Ward 1 Heritage Guide: A Discussion of Ward 1 Cultural and Heritage Resources

Williams, Kim; Elliott, Kim

"Located within the geographic center of the District of Columbia, Ward 1 is the smallest of the city's eight wards in terms of acreage, yet it is the most densely populated. It stretches broadly from S Street on the south to Spring Road and Rock Creek Church Road on the north and from the Old Soldiers' Home and 1st and 2nd streets on the east to Rock Creek Park on the west. The Ward is predominantly residential and is home to many of the city's most sought-after historic row-house neighborhoods and walkable communities. It also hosts many vibrant neighborhood-based commercial corridors filled with independent stores, cafes and restaurants... Ward 1 developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the city's residential growth moved northerly, giving it a rich and historic urban character. The area comprises distinct neighborhoods including today's Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Pleasant Plains, Le Droit Park, Meridian Hill, Strivers' Section, U Street and Parkview. At the southern end of the Ward is U Street, historically the heart of Washington's African American community whose many landmark buildings are now part of a burgeoning urban neighborhood with an active commercial corridor that extends up and down 14th Street and ranges east and west along U Street. Columbia Heights, at the center of the Ward, boasts grand and elegant 19th-century rowhouses to either side of a revitalized 14th Street centered around the historic Tivoli Theater at Park Road." Funding for this project was provided in part through a 2016 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the District of Columbia State Historic Preservation Office (project number DC-16-010, grant number P16AS00039) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Ward 1 Heritage Guide: A Discussion of Ward 1 Cultural and Heritage Resources

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