History
How 16th Street Heights was built, from DC's historic building permits, and what the newspaper said about it a hundred years ago this week.
When it was built
Buildings by decade of permitCounts by decade
| Decade | Buildings |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 2 |
| 1900s | 137 |
| 1910s | 853 |
| 1920s | 1,181 |
| 1930s | 282 |
| 1940s | 191 |
| 1950s | 115 |
| 2010s | 1 |
At a glance
Each record is one building listed on a historic DC building permit; a single permit can cover many buildings. The busiest decade is highlighted in the chart.
Top architects
Buildings designedTop builders
Buildings builtFeatured block
One builder, one yearIn 1911, C. E. Wire built 26 buildings on the 1400 block of Webster Street NW under 3 permits, designed by W. J. Wire. The largest permit covered 11 buildings at an estimated $33,000 in total.
100 years ago this week
October 31 – November 6, 1926Mentions of 16th Street Heights in the Evening Star, October 31 – November 6, 1926. Searched for "Sixteenth Street Heights", "Sixteenth Street Highlands", "Colorado avenue".
No clips matched this week.
No usable mentions in the Evening Star for October 31 – November 6, 1926 (4 matching pages searched). Some weeks a neighborhood just isn't in the paper. Clips are machine-read text (OCR) from scanned Evening Star pages on the Library of Congress's Chronicling America, lightly cleaned (line-break hyphens rejoined, stray symbols removed); misspellings are the scanner's. Newspapers this old are public domain. Each clip links to its page at loc.gov. Clips that mention race, covenants, deed restrictions or slurs are skipped automatically (keyword list: race, races, racial, colored, coloured, negro, negroes, white only, whites only, for whites, white people, white persons, white residents, caucasian, segregation, segregated, covenant, covenants, restricted, restriction, restrictions, plus a list of slurs), because they need an editor's context; legal notices and lists of private individuals are skipped too.
Street names: where they come from
13 names, each with a source- 16th Street Heights
Much of it was Maple Grove Farm, an 80-acre nursery John Saul acquired in 1854. His son B.F. Saul was selling lots on promissory notes by 1892, and streetcars on 14th Street and Georgia Avenue sped building. No source we opened explains the name.
Earlier: Maple Grove FarmSources: Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia · 16th Street Heights: Taking it Slow on God's Boulevard (UrbanTurf, 2017)- 16th Street NWextension authorized 1899
The neighborhood's western edge. Congress authorized extending it to the Maryland line in 1899, and bridging the Piney Branch valley took until 1909. It was briefly the Avenue of the Presidents. Churches along it gave it the nickname God's Boulevard, which UrbanTurf also applies to the neighborhood.
Earlier: Avenue of the PresidentsSources: 16th Street NW - Wikipedia · 16th Street Heights: Taking it Slow on God's Boulevard (UrbanTurf, 2017)- Arkansas Avenue NW
- Honors: State of Arkansas
Runs about a mile from 16th Street to Georgia Avenue and Gallatin Street, and the broad definition of the neighborhood uses it as the southern edge. DC's Highway Plan gave broad diagonal avenues the names of states and territories.
Sources: List of state-named roadways in Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia · Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia · Highway Plan: Street Names of Washington, DC (DC Office of Planning) - Buchanan Street NW1901
- Honors: President James Buchanan
Zanesville Street until the District's 1901 renaming. It marks one edge of Saul's Addition. The namesake comes from Crestwood's citizens association, writing about the same street west of 16th.
Earlier: Zanesville StreetSources: Crestwood Street Names, part 2 (Crestwood Citizens Association) · Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia - Colorado Avenue NW
- Honors: State of Colorado
Runs 1.6 miles from a cul-de-sac in Crestwood to Georgia and Missouri avenues, crossing 16th Street Heights on the way. DC's Highway Plan gave broad diagonal avenues the names of states and territories.
Sources: List of state-named roadways in Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia · Crestwood Street Names, part 2 (Crestwood Citizens Association) · Highway Plan: Street Names of Washington, DC (DC Office of Planning) - Decatur Street NW1901
- Honors: Stephen Decatur, naval officer
Brandywine Street until the District's 1901 renaming. UrbanTurf says several blocks of rowhouses sit between Decatur and Arkansas Avenue. The namesake comes from Crestwood's citizens association, writing about the same street west of 16th.
Earlier: Brandywine StreetSources: Crestwood Street Names, part 2 (Crestwood Citizens Association) · 16th Street Heights: Taking it Slow on God's Boulevard (UrbanTurf, 2017) - Gallatin Street NW
The line between Saul's Addition, which required detached houses, and Fourteenth Street Terrace, which did not. That is why duplexes stand on its 1300 block. No source we opened says which Gallatin it honors.
Source: Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia- Georgia Avenue NW
- Honors: State of Georgia
The neighborhood's eastern edge, and one of the streetcar routes that spurred its growth. Wikipedia gives 7th Street Extended and Brightwood Avenue as earlier names.
Earlier: 7th Street Extended, Brightwood AvenueSources: List of state-named roadways in Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia · Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia - Hamilton Street NW
Part of Fourteenth Street Terrace, whose deeds allowed semi-detached houses, so its 1300 block has many duplexes. Hamilton Recreation Center is at 1340. No source we opened says which Hamilton it honors.
Source: Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia- Ingraham Street NW
Part of Fourteenth Street Terrace, whose deeds allowed semi-detached houses, so its 1300 block has many duplexes. No source we opened says which Ingraham it honors.
Source: Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia- Missouri Avenue NW1937
- Honors: State of Missouri
The neighborhood's northern edge in most definitions. Wikipedia says it was Concord Avenue until 1937.
Earlier: Concord AvenueSources: List of state-named roadways in Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia · Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia - Saul's Addition
Bounded by Buchanan Street, Piney Branch Road, Gallatin Street and Georgia Avenue. Its deeds required detached houses and barred commercial and multifamily buildings, rules zoning still largely keeps in place.
Source: Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia- Upshur Street NW1901
- Honors: Abel Upshur, Secretary of the Navy and of State
Trenton Street until the District's 1901 renaming, which gave east-west streets the names of famous Americans. The neighborhood's tax-assessment boundary uses Upshur as its southern edge. The namesake comes from Crestwood's citizens association, writing about the same street west of 16th.
Earlier: Trenton StreetSources: Crestwood Street Names, part 2 (Crestwood Citizens Association) · Crestwood Street Names, part 1 (Crestwood Citizens Association) · Sixteenth Street Heights - Wikipedia
Still looking for a reliable source on Kennedy Street NW, Madison Street NW, Military Road NW, Piney Branch Road NW, Taylor Street NW. We don't publish a name's story until we can cite one. Know it? Tell us.
Neighborhood voices
Oral histories, held by the archives- Corcoran Holt interview, 2022-08-11Corcoran Holt · 2022 · video
A bassist raised in Petworth and Sixteenth Street Heights, where his parents encouraged his music. He started bass at ten, studied at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and now tours with Kenny Garrett. He talks about gentrification and DC's jazz scene.
At Dig DC, DC Public Library (Jazz at Westminster Presbyterian Church) · jazz, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, gentrification
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