning before the Civil War and maintains a more rural character. The neighborhood is entirely residential with all commercial development located along MacArthur Boulevard.History
The earliest habitation after the organization of the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
in 1801 was along the road to the Chain Bridge across the Potomac River (now Chain Bridge Road) which lies at what is now the neighborhood’s eastern border. The population grew during the Civil War, when settlements of freed and escaped slaves sprang up around Battery Kemble, one Civil War Defenses of Washington located to the east of the road. After the war, blacks continued to settled in the area on land they were given or that they bought from other landowners. Remnants of this community include a small cemetery established in 1868 and an old schoolhouse.
When the lots in this eastern section were finally subdivided, they assumed irregular shapes that reflected the land’s contours and previous land divisions. Unlike many parts of Washington, this area did not have restrictive covenant
A covenant, in its most general and covenant (historical), historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the ...
s barring habitation by black people
Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...
or Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. Thus, the neighborhood became a haven for educated minorities, many of whom built houses designed by distinguished architects such as modernist Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
that were interspersed with 18th-century farmhouses and 19th-century bungalows.
See also
* The Palisades, Washington, D.C.D.C. Neighborhoods Map
References
{{Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.) 1860s establishments in Washington, D.C. The Palisades (Washington, D.C.)