Good Times on Good Hope

Good Times on Good Hope. An East-of-the-River View. , Good Hope Road originally connected the Navy Yard Bridge to the village of Good Hope, established in the 1820s atop the long hill just ahead. In 1854 the road became the northern border of the new Uniontown subdivision and its commercial strip. Twenty years later William H. Rose opened a saloon at 1207 Good Hope, did well, and was able to retire, buy lots, and build rowhouses nearby. His son ran the saloon until 1895, when the enormously popular temperance (anti-alcohol) movement forced him to close., In 1917 Congress bowed to the anti-drink forces and closed all DC saloons. A Constitutional amendment enacted to years later imposed prohibition nationwide, but it failed to stop America's thirst. So Congress repealed prohibition in 1933. New establishments opened here, many catering to white servicemen stationed at Bolling Field and the Anacostia Naval Station., Future country star Jimmy Dean was stationed at Bolling when he got his professional start playing Anacostia taverns. The doo-wop group the Bobolinks (later the Memories) played its first gigs at the Hi-Ho restaurant, 1431 Good Hope. After school, recalled Memories singer Lou Martin, students would "all walk over to the Hi-Ho and hang out.... [they'd be] dancing in the aisles, and we'd be singing harmony." The restaurant's manager produced the band's first record, "I Promise," on the Hi Ho label in 1959. During the 1960s, the neighborhood clubs followed Anacostia's racial change, and audiences went from nearly 100 white to nearly 100 percent African American., On Saturdays children once thronged to the Anacostia movie theater across the street. Founder Lloyd Wineland first showed films in 1923 to the Masonic Temple at 14th and U, SE. Eventually the Wineland chain included dozens of area theaters and drive-ins.