History of SW / Buzzard Point

History of SW, also, Buzzard Point. . , Emerging from master planner Pierre L'Enfant's District Plan completed in 1791, Southwest D.C. began largely as an industrial shipyard, with fishermen selling directly off their boats until the Municipal Fish Market was established. In the years that followed, Southwest grew into a bustling community with commercial corridors along 4th and 7th Streets. The diverse neighborhood was notable at the time for its large African American, Jewish, and immigrant populations., Beginning in the 1950s Southwest was targeted for inclusion in the federal government's urban renewal program. Under urban renewal, the neighborhood was essentially torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. A traumatic time in the history of Southwest DC, approximately 23,000 residents and 1,500 businesses were displaced to make way for the redevelopment. With the large scale urban renewal redevelopments of the 1970s, Southwest is now known for its distinctive mid-century modern architecture., In the years that followed urban renewal, Southwest became known as a quaint residential neighborhood along the waterfront with a significant federal government footprint in Southwest Federal Center. It wasn't until the 2000's that the development boom occurring in D.C. reached Southwest; including a redesigned Arena Stage, the new Waterfront Station complex, and the groundbreaking of the Wharf., [Timeline:] ,

, 1791 , L'Enfant Plan for DC and Fort McNair established. , , 1793-1794 , Wheat Row townhomes and Thomas Law House built., 1800 , , 1808 , Long Bridge first built. , , 1815 , City Canal opened connecting downtown Washington with the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. , , 1850s-1860s , B&O Railroad constructed along Maryland and Virginia Avenues. , , 1862 , Horse-drawn street railway began operation on 7th Street. , , 1870s , City Canal paved over., 1900 , , 1900s , In 1902 and 1906, respectively the Syphax and Randall (then Cardozo) Schools opened to students. , , 1905 , Southwest population peaked at 35,000. , , 1907 , Sanitary Houses constructed. , , 1918 , Municipal Wharf and Fish market opened. , , 1940 , Jefferson High School constructed. , , 1954 , Redevelopment Land Agency began to clear land for large-scale urban renewal. , , 1957-1959 , Capitol Park Apartments (now Potomac Place), the first urban renewal apartment building constructed in SW., 1970 , Waterside Towers, last urban renewal-era residential complex, completed. , , 1991 , Waterfront Metro Station opeend., 2000 , , 2008 , Nationals Park opens. , , 2010 , Waterfront Station Safeway reopens. Source: Southwest Neighborhood Plan.