Historical Markers in Brightwood, District of Columbia
Washington and Vicinity
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On Quackenbos Street Northwest east of 13th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.
Hearing those words, President Abraham Lincoln ducked down from the Fort Stevens parapet during the Civil War battle that stopped the Confederates from taking Washington. On July 9, 1864, some 15,000 Rebels led by General Jubal A. Early . . . — — Map (db m72829) HM
On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) at Peabody Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north on Georgia Avenue Northwest.
The Large Structure across Georgia Avenue opened in 1909 as a "car barn" for the Brightwood Railway. The facility could service more than 40 streetcars at once, and often did so late at night. As a young boy in the 1950s, Thomas Reardon . . . — — Map (db m72831) HM
On 14th Street Northwest at Rock Creek Ford Road Northwest on 14th Street Northwest.
Even before emancipation freed Washington's enslaved people in April 1862, a free African American community had developed here amid the European American farmers. The District of Columbia, unlike its neighbors, permitted the formerly enslaved . . . — — Map (db m143796) HM
On 13th Street Northwest at Quakenbos Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 13th Street Northwest.
Elizabeth Proctor Thomas (1821-1917), a free Black woman whose image appears on each Brightwood Heritage Trail sign, once owned 11 acres in this area. Known, respectfully in her old age as "Aunt Betty," Thomas and her husband James farmed and . . . — — Map (db m72830) HM
On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) at Underwood Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Georgia Avenue Northwest.
This busy section once was a "Country Road" to Washingtonians looking for peace and recreation. If you drove by here a century ago, you would have passed woods and large estates, and might even have seen fox hunters. Across Georgia was the . . . — — Map (db m72813) HM
On Missouri Avenue Northwest at Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29), on the right when traveling west on Missouri Avenue Northwest.
In 1818 the Private Rockville and Washington Turnpike Co. began building a road to link Washington City to Rockville, Maryland. This road helped create a village. A toll gate on what today is Georgia Avenue between Quackenbos and Rittenhouse . . . — — Map (db m72819) HM
On 14th Street Northwest at Rittenhouse Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north on 14th Street Northwest.
Apple and Peach Trees once covered the slopes to your left, some 40 acres' worth, all planted by noted horticulturalist John Saul (1819-1897). In the 1870s Saul was one of Brightwood's largest landowners. In addition to these orchards, he . . . — — Map (db m143797) HM
On 13th Street Northwest at Quakenbos Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 13th Street Northwest.
Civil War Defenses of Washington 1861-1865 The partial reconstruction of Fort Stevens that you see today was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937. No visible evidence of the original fort remains. Battle of Fort Stevens July . . . — — Map (db m3028) HM
On Missouri Avenue Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
The Military Road School opened in 1864 here along what then was Military Road, an artery linking Civil War forts. The School was one of the first to open after Congress authorized public education for Washington's African Americans in 1862. . . . — — Map (db m115232) HM
On Sheridan Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
We have Harry Wardman to thank for the rich variety of Sheridan Street rowhouses. Wardman, considered Washington's most prolific developer, built hundreds of offices, apartments, hotels, and comfortable rowhouses from 1899 to 1939. When he . . . — — Map (db m72823) HM
On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) south of Sheridan Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south. Reported missing.
Back in the 1920s, most people walked or rode a streetcar to go shopping. Then cars became affordable, and people drove everywhere. Soon the shopping center, with free parking, was born. In 1937 Brightwood's "Park and Shop" opened on Georgia . . . — — Map (db m72826) HM
On Quackenbos Street Northwest near 13th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.
Dedicated September 1936 in memory of The Grand Army of the Republic by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 — — Map (db m49526) HM
On Missouri Avenue Northwest west of 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
The School Building Just Ahead of You Opened In 1912 as the Military Road School, the area's third public elementary for African Americans. For decades it was the only public school serving black children in Upper Northwest and nearby . . . — — Map (db m110235) HM
On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) at Quackenbos Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Georgia Avenue Northwest. Reported permanently removed.
Across Quackenbos Street Emory United Methodist Church. Named to honor Bishop John Emory of Maryland (1789-1835), the congregation dates from 1832.
From the beginning, Emory welcomed all races but, like most Washington churches then, . . . — — Map (db m118907) HM
On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) at Quackenbos Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Georgia Avenue Northwest.
Across Quackenbos Street is Emory United Methodist Church. Named to honor Bishop John Emory of Maryland (1789-1835), the congregation dates from 1832.
From the beginning, Emory welcomed all races but, like most Washington churches then, . . . — — Map (db m147739) HM
On Piney Branch Road Northwest at Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29), on the right when traveling west on Piney Branch Road Northwest.
On July 11 and 12, 1864, this intersection was the center of the only Civil War battle fought in the District of Columbia. Here, Union sharpshooters at Fort Stevens, supported by forces across the
northernmost of Washington's ring of . . . — — Map (db m123226) HM
On Tuckerman Street Northwest at 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on Tuckerman Street Northwest.
In the 1930s as now, this area was a family friendly, "move-up" destination for hard-working government clerks and professionals. Like many DC neighborhoods, Brightwood had covenants prohibiting sales to certain white ethnics and African . . . — — Map (db m72777) HM
