I already did Clark’s neighbor in a previous post- Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Harry R. Adams- 135 P St NW over in the pinkish house. So take a look at that after reading this on another Black American home owner.
So Charles A. Clark and his wife Harriet A. (nee Dixon) Clark were property owners. But I did not find proof they owned 137 P St NW. A name search in the land records database that goes back to 1921, has their names all over square 479, lot 15, which is in Shaw and no longer exists. Looking at the Library of Congress map, it looks like they owned 1419 6th St NW, where the Springfield Baptist Church currently sits. The Clarks were on 6th St for the 1930 census. And long story short, they lose that house in 1931 by defaulting on some large debts.
So who did own 137 P St NW? Rudolph Smoyer Blake and Ida Brown Blake.
They too were African American. During the 1920 census when the Clarks were living at 137 P, the newly married (12/29/1919 in NC) Blakes were living as lodgers at 310 F St NW. He was working a as mail clerk for the railway and she and assistant for a printer. By 1930, they were living at 137 P St NW with their 8 year old daughter Jeannette Brown Blake. Rudolph was still a clerk for the railway post office and Ida became a homemaker. During the 1940s, they remained at 137 P St NW. Rudolph died around or before 1946, leaving Ida a widow. She sold the home in 1948 to Thomas and his wife Willie B. Coleman. Ida passed away January 8, 1949, according to land records regarding other properties she owned.
A little side note about their daughter. Jeannette married Joseph Burton Moore in 1947. They divorced. Later, she married some fellow named Barbour. Third time was the charm, in December 1959 she married David Norwood Reed. She died in 2004 as Mrs. Reed.