This three-story Victorian era rowhouse, with its slate Second Empire style mansard roof, is designated as a National Historic Landmark in recognition of the service of Zalmon Richards (1811-1899), who devoted most of his life to furthering the development of public education. Known primarily as the founder and first president of the National Teachers' Association (today's National Education Association), Richards was also largely responsible for the 1867 congressional act that established a national educational office.
The end house in a row of identically designed brick rowhouses, the Richards House was built between 1872 and 1873. Richards occupied the house from 1882 until his death in 1899, and taught in one of its rooms.
DC Inventory: July 24, 1968 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 15, 1966
National Historic Landmark: December 21, 1965
]]>This building's historic landmark designation recognizes Youth Pride, Inc., which was located here from 1968 to 1981. Pride, Inc. was an important organization within the Black Power Movement and was funded through the War on Poverty, which had started under President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. Pride adhered to the Black Power Movement's tenet of self-determination and was an important institution at a time of disinvestment, unemployment, and police brutality in the District.
As the first major American city to have a Black majority, DC was a center of the Black Power Movement. Pride, Inc. was established in 1967 by several Black Power activists, including Rufus "Catfish" Mayfield, the organization's first chairman, and future DC Mayor Marion Barry — who had first come to DC two years earlier to chair the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's DC Chapter. Pride was initially funded in August 1967 through a $300,000 grant from Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz. With these funds, "street dudes" in green denim uniforms were hired to clean alleyways, empty lots, and streets, as well as address the city's rat infestation. Due to Pride's success over this one month period, Secretary Wirtz awarded another grant — this time for $2 million — to extend Pride's programming for one-year.
In early 1968, Pride, Inc. moved to the building at 1536 U Street NW, following a renovation completed by Robert Nash and Associates, a Black-owned architectural firm. In its new headquarters and following the April 1968 uprising, Pride began to focus on Black capitalism. Thus, Pride Economic Enteriprises, Inc. (PEEI) was started with the purchase of a landscaping company, which was soon doing work for Giant Foods. PEEI then expanded into gas station ownership and low-income housing. Pride would train young men and then help them find employment through these and other initiatives — although, many more men were trained than employed. In addition to the above enterprises, Pride, Inc. partnered with American University on a work study certificate program, and established a health clinic and drug treatment program.
Over time, starting with the Nixon Adminstration in 1969, funding was reduced and Pride, Inc. was criticized by conservative congressional lawmakers. In 1981, Pride's federal funding was completely cut off and the organization permanently shutdown. This was in response to an embezzlement scandal related to P.I. Properties (a non-profit organization linked to Pride) and centered on Mary Treadwell, one of Pride's co-founders and then executive director.
Marion Barry, another Pride, Inc. co-founder, was elected mayor in 1978 — following stints on the DC Board of Education and DC Council. Pride served as a template for the Summer Youth Employment Program, which Mayor Barry established during his mayorship.
The building was designed by Frederick B. Pyle in the Renaissance Revival style and completed in 1920. At the time, many car dealerships and other automotive-related businesses were located in this section of DC, particularly along nearby 14th Street. Thus, the building was constructed for the Washington-Virginia Motor Company as an automobile showroom — hence the five round-arched windows along both U and 16th streets. These large windows have distinctive tripartite designs in both their lower and upper sections. The main entrance is in the center arch facing U Street.
The building's facade has limestone rondel bas-reliefs with shields and garlands on the first floor and decorative terra-cotta panels on the second floor. The panels within the second floor's piers are especially ornamented, with raised busts, urns, and filigree patterning.
At the time of construction, the building was only two-stories tall. These floors are clad in limestone. The third story, which sits above the building's classical cornice and dentils, was added in 1930 by the National Radio Institute, which moved a teaching facility into the building in 1927. This story is clad in terra-cotta panels. The National Radio Institute moved out in 1957. Pride, Inc. was located here from 1968 to 1981. The building is now owned by the Center for Community Change Action.
DC Inventory: June 27, 2024
National Register: August 29, 2024
]]>Spingarn Senior High School, Browne Junior High School, Charles Young Elementary School, and Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering (formerly Vocational) High School are located on approximately 27.25 sloping acres of land overlooking the historic Langston Golf Course and the Anacostia River in Kingman Park. The historic Langston Dwellings are located in the rear southwestern portion of the school buildings. The actual complex, designated as a historic district, includes four public school buildings with sloping landscapes.
The educational campus was built specifically for African American students between 1930 and 1952. The schools were built in the middle-class neighborhood of Kingman Park during the era of racial segregation in DC. The schools were dedicated by many internationally famous and notable African American leaders and educators during this time period and were important centers for the growth of the community.
DC Inventory: May 28, 2015
National Register: April 22, 2013
]]>The Yale Steam Laundry building housed the main offices and central plant of one of the handful of laundry companies that once dominated the industry in Washington. Such “power” laundries were high-volume mechanized operations catering primarily to hotels, restaurants, and other businesses, and employing several thousand workers, many of them women. Founded in 1885, the business was sold to the Liberty Laundry Company in 1917, but continued to operate until 1976 under the Yale name.
The original structure, built in 1902, housed the washing and dry cleaning equipment, presses, and hand finishing rooms in a vertically organized operation that moved laundry from the bottom of the building to the top. The garage, built in 1919, provided space for trucks as well as for stables, feed, and wagons. The 1924 addition housed newer machinery in a more modern, horizontally organized operation.
The main building is three stories, steel-framed, with facades of limestone and red brick, in Italian Renaissance Revival style with Georgian Revival windows and detailing (Thomas Francis, Jr., architect). Of particular note are the corbelled smokestack and the large molded brick sign in the frieze. The garage is two stories, concrete-framed with large multi-light industrial windows and red brick facade; the utilitarian addition is similar (both A.B. Mullett & Company, architect).
DC Inventory: December 17, 1998National Register: March 18, 1999
]]>Pershing Park, which sits in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 14th and 15th streets, is a Modernist park plaza designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg and constructed in 1980 to 1981. The construction of the plaza in the early 1980s grew out of efforts to beautify Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and 1970s. This beautification and redevelopment was carried out by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC), which operated from 1972 to 1996. Simultaneously, Congress authorized construction of a General John J. Pershing Memorial in 1956 and 1966.
In 1974, the PADC’s redevelopment plan was released and within in it proposed six new plazas and parks fronting Pennsylvania Avenue. In addition to Pershing Park was Freedom (Western) Plaza – directly to the east of Pershing Park – John Marshall Park, Meade Plaza, Market Square, and Indiana Plaza. All six of the new public spaces were designed by prominent architects and landscape architects of the Modern and Postmodern variety.
At the east end of Pershing Park is the General John J. Pershing Memorial, which was designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison, and memorializes General John J. Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces of World War I. The memorial features a bronze statue sculpted by Robert White and installed in 1983.
Initially successful, Pershing Park became neglected over the years. At the same time, Congress authorized construction of the World War I Memorial in 2014. The park was eventually slated for redevelopment and, in 2021, the park reopened following a rehabilitation. Despite some alterations to the plaza, Friedberg’s original design is largely intact.
Pershing Park now includes a new World War I Memorial on the west end of the public space, across the plaza from the original Pershing Memorial. The most prominent element of the new memorial, designed by architect Joe Weishaar, is A Soldier’s Journey, a sculpture by Sabin Howard, and the Peace Fountain. This bronze sculpture, at 58-feet long, features 38 human figures, including “The Everyman” soldier. The soldier moves through five “vignettes” of World War I: Departure, Initiation, Ordeal, Aftermath, and Return. With the installation of the sculpture in 2024, the national World War I Memorial was officially completed nearly 100 years after the DC World War Memorial (1931) on the National Mall.
National Register: August 6, 2025
]]>From the 1880s into the 20th century, the department store Woodward & Lothrop drove retailing practices and tactics in DC and beyond. This service warehouse represented another strategic shift toward improving the store’s operations and maximizing its capacity. Founded in Massachusetts in 1873 by Samuel Woodward and Alvin Lothrop, Woodward & Lothrop met with immediate success upon moving to DC in 1880. The marketing innovations that Woodward & Lothrop embraced, such as offering exchange privileges and cash refunds, earned favor and loyalty among customers. The store’s owners’ willingness to change established practices and do business differently than their peers frequently paid off. For instance, when Woodward & Lothrop moved from their storefront on Pennsylvania Avenue to a larger one on F Street, NW, outside of the established commercial district, the commercial district expanded anew to encompass their new location. The trend of building off-site warehouses stemmed from multiple places: additional storage space, offloading of non-income production (such as repair services and other maintenance functions), and optimizing shipping needs. For Woodward & Lothrop, the new service warehouse allowed the flagship store to increase its in-store merchandise because other services and equipment had been re-located off-site. In turn, the shipping, delivery, and repairs departments had dedicated spaces to operate without getting in the way of the store’s main purpose: serving customers. Finally, the warehouse’s location along major transportation thoroughfares, specifically the railyards, made shipping more efficient for both the customer and the company. Designed by Abbott, Merkt & Company, an architecture firm known for their warehouse work, the Woodward & Lothrop Service Warehouse is notable for the Streamline Moderne style it models. Derived from Art Deco, Streamline Moderne stripped away some of Art Deco’s more decorative elements, opting instead for sleekness and modernity inspired by aerodynamic design. The long vertical lines on the warehouse are typical of this style. Shortly before designing the Woodward & Lothrop Service Warehouse, Abbott, Merkt & Company had designed the nearby Hecht Company Warehouse, another Streamline Moderne-style building. Although the warehouses are stylistically compatible, Woodward & Lothrop needed a building that looked distinct enough from their competitor’s that no one would view it as a copy. The rounded corners and horizontal design of the Hecht Company Warehouse contrast with the Woodward & Lothrop Service Warehouse’s square corners and vertical lines. Built to be fireproof, the six-story building’s reinforced concrete structure is clad in two-toned beige brick with limestone accents. Several sections of circular columns contribute to the linear design of the building. Since Woodward & Lothrop’s liquidation in 1995, the warehouse’s interior has been converted to office space, but the distinctive, three-story neon sign bearing the company’s name remains a visible reminder of its original purpose.
The space, located in the NoMA neighborhood, has since been redeveloped into office space under a new name, One NoMA Station. The building underwent major interior renovations to transform into its current iteration, but still features its original exterior facade.
DC Inventory: January 27, 1993National Register: February 15, 2005This site is a stop on the “Finding Style in DC: Navigating DC’s Shopping Scene” tour.
]]>In 1870, Samuel Walter Woodward and Alvin Mason Lothrop met and began a decades-long partnership that resulted in one of the country’s first and leading department store ventures. After working together at another retailer that wouldn’t implement their marketing strategy, they opened their own store, Woodward & Lothrop, in Massachusetts in 1873. The store had noted success, but the business partners felt that they could do even better in a different city. After considering multiple places to move operations, the duo decided on Washington, DC, the nation’s capital, and a growing city in the years following the Civil War. Upon the move, the Woodward & Lothrop store - lovingly known by shoppers as Woodie’s - found the success they had hoped for; so much so that the company had to move twice to house their expanding staff and merchandise. In 1886, they made their final move to 11th and F streets NW, where their flagship store would remain for the remainder of its lifetime. Previously known as the Carlisle Building, the new store boasted hundreds of employees, numerous products, service departments, and still experimental technology meant to make the store the most cutting-edge in the city. The building’s Beaux-Arts style made it stand out downtown, and its location on the corner attracted attention from passersby. The store’s grand opening on April 2, 1887 was a main event for DC socialites, with both gas-powered lamps and electric lights illuminating the store throughout the evening. Woodward & Lothrop built their department store through new and mesmerizing marketing, including extravagant window displays to showcase the wide range of products the store held. The merchandise came from both domestic and international retailers alike, including fashion-forward Paris. Additionally, the store epitomized the terms “full-service” and “one-stop shop” by offering clients anything and everything they needed in one building. Shoppers could find clothing, furniture, travel expertise, styling, and much more throughout the store. The store expanded its square footage across the block multiple times, buying out other businesses in order to increase the store’s footprint. Woodward & Lothrop’s flagship store helped create a new commercial center within DC, in addition to changing how Americans shopped and what they expected from the newly developed department store. Its extravagant displays and the variety of goods sold made shopping more convenient than ever. Its policy of hiring and promoting women within its stores expanded their opportunities to work outside of the home. On the shopper’s side, women increasingly visited department stores and developed a unique relationship with purchasing goods and services, establishing themselves as a consumer market. This doesn’t mean that Woodward & Lothrop was perfect, however. Like most stores and businesses within the United States in the early 20th century, the store held discriminatory practices against people of color. This included separate entrances and exits, reduced or zero services offered to people of color, and other segregationist policies common during this time. While the store thrived and expanded, it also excluded a large population of DC residents from being able to experience the store in the same way as its white customers. DC’s civil rights activists, however, would soon challenge the segregationist policies held within the city. Led by Mary Church Terrell and Annie Stein, a team of activists built a case surrounding “lost laws” of the DC legislature that had never been repealed. On June 8, 1953, the Supreme Court case of District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc. upheld the 1873 legislative act that barred racial discrimination within DC. The decision required desegregation in public spaces within the city (specifically restaurants), and marked a major milestone for the civil rights movement. At the same time as these major civil rights milestones, Woodward & Lothrop continued to grow and expand. In 1950, they opened their first branch store in Friendship Heights (only a short walk from the Lord and Taylor branch store in the area), and expanded beyond DC’s borders to accommodate shoppers who’d moved to suburban communities in Maryland and Northern Virginia. Their flagship store also underwent renovations in order to keep up with changing design trends and to introduce new, innovative features. However, in 1985, Woodward & Lothrop would face one of its greatest changes yet: national corporate ownership under Taubman Centers. The store’s loss in family ownership resulted from a major shift in department store businesses, which saw multiple takeovers by national brands. At this point, Woodward & Lothrop’s success had dwindled in the aftermath of the 1968 riots that tore through downtown. In only ten years, Woodward & Lothrop would permanently close its doors. Other national chains had replaced the local favorite and its takeover meant favoring economic success over local loyalty. Many DC shoppers were sad to see the company’s closure, but held onto over a century of memories.
Woodie's Tea Room
Fondly referred to as “Woodies”, the Woodward & Lothrop Tea Room served DC for decades. Located within the larger department store – a one-time shopping destination in downtown Washington – the tea room is remembered for its waitresses in dark green satin uniforms, white aprons, and white nurse shoes. Between purchases, shoppers could indulge in nut bread with cream cheese and winey plum jelly or rye bread sandwiches with liverwurst, tomato, and thinly sliced Spanish onions – just for 65 cents! With the meal, one could sip tea, coffee, or an ice cream soda. DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)Within Downtown Historic DistrictThis site is a stop on the “Finding Style in DC: Navigating DC’s Shopping Scene” tour.
This is also a stop on the Lingering on the Palate: the Ghosts of the DC Food Scene Tour.
]]>The Woodrow Wilson House is a three-story red brick building, originally built for Henry Parker Fairbanks by architect Waddy B. Wood in 1915. Located in the Embassy Row section of Northwest Washington, the house was designed in the Georgian Revival style, which was popular in that neighborhood.
In the final months of Woodrow Wilson's second term as president, he purchased the house for his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, and they moved in on March 4, 1921, the day of the inauguration of his successor, Warren G. Harding. Wilson died in the house on February 3, 1924, and Edith continued living there until her own death in 1961, at which point she bequeathed the house and its original furnishings to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who continue to operate the site as a historic house museum.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 15 1966
National Historic Landmark: July 19, 1964
Within the Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District
]]>Platted in the mid-1870s, Woodley Park was originally conceived as a residential suburb which its promoters described as the finest country seats ever offered for sale near the urban center, a mere 20 minute walk from Dupont Circle. Construction in Woodley Park did not begin until the early 20th century. As the subdivision evolved, it became an urban neighborhood characterized by townhouses and rowhouses set within a lush, park-like setting. The architecture, the repetition of common stylistic elements, the scale of the buildings, and landscape plan, which are consistent within the traditional boundaries of Old Woodley Park, give the district a distinct visual identity.
The neighborhood features flat-fronted houses in predominantly classical styles, with front porches and light-toned materials common. There are many commercial and apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue.
Within the historic district are the works of many notable local architects and builders, including Middaugh and Shannon, Harry Wardman, Clarke Waggaman, Albert Beers, A.H. Sonnemann, Hunter and Bell, William Allard, Joseph Bonn, and George Santmyers.
The district includes approximately 395 buildings, dating from about 1905 to 1938.
DC Inventory: April 18, 1990National Register: June 15, 1990
]]>Built in 1801 by Philip Barton Key, the Federal-style Woodley Mansion is notable for its many brushes with figures instrumental in American history. Key, himself the uncle of "Star-Spangled Banner" author Francis Scott Key and a member of Congress, based the design for the house on Woodley Lodge in Reading, England.
Owing to its location in the calmer, wooded areas that surrounded the bustling downtown, Woodley Mansion was a desirable retreat from the noise and commotion of the rest of the city. President Martin Van Buren, upon assuming office in 1837, took to renting Woodley during the summers to escape the heat of DC, and Grover Cleveland, returning to office in 1893, did the same with a recently modernized Woodley. The last individual to own the mansion was Henry L. Stimson, best known for his work as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Secretary of War during World War II. Upon his death, Stimson left the house to Phillips Academy, Andover, his own alma mater; Phillips Academy subsequently sold it to the Maret School in 1952.
Founded in the 1910s by Marthe, Louise, and Jeanne Maret, three French sisters who had taught internationally, the Maret School continues to occupy the Woodley Mansion today.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
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