I’m back to the on again off again neighborhood research. In the past week I have done 2 blocks for 1880 discovering some odd little quirks about the 1400 block of 1st St & North Capitol, Unit blocks of 0 & P Street. Now I won’t have a fuller picture until I do the whole of Truxton Circle (which may be a while) but I found some lines of segregation on the blocks.
The 1400 block (even numbers)of North Capitol was the German-American street.
The 1400 block of 1st Street (odd) was the African American street.
The Unit block of O (odd) was German and Irish on the lower numbered end and Mullatoo (Black) with a few unskilled Irish on the other end.
The Unit block of P (even) from 10 to 64 P Street was mostly German with a few Irish and native whites. Then from 66 to 78 the families are African American.
I’ll be doing one more block this week then I think I’ll take another long extended break again.
Tag: neighborhood history
Research can be fun
Semi-stolen from my other blog….
Well this lovely fourth of July was not as alcohol soaked as I may have let on. In fact the only drink I had was communion wine and one pina colada. But this weekend shall be fondly remembered as the research weekend.
The MLK Library’s Washintonia collection was useless to me. Mainly cause it was closed. I mean I looked at their website and they only mentioned being closed on the 4th, not the 3rd or the 5th, as their sign clearly said on the door. So not to be deterred I wandered over to the Historical Society at Mt. Vernon Sq. Well I swear their Real Estate maps from 1887 are in much better shape than 
and at MLK. Sadly the Historical Society’s library is not the best when it comes to reproducing what you found.
I was able to look at these great maps of the neighborhood and see how old some of these places are. My papers when I bought my crumbly pair of bricks and board said the house was built in 1900. Not so. It sits on the 1887 map. But that’s not all. In the 1940s and 1950s a guy (if I took better notes I’d have the name) went around DC taking pictures of different neighborhoods. Well I thought my neighborhood was sooooo uninteresting he wouldn’t have wasted film in my hood. Well he did and I found a picture of my street as well as the neighborhing areas. Woo hoo!
One of the good things about working with archives is that there is this theory that I can do archival research. These are some of the people in my ‘hood in 1890. They are all Black.
Robert Childs laborer 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Henry H Cox shoemkr 1612 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Isaac S Goin student 1616 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
James Henderson laborer 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Hester Jefferson washing 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Augustus Kent driver 1610 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Maria Kent, widow Joseph 1610 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Rev James H Lee 1612 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Nelson Lomax driver 1614 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Hester Pendleton washing 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Amy Slaughter, widow John 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Grant Slaughter carpenter 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
John S Slaughter laborer 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Daniel Stewart huckster 1614 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Julia Taylor, widow John 1610 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
John Thomas laborer 1614 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Fredk C B Washington student 1616 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Jeremiah Watkins waiter 1616 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
John Watkins laborer 1616 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1890
Silas Carter driver 1614 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
James Henson laborer 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Foster Jackson laborer 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Esther Jefferson, widow Raleigh 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
William Jefferson laborer 1618 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Grant Johnson laborer 1610 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Rev James H Lee 1612 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Nelson Lomax driver 1614 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Abraham Slaughter waiter 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Amy Slaughter nurse 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891
Grant Slaughter carpenter 1611 4th northwest District of Columbia DC 1891