| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 1 of 18 — Mrs. Henderson's Legacy — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
| | As you look up the hill, you can see Peter C. L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for Washington ended up here in front of you at Boundary Avenue, now Florida Avenue. Back then, when people walked or rode in horse-drawn vehicles, it was hard to climb this steep ridge ridge. Once electric streetcars appeared in the 1880s, climbing hills was easier, so city dwellers began moving up this hill.
Beginning in 1887, Mary Foote Henderson, wife of Missouri Senator John B. Henderson, created a new community here . . . — Map (db m16893) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 2 of 18 — Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
| | Long before Europeans arrived, Meridian Hill was a sacred place for Native Americans. As recently as 1992, a delegation of Native Americans walked across the continent to this park to mourn the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival. They were received by environmentalist Josephine Butler, a champion of park preservation.
Europeans named the hill for Commodore David Porter’s grand Meridian Hill house (1825) which straddled the route of the prime meridian (16th Street). Americans used this . . . — Map (db m16910) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 3 of 18 — The Roots of Reed-Cooke — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
| | In 1947, the building on your left opened as the National Arena, a public roller rink and bowling alley. It also hosted professional wrestling, roller derbies, and rock concerts. In 1986 it became the Citadel Motion Picture Center, where portions of Peggy Sue Got Married, Gardens of Stone, and other movies were filmed. In 1994 MTV recorded its town hall meeting with President Bill Clinton in the studio here in Reed-Cooke.
Reed-Cooke’s earliest African American settlers moved . . . — Map (db m17031) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 4 of 18 — Life on the Park — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
| | During the Civil War (1861-1865), the Union Army Carver Hospital and barracks occupied Meridian Hill. The facilities attracted African American freedom seekers looking for protection and employment. By war’s end, a Black community had put down rooks. Soon Weyland Seminary opened to train African American clergy and teachers. In the late 1880s, Mary Foote Henderson purchased most of this land and evicted its residents. Many settled in today’s Reed-Cooke neighborhood to your left.
The . . . — Map (db m17032) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 5 of 18 — Ambassadors of Faith — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
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Three dramatic religious structures dominate this corner. They are among some 40 religious institutions lining 16th Street between the White House and the Maryland state line.
Many serve as unofficial “embassies” representing the interests of their faiths before the U.S. Government. The neo-Baroque National Baptist Church, to your right, is a memorial to Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island and champion of religious liberty. Its congregation has long worked for social . . . — Map (db m17076) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 6 of 18 — The Latino Community — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
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This is the heart of Washington’s Latino community. Once centered here and in nearby Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights, the community now extends throughout the region.
As early as the 1910s, the Mexican, Ecuadoran, Cuban, and Spanish embassies clustered nearby on 16th Street. Spanish-speaking diplomats and staff called this area home and often remained after their terms ended. In the 1950s, political turmoil and economic hardship brought Puerto Ricans and Cubans, followed later by . . . — Map (db m17167) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Adams-Morgan — 7 of 18 — Lanier Place — Roads to Diversity — Adams Morgan Heritage Trail |
| | Banker Archibald McLachlan and Smithsonian Institution naturalist George Brown Goode developed Lanier Heights in the early 1890s. Goode laid out streets and encouraged Smithsonian colleagues to purchase lots. McLachlan built the elegant Ontario Apartments, visible ahead and to the left on then-rural Ontario Road. More apartments and row houses followed. By 1935 Lanier Heights was considered a close-in, city neighborhood.
In 1908 the city built the Mission style firehouse mid-block to your . . . — Map (db m17295) HM |
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