Posts tagged History
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It’s part streetcar, part bus, and it ran in Arlington and Fairfax in the 1930s
The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is a famous example of early transit-oriented development because of the Orange Line, but the area was home to an innovative transit experiment long before Metro. From 1936 through 1939, a streetcar-bus hybrid provided service from the City of Fairfax to Rosslyn and into DC. Keep reading…
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How public housing was destined to fail
While the US public housing system may have started off with the intention of providing quality homes to low income and vulnerable populations, those efforts were quickly dashed by how the program was created and managed. Keep reading…
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Did Baltimore have the first electric el?
A while back I wrote about Baltimore’s Guilford Avenue el, which opened to electric streetcars in May 1893. It’s sometimes described as the country’s first electrified el and its first elevated trolley, but that isn’t strictly true. However, it was electrified before the better-known New York and Chicago elevated lines. Keep reading…
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Here’s how neighborhoods west of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast DC became isolated from the city
The neighborhoods of River Terrace, Parkside, Mayfair, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth in Northeast DC are isolated from the rest of the District by the Anacostia River to the northwest and DC Route 295 to the southeast. While these neighborhoods are very isolated and contain some of the lowest-income Census block groups in the District today, they were sited to take advantage of direct transportation routes to downtown and built for higher-income professionals. Keep reading…
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Here’s how a DC newspaper covered traffic safety just before World War II
The defunct Washington Evening Star ran a series of punchy, illustrated columns called “Why Must They Die?” Keep reading…
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IN Capitol Hill or ON Capitol Hill? The high-stakes debate of our era.
Plenty of DC residents know someone who works on Capitol Hill — and in the context of Congress, the “on” isn’t in doubt. But when that person walks east to the nearby neighborhood of colorful rowhouses for a drink after work… are they spending the evening in Capitol Hill or on Capitol Hill? Keep reading…
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How can DC preserve history that’s more than a building?
DC’s historic preservation system is well set up to preserve historic buildings and properties, but ill prepared to formally recognize other types of history. A simple reform could go a long way to resolve that. Keep reading…
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How one house explains zoning in Montgomery County
The history of Montgomery County zoning can be told in one house. The story starts in the 1930s, a few years after Montgomery County adopted its first zoning ordinance. A developer named George Sacks began to build on a large tract of land he owned just south of downtown Bethesda. Keep reading…
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Four Black men developed a Montgomery County suburb to provide a better life for some in their community. They received something very different in return.
In 1906, four African American men attempted to develop an elite suburb for African Americans along Wisconsin Avenue between Chevy Chase and Friendship Heights, Maryland. Despite facing intense hostility from adjacent white landowners, at least 28 people bought lots. However, their vision was ultimately undone using subtler methods, showing how nominally race-blind tools can serve racist ends. Keep reading…
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Lyon’s legacy IV: White families’ homes
A century ago, Robert E. Lee defeated both George Washington and Pocahontas. The contest? A decision to rename the county today known as Arlington. Keep reading…