…or the one place within walking distance to take the Aunt whose liquor license her church hasn’t challenged….
Veranda on P has a decently priced brunch. I had seen the regular dinner menu and was concerned but the brunch featured a selection of omelettes, a burger, a veggie wrap, salads, and some sides. It was standard American fare, but good none the less. We both got big honking plates of food. I could hardly finish mine. It cost me, as I had volunteered to pick up the tab, a little over $30 for the two of us.
Then she dragged me to Handel’s Messiah.
Month: December 2007
Fun with the Census: Not really the Census, but close
The info that I thought was Census stuff, isn’t Census stuff, it is actually Commissioners of the District of Columbia stuff. Once upon a time DC had a board of Commissioners and off the top of my head I think they were appointed by Congress. Anyway those Commissioners put out some lovely annual reports which have a good deal of info. Sadly, that info seems to be on scratched microfilm in the GovDocs section of my place’s library. The photocoping fees for it is a strong disincentive for me to make copies and I should shop around. I hear the Library of Congress and the University of Maryland are more affordable.
So why would you, with your mild interest in the past have an interest in some old annual reports? Well besides knowing they counted only 11 Chinese women in all of the District in 1897, 4 of them living on Sq. 425 (currently being occupied by the Convention Center), the reports break down the blocks or squares with some interesting information. Their census was enumerated by the police in some instances, and I can’t determine who did the other sections of the report. There is a break down between “White” and “Colored”, colored I’m gathering would include the Chinese, Indians, African Americans, and other non-Europeans, by square. Some go further by locating the handful of Chinese (327 men, 11 women), one Japanese guy, and enough Indians to count on your fingers (3 men, 2 women) in the District in 1897. Gives you a sense of how cosmopolitian the city was, uhm? [
Fun with the Census: Housing data 1890-1930
Okay, I am a bad researcher. There is a Census report that I’ve probably photocopied several times but I keep losing it, and forgetting it’s exact title. So in that vein, I share with y’all a portion of a census report that I failed to copy the title page for…
In 1890 25.5% of District homes were owner occupied, 74.5% were rentals. 1900, 23.4 owned, 73.5% rented, and then there is a tenure unknown part that I’m just going to ignore. 1910, 24.4 owned, 72.3 rented. 1920, 29.6 owned, 68.3 rented. 1930, 37.6 owned, 59.9 rented.
Now in the then Census tracts of 10 & 11, 10 being N. Cap, K, 7th and S, and 11 being 7th, K, 15th and S, there are some fun demographics for 1930. Tract 10 was 17.8% native white, 6.2 foreign white, and 75.5 Negro. Tract 11, was 51.7% native white, 8.4 foreign white and 39.7 black. Track 10 had the highest percentage of African Americans in the District in 1930, compared to all the other tracks. Anacostia at the time, Tract 30, was only 24% Negro.
Some Bloggy Housecleaning
I got a lovely note from my hosting service that I have gone above my allowance. The amount equals something I can find in my pockets doing laundry, so no big deal. Yet, this means I should do ‘something’ about the amount of stuff I’ve typed up over the years. Deleting old posts and saving them on a disk is an option. Seek and destroy large jpeg files is another. Or let my natural laziness come through and do nothing, until the extra costs go beyond what I may find in the laundry.
Also, did anyone go to the BACA meeting? I was a tad under the weather, so I missed out.
BACA meeting to address Armstrong
Tonight is the 1st Monday of the month so, it’s BACA meeting time and one of the scheduled speakers is someone who can tell what’s going on with Armstrong. Ya know it would be nice if Armstrong opened before Cook and Washington close. Also there will be someone from the organization housed in the Slater school building.
According to Jim Berry:
As indicated, the first half of our meeting on Monday will include presentations by Mr. Thomas W. Gore, President/Executive Director of Associates for Renewal in Education, Inc., 45 P Street, N.W., concerning the interesting mix of services that A.R.E. provides to children in the community, and Mr. Wendell Butler, Chief Operating Officer of the Community Academy Public Charter Schools network, who will talk about plans to develop the building that formerly housed the Armstrong Manual Training School at 1st and P Streets, N.W. There will also be a few brief committee reports. Importantly, the second half of the meeting will be devoted to the hour of fellowship that we sponsor annually during the holiday season. This is an ideal opportunity to meet and greet neighbors from all parts of the community and, as usual, feel free to bring a dessert or a covered dish to share.
Note: I’m getting all woo-woo in the head and that’s nature’s signal for me to get more sleep. So I’ll be skipping tonight’s meeting and taking a nap, ’cause I don’t know how much longer I can last on auto-pilot today.
The School of Broken Windows
Okay, thanks for the lovely tales of converted DC school buildings. However, I can’t be hopeful about Cook’s conversion to anything great if it is left empty and unused for say longer than 365 days. Why? Because of what it sitting across the street. The picture here is of the Langston School. This is the best picture I have showing what crappy shape Langston is in. Note the frame of the window is falling apart. Slater isn’t really pretty but not as bad as Langston. Slater is right next door to Langston, sharing a playground space, and it is being used by a non-profit, and could stand some improvement. Now directly across the street, is Cook. Directly behind Cook is M.M. Washington, also slated to close. So if and when Cook and Washington close there will be a row of three defunct DC school buildings.