The Capitol Power Plant Pump House was completed in 1910 to provide water for the Capitol Power Plant, also completed in 1910, approximately 1 mile north at E Street and New Jersey Avenue SE. The pump house's water was used for the power plant's coal-fired boilers — with coal delivered via the nearby railroad line. This steam power provided electricity and heat for the U.S. Capitol Building, Senate and House office buildings, and Library of Congress (Jefferson Building).
Within a short period of time, new tunnels were constructed, expanding the electricity and heat to additional buildings, including Union Station. Demand for air conditioning in the 1930s led to the construction of an addition to the pump house in 1935, as well as an expansion of the power plant.
Nonetheless, starting in the 1950s, the pump house became obsolete, as the US Capitol Complex opted for electrical power from PEPCO and municipal water. In 1961, the pump house was transferred to the DC Government, where it sat abandoned until the early 1990s.
Since 1993, the former pump house has been used by Earth Conservation Corps (ECC), a non-profit devoted to youth development and protecting the environment, specifically the Anacostia River and other area watersheds. This organization, established in 1989, provides opportunities for District residents between the ages of 17 and 25. In 1993, ECC collaborated with Mayor Marion Barry and his administration to obtain a lease on the building. Prior to ECC moving in, the U.S. Navy Seabees stabilized and rehabilitated the once-industrial building, allowing it to become the community anchor and nature center it is today. At the time, a concrete platform was added. Murals were also added in the 1990s.
For more than 30 years, ECC has engaged youth through its environmental initiatives and programming. ECC members, interns, and volunteers have helped clean up and restore the once polluted and neglected river.
The former pump house, since renamed the Monique Johnson Anacostia River Center (Johnson was a founding ECC member), is a successful example of adaptive reuse along the river. Over the years, the Monique Johnson Center has helped facilitate many public and private partnerships, including with Anacostia Riverkeeper. The building is managed by the DC Department of Parks & Recreation.
The former pump house sits just off shore, above the Anacostia River. The building, which is connected to Diamond Teague Park and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail by a pier, is supported by pilings encased in a concrete foundation.
The one-story building is constructed of brick masonry and composed of two sections: the original 1910 building facing the river, with a hip-roof clad in terra-cotta tile, and the 1935 addition facing the shore, slightly shorter with a flat-roof. The original building is more ornate than the addition and was influenced by the Mediterranean Revival style.
The 1910 portion also had a tall opening that allowed for machinery and equipment to be taken in and out of the interior space. This former opening is visible on the south elevation, facing the river, and has been replaced by a doorway and two large windows. A hoist system is still visible, illustrating the building's once industrial use.
DC Inventory: March 26, 2026
National Register: May 27, 2026
]]>Constructed from 1901 to 1902, the Congress Heights Firehouse first and foremost provided emergency service to the area, but also had a real estate investment aspect to it that helped further develop the neighborhood. The land donated to build the firehouse came from Colonel Arthur Randle, a real estate developer and speculator who hoped that the firehouse’s construction would ease the concerns of potential buyers, as the area fell outside of the fire call box system and municipal water supply. Designed by Snowden Ashford, the architect would eventually become the city’s first Municipal Architect and is credited with the design of multiple firehouses – and other public buildings – throughout the District. Designed in a Mediterranean Revival style, the firehouse was quite impressive due to its 60-foot observation tower. Because the building sits on a hill, the tower also had a bell installed as an alert system for firefighters to know when an emergency occurred. As the sophistication of the call box system increased, some speculated that the building’s hill-top location was meant to help the horse-powered fire carriages go down the hill easier.
This site is listed in the Firehouses in Washington, DC: 1806-1945 Multiple Property Document.
DC Inventory: July 22, 2004 National Register: June 27, 2007
The house at 3020 Albemarle Street, NW is located in the Forest Hills subdivision of Washington, DC, an early-20th-century close-in suburb. Built in 1924, it is of frame and stucco construction. The building represents the early work of master architect and landscape architect Horace W. Peaslee, Jr.
The house was built at a time in Forest Hills' history when Soapstone Valley would soon become a part of the Rock Creek Park System and, as such, construction from the time reflects very conscious effort to both take advantage of and relate to the proximate natural landscape. It is unlike any other residence in Washington, an elegantly sophisticated amalgam of Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Eclectic, European Minimalist, and American Modernist styles.
DC Inventory: July 23, 2015
National Register: October 23, 2015
]]>This small intact campus was built by Marjorie Webster, a significant figure in the education of women in Washington, as a private junior college dedicated to the educational needs of working women. Throughout its fifty-one years of existence, the Marjorie Webster School provided instruction in the career fields open to women, growing its educational focus to keep pace with the times. While conventional business schools in the District of Columbia taught specific skills, such as typing and stenography, the Marjorie Webster program provided more academic depth and breadth by offering liberal arts classes in addition to technical instruction. The school provided both classes for non-resident day students, who tended to be employed, as well as a residential program more typical of a four-year college.
The campus dates from 1928, and is a unique example of a small, privately funded and developed college whose buildings reflect a coherent Mediterranean Revival architectural theme. The historic district’s site plan and natural topography are among its most distinctive features, with the picturesque Main Building sited midway up a steep hill overlooking the site against a natural backdrop of tall trees. The Webster House serves as a gatehouse at the Kalmia Road entrance. The historic district also includes a mid-19th century spring house and later buildings.
DC Inventory: September 22, 2011
National Register: February 24, 2014
]]>Completed in 1924, the Tivoli Theatre is the only theater still standing in DC designed by Thomas White Lamb (1871-1942), the leading theater architect of the Golden Age of motin picture palaces. The theater reflects both the Italian Renaissance Revival and Mediterranean Revival styles with its stucco exterior, red tile roof, ornate cornices, and numerous graceful arches. In addition to the main theater auditorium, the building contained offices on the upper floors and several two-story shops along 14th Street NW. Tivoli is notable for its imaginative design, innovative technology, and sumptuous interior.
Tivoli Theatre was closely associated with its predecessor, the Knickerbocker Theater in nearby Adams Morgan, as its owner, theater magnate Harry M. Crandall (1879-1937), operated chains of movie theaters in DC. Crandall significantly contributed to the cultural heritage and development of DC. The building’s elegant architecture is typical of the motion picture palaces of its day.
In 1976, the Tivoli closed due to increased deterioration of the theater and the local area. After 25 years of closure, the Tivoli benefited from a revitalization of the Columbia Heights neighborhood. In 2005, the theater reopened after six years of rehabilitation. The Tivoli is now the home of GALA (Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanos) Hispanic Theatre, a local non-profit committed to sharing Hispanic culture through the arts. GALA currently uses the former balcony and there is mixed retail and restaurant use in the rest of the building.
DC Inventory: June 24, 1983
National Register: April 10, 1985
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