Columbia Heights History

Before the Civil War, a horse track ran through what is now 14th and Irving streets. In 1840 the track was closed, and a crossroads developed with farms surrounding it. Following the Civil War the area began to be developed as a suburb. Towards the end of the 1800s, John Sherman gave the area its name by calling a subdivision there “Columbia Heights.” Following the introduction of an electric streetcar on 14th Street, the area west of Boundary Street (now Florida Avenue), including Columbia Heights, began to be developed. As developers such as Harry Wardman began building rowhouses and small apartments in the area, the neighborhood became home to a growing number of middle-income families and government workers. The neighborhood was the first location of George Washington University (then Columbia College), and Meridian Park (known as Malcom X Park) was created by the government with a purchase of land from the university. In 1924 the Tivoli Theater was built, which is still in Columbia Heights today.

In the 1960s Columbia Heights was an important financial district, but in the April 1968 riots following Martin Luther King’s murder the neighborhood was severely affected. In the city of Washington, DC twelve people died and 1,000 buildings were burned, with the majority of the destruction occurring in Columbia Heights. 60 percent of the businesses in Columbia Heights were looted or burned, and 20 percent of the apartments in the neighborhood were seriously damaged. This high rate of destruction may be attributable in part to the fact that while at the time most of the residents of Columbia Heights were black, most of the buildings were owned by whites who did little to keep the buildings of the neighborhood in good condition. This problem was already clear in the early sixties, and by the time of King’s assassination tensions between white landlords and black tenants and business owners were high. Officials were surprised by the violence and had assumed that because the neighborhood had such a large black middle class riots would not happen there.

Following the riots, Mayor Washington created the Community Redevelopment Committee and the Economic Development Committee to begin cleanup and rebuilding, but little progress was made, and soon those who could afford to left the city. With few employment opportunities crime rose, and in October of 1968 the remaining stores were once again looted. Despite promises of redevelopment, a Washington Post Article in December of 1968 noted that the only new businesses were liquor stores.

For many years after the riots the area remained depressed, with almost no rebuilding taking place for about 30 years. In those 30 years, many people left the neighborhood, and crime rates increased. The opening of the Columbia Heights Metro Station in 1999 contributed to the “revitalization” of the area, and the Tivoli Theater, which had closed in 1976, was restored. In the early 2000s, the City purchased old buildings and sold them at low prices to private developers, further contributing to the redevelopment of the area. Columbia Heights is now an attractive neighborhood to young professionals and is experiencing gentrification.

Demographics

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Columbia Heights was a fairly affluent neighborhood, with mainly upper-middle class whites living there. By the 1930s immigrants from many countries lived in Columbia Heights, including a large Jewish population. Black households began to be established on side streets near 14th. In the ‘40s the area became more urban and congested. The 1948 Supreme Court Decision against discrimination in housing led to apartments on 14th being opened to black families. By the 1950s and for many years after, Columbia Heights was a predominantly black community. Latino immigrants began arriving in the 1980s. Following 2001, with the introduction of the metro and following the construction of the new shopping center in 1999, the area became more attractive and is today experiencing gentrification.

-by Jesse Ferrell

Sources

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