In 1937 the six remaining white homeowners on this block, at 1737-1747 First Street, asked the court to nullify the covenant in their deeds and in those for 80-82 S Street, around the corner. The…

In the late 1920s, young Edward Brooke moved with his family to 1730 First Street, on the west (African American) side of the First Street racial barrier. He graduated from Dunbar High School in 1936,…

In 1924, a government clerk named Sereno Ivy attempted to buy this house. However, the developers Middaugh & Shannon had included a racial covenant in the property’s original 1902 deed. Despite the…

After the 1885 death of Emily Beale, owner of an estate named Bloomingdale, her children subdivided it and began building on some lots and selling off others. The rowhouses at 1700-1712 First Street,…

Florida Avenue was Washington City’s northern boundary until 1871, and the area beyond it was mostly rural until the last decade of the 19th century. Development began shortly after the arrival of a…