churches – Truxton Is In Shaw

Black Church Owners of Truxton Circle: Bishop Verda B. P. Braxton- 244 P St NW

I was thinking about house churches. One was the Phanelson Memorial True Church of God Apostolic at 244 P St NW. In the realm of Protestantism, they are in the Pentecostal neighborhood. Pentecostals are the more energetic version of the body of Christ.

This blog noted when the property was for sale in 2008. However, looking at Redfin and the Recorder of Deeds, it did not sell until 2021. Normally, I like to end my house/people histories in the 1970s and 1980s, because I’d rather not write about living people. But the Bishop for this church passed away in 2020.

In my last house history for 244 P St NW was for Frederick B. Turner, who sold the house to Ernest Clinton Winfield in 1947. Ernest Winfield sold the house in 1961 through Margaret Hartung who sold it to Efteia and John M. Swagart. In 1962 the Swagarts sold it to the Progressive Investors Corporation. In December 1973, the president of the Progressive Investors Corporation, James C. Brown and its secretary, Raymond K. Brown, transferred the property to James C. Brown. The next year, 1974 James and wife Mary sold the property to Verda Belle Braxton and daughter Elverda LaVerne Braxton-Thomas.

The Braxtons borrowed $19,950 from HUD, via Lawrence A. Epter & Associates. In 1978, via Lawrence Mitchell, the property was taken out of Verda Braxton’s name and placed solely in Elverda Braxton-Thomas’ name. In 2000 Elverda borrowed $78,000 from America’s Wholesale Lender (yes, that’s the name) which she satisfied in 2016. June 11, 2020 Elverda disclaimed her interest in the property as the surviving joint tenant, since the death of her mother that same year. It seems her mother willed the property to the Phanelson Memorial Apostolic Church Inc. No big deal, because Elverda represented the church when it sold the property to the current owners in 2021. Elverda died October 2022.

So who was Bishop Verda B.P. Braxton? She was born Verda Belle Phanelson May 18, 1927 in Powhatan, West Virginia to Alfred Phanelson and Bishop Esther Phanelson. I am reminded that Pentecostals are very open to female leadership and running churches can be a family business for non-hierarchical denominations. When she married Alphonso James Braxton in Roanoke, VA in 1949, she was working as a hospital maid and he a laborer.

In 1950, according to the census, she was living with her widowed mother in Roanoke with her newborn son Alphonso (aka Phanelson A. Braxton, died 2021). She had her 2nd child Elverda in 1953 in Washington, DC. According to a February 16, 1957 Washington Afro-American article she was a clerk-typist for the Walker-Thomas Furniture Co. when the company integrated its staff. Skipping a few years, public records have her address as 244 P St NW in the late 1980s and mid 1990s. So she qualifies to be a Black Home Owner of Truxton Circle. In her obituary, it reads “She served as Bishop and head of the church for over 38 years.”

Memory Lane: Sursum Corda and Church Housing

Because Destructo (my 8 year old son) is who he is, we were heading to the Kaiser Urgent Care Center near Union Station. They had a 2 hour wait as opposed to the 5 hour wait at the Largo UCC. This had us driving from Rhode Island and up 1st, past what was the Sursum Corda Apartments.

Taken May 16, 2007. First and M St NW. View of Sursum Corda Apts.

In my previous post about churches and housing, I mentioned Immaculate Conception Apartments, now 1330. In the 1970s it seems all the cool churches were doing low income housing. Sursum Corda, based on my quick glance of a June 25, 1972 Washington Post article was the product of St. Aloysius, its school Gonzaga High School, and other Catholic groups who like Immaculate, created an organization to create the housing.

I had to giggle when reading, “Mrs. Brown said crime has gone down markedly since the early days of the project.” When I arrived in the Shaw neighborhood, Sursum Corda was famously crime ridden.

But it was also painful reading the hope in 1972 that the apartment complex would be a new start for residents, providing a better life than what was offered in city public housing. Good intentions do not produce the results desired. Fast forward fifty years and what do you have? Apartment buildings completely divorced from the faith based communities that created them, struggling with crime. Or complexes that are no longer 100% low-income housing, but more market rate with a few subsidized units.

Know your public housing-2026

Ten years ago, on this date, I published a post, Know your public housing. Basically, what is affordable housing isn’t public housing. People might be using ‘public housing’ as shorthand, but it is incorrect.

Local governments are moving away from the public housing model and towards vouchers, aka Section 8. It’s easier to boss around landlords than to deal with property management yourself.

There are plenty of places within the historic boundaries of Shaw that are mistaken for public housing that is not public housing or no longer public housing. What is public housing? That’s housing “owned and managed by the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA).” And what is currently owned by the city in Shaw and other neighborhoods, compared to the number of privately owned apartments is minuscule.

I’ve gone down the list of DC public housing and only the James Apartments at 1425 N St NW, and possibly Claridge Towers at 1221 M St NW (it’s on the boundary) and Horizon House are the only public housing apartments in & on the border with Shaw.

The Northwest Co-Ops 1 and 2, not public housing.
Asbury Dwellings on Rhode Island, not public housing.
1330 at 1330 7th St NW, formerly Immaculate Conception Apartments, not public housing.
The McCollough Terrace Apartments, strangely some of the few non-Suzane Reatig designed UHOP buildings in Shaw, obviously not public housing.
The Washington Apartments, not public housing. I’m not even sure it’s still taking voucher tenants in 2026.
Foster House, formerly affordable housing associated with New Bethel Church, and there was a settlement, not public housing.
The Gibson Apartments, not public housing.

So lesson learned. When there is talk of affordable or workforce housing at your community meetings, it’s the examples I’ve provided above, the “not public housing.” Also affordable housing isn’t forever. The thing with vouchers, is that a company or property management group can choose to pivot towards market rate housing.

Churches and Affordable Housing: General thoughts

A couple of things passed through my social media on the topic of churches, or a particular church, getting into the affordable housing game. In one case, there is a church dealing with financial and membership woes throwing out the idea that maybe they could turn some of their prime urban acreage into housing. In another, some urban policy writer pointing out a plan by a progressive church to build affordable housing over their worship space and suggesting other churches do likewise.

My attitude, I’m not a member, so you do you, but be aware of the long term by learning from history. Who am I kidding? No one learns from history, because “this time, it’s different!”

If anyone is interested in learning from history, the Shaw neighborhood has several examples. Not a Shaw church but Greater Deliverance Christian Center Church of God in Christ formerly of SE DC owned Kelsey Gardens, an affordable housing complex, which was torn down for mixed use development between 2004-2006. Shiloh Baptist has owned and still owns property for well over 30 years and has done little in development. Immaculate Conception Church had used its Shaw properties to create the apartments at 1330 7th St NW in the 1970s? I believe Mt. Sinai has used its property as part of its mission work, if and when the properties have been used as housing, but not rentals. And lastly, the United House of Prayer for All Peoples (UHOP) is a major landlord and developer.

1330 7th St NW, formerly the Immaculate Conception Apartments.

Just thinking of the examples, it’s complicated. And the outcomes, when thinking 20-30 years out don’t always match the rosy fuzzy picture painted in the planning stages. No one says, ‘hey let’s build some housing that we won’t manage and will add to the neighborhood’s crime problem!’ Or ‘let’s keep planning to build housing, but for one reason or another never ever get around to it and be forced to sell because maintaining shells is hurting our church budget.’ They might quietly say, ‘let’s build housing and have it as an extra revenue stream,’ which doesn’t work out for everyone.

Revisiting Shiloh Fighting Liquor Licenses

So while I do other things, like prepare for the presentation on former Truxton Circle filmmaker Eloyce Gist, on October 2nd, I’m fishing through my old posts.

September 26, 2005 I posted about a Washington City Paper article (link in post is dead) about Shiloh Baptist Church‘s opposition to a business across the street getting a liquor license. It could have been “Shaw’s Main Drag” by Arthur Delaney written September 23, 2005. Yes, 20 years ago, now making this about Shaw History. You whippersnappers have no idea how much fighting went into making Shaw what it is today.

Anyway, the business Shiloh was fighting was the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant. It appears that QoS has closed and has been replaced by the Silk Lounge. Eventually, QoS won and got its liquor license as reported in the 2007 WCP article Queen of Sheba Toasts End of Liquor License Battle.

I understand the issue with QoS as it was right across the street from the church’s entrance and was near the church’s child care center. But Shiloh also opposed the liquor license for an upscale and very nice vegan restaurant Vegetate up on the next block.

As I mentioned in a previous post this month, Shiloh fought against the development along 9th instead of leaning into it. I wonder if the church had figured out a way to remain true to its principles and partner with local business if the church would have been flourishing instead of floundering?

Shiloh Selling 9th Street Properties

HT to Shaw Rez for pointing this out on Redfin.

1530 9th St NW is for sale for a nice round $1 million dollars.

I occasionally listen to a podcast by an ADHD pastor of a dying California church. Recently on his podcast, he noted how dire the situation was (aging congregation, costs of operation, etc), went into some detail and said that some hard decisions had to be made. I thought of that when my aunt, a member of Shiloh Baptist, mentioned how things were there.

Shiloh’s 9th Street properties have been an albatross around their necks. Looking at some of my old photos, I came across one from 2018 advertising a concept Victory Village.

Well that didn’t work out. Going back to that podcast, in that situation the CA church had property that they ‘could’ develop themselves, but he pointed out they wouldn’t necessarily make good landlords. As a former landlady, landlording is a service that requires certain skills. Not everyone has those sets of skills. UHOP has those skills. Shiloh does not and has proven incapable over the past 30 years that I’ve been in the DC area.

Instead of leaning into what is going on in the neighborhood, Shiloh, for their own reasons, have pushed back. As a result, when the taxes become too much or too the property too burdensome scattered properties get sold. It was great when they sold properties to the National Park Service for the Carter G. Woodson house.

Shaw Rez pointed out that having the whole row of vacant properties would make a good development deal. The reasons why the church holds on to these vacant and crumbling properties would make such a deal unlikely.

Shiloh Baptist Church. Taken Dec 26, 2012

Shiloh has to make some hard decisions as their congregation gets older and lives further away. Nobody likes hard decisions.

Memory Lane: Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church

The Former Israel Metropolitan CME. Taken 12/20/2007

This church building gives me Lutheran church vibes. This church sits in the Mount Vernon Sq part of Truxton Circle. It also housed the Israel Metropolitan CME Church during the 1957 Church Survey.

1957 Church Survey- Steeple Church Roundup

I was wondering if I got all the churches in the 1957 Northwest Urban Renewal Church Survey. The Northwest Urban Renewal Area was the area that makes up Shaw, Mt. Vernon Sq and Triangle, Chinatown, Downtown and whatever that is near Union Station. So here is a list of the steeple churches captured by the 1957 survey:

STEEPLE- CHURCH INDEX

NORTHWEST URBAN RENEWAL AREA
Baptist
Corinthian
First Rising Mt. Zion
Greater New Bethel
Metropolitan
Mt. Airy
Mt. Carmel
Mt. Gilead
New Bethany
Paramount
Redeemer Italian
Salem
Second
Shiloh
Springfield
Southern
St. Phillips
St. Stephan’s
Tenth
Third
Vermont Avenue

Methodist
Galbraith
Hemingway Temple A. M. E.
Israel C.M. E.
John Wesley A. M. E.
Miles Memorial C.M. E.
Mt. Vernon

Catholic
Holy Redeemer
Church of the Immaculate Conception
St. Aloysius

Lutheran
Luther Place Memorial
Mt. Olivet

Others
Ascension and Saint Agnes Protestant Episcopal
Bible Way
Chinese Community
Church of God & Saints of Christ
Full Gospel Tabernacle
Holy Trinity
Lincoln Temple Congregational Christian
Mt. Zion Pentecostal
New Tried Stone Church of Christ
Rehoboth Church of God
Third Church of Christ Scientist
Third Church of God
Twelve St. Christian
Verbycke Spiritual

Two Block Fringe Area

Baptist
Berean
Florida Ave
New Hope
Peoples Seventh Day
Walker Memorial

Methodist
Asbury
Metropolitan AME
Turner AME

Catholic
St. Mary Mother of God
St. Paul the Apostle
St. Augustine

Others
Church of the Holy City
Eckington Presbyterian
Fifteenth Presbyterian
Grace Reformed
National City Christian
St. Luke Protestant Episcopal

Fifteenth Street Presbyterian 1899

Old-Church — Fifteenth St Presbyterian, ca 1899? Library of Congress

This is the old building, probably the same one that was in the 1957 Church Survey.

1957 Church Survey: Shiloh Baptist Church

In 1957 there was as survey of churches in the Northwest Urban Renewal Area, which included Shaw, Downtown, and the area near Union Station. To learn more about the 1957 Church Survey read my previous posts, The Uniqueness of the 1957 Church Survey and Church Survey Northwest Urban Renewal Area October 1957.

I think this is the last of the 1957 Church Survey churches.

Shiloh. At the corner of 9th and P St NW, it has been a major player in the neighborhood, for good and ill. When I think of the buildings left to rot on their block, fighting liquor licenses (no need to support, that’s like asking the Mormons to support a coffee shop, no.) and parking. They also host VIPs who need to check off ‘visit to African American church’ on their list. I have fond memories of muckty-mucks visiting from the Clintons, the Bushes and Mayor for Life on his post prison tour.

Let’s look at Shiloh in 1957:

CS 13 Shiloh Baptist by Mm Inshaw

I feel I should mention the main building burnt down in the 1990s maybe. So that explains why it looks so new.

Shiloh, like Greater New Bethel Baptist, is a large African American church with over a thousand members showing up to services every Sunday. Also like Greater New Bethel, very few of their members live in the NW Urban Renewal Area (see above map). So it has been a commuter church for over 60 years. But it had no parking.

I wonder where all those members parked?

Before I get myself in trouble with the aunts who attend Shiloh, I’m going to stop.