The Urban Village

The Urban Village. Village in the City. , Harry Townsend, who passed away at the age of 102 in 2004, had lived in the 1700 block of Kenyon Street since 1956. He was a well-known local figure who worked in construction. Townsend was still helping neighbors with repairs at age 90., Mount Pleasant's reputation as "a little U.N." attracted Jeff and Marshall Logan to establish their tailor shop at 3125 Mt. Pleasant Street in 1964. The African American couple, who met in tailoring school, often led activities designed to build community among Mount Pleasant's shifting populations. They helped promote a community festival in part to bolster and bring together a community shaken by the disturbances that followed the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Another disturbance rocked the neighborhood in 1991. On the evening of May 5, 1991, violence broke out when a rookie police officer shot and wounded a Salvadoran man during an arrest for disorderly conduct. Local TV stations reported the incident, causing crowds to gather. Angry young men from around the city clashed with police for three days, burning vehicles and public property. All told, 230 people were arrested, and 50 were injured. Soon after, a government investigation led to improvements in the DC Police Department's treatment of the city's Spanish-speaking population., Across from Mt. Pleasant Street from this sign are Italianate apartment buildings constructed after the streetcar line arrived. Many Mount Pleasant apartments have sheltered immigrants, ranging from the Greeks and Italians of the 1940s through the more recent refugees from Southeast Asia and Latin America.