African American Rural Home Sites in Washington DC, 1865-1900

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Three sites located in Rock Creek Park mark a historic settlement of African Americans following the Civil War. Washington, DC, was established as a slave-holding district in 1790. Prior to its establishment and the urban design of Pierre L’Enfant, DC mostly consisted of farmland and large plantations. The nation’s capital officially moved to DC in 1800 and the construction of sites like the U.S. Capitol and White House led to an increase in the enslaved population. By the early 19th century, a quarter of DC’s residents were enslaved. In 1850, markets for enslaved people moved into Alexandria and other parts of Virginia, and free African Americans started to surpass the number of enslaved. By 1860, there were 14,316 African Americans living in DC and around 77% of them were free.

At the start of the Civil War, the establishment of forts and encampments in and around the Rock Creek Valley, just north of present-day Military Road NW, cleared the woodland and led to African Americans farming in the area. Following the Civil War, there was an increase in freed African Americans migrating from the South, which led to the establishment of multiple settlements where the forts had been located. Broad Branch, Rock Creek, and Reno were three of the larger settlements that grew rapidly after the war. The settlements at Broad Branch and Rock Creek included small dwellings and plots of land for gardening, while Reno was advertised as planned “elegant building lots”. Supporting the residents in all three settlements were churches, schools, and societies, which helped facilitate a close community for those living there. All three settlements were connected through the Rock Creek Baptist Church, established in 1872. Many of the residents worked as laborers, carpenters, cooks, blacksmiths, teachers, laundresses, and farmers. During the 20th century, however, these settlements began to disappear, due to underfunding, urban development, and forced displacement.

Three dwellings in the Rock Creek settlement were located using the records of the Rock Creek Park Commissioners and archaeological evidence. These dwellings were the homes of Sarah Whitby, Charles Dickson, and Jane Dickson, and all three were listed as tenants in 1892. Many of the homes had men listed as the heads of the household, but Jane and Sarah are exceptions to this.

Jane Dickson and her nine children lived in a dwelling with four rooms and an outhouse and paid $6 in rent, while Sarah Whitby worked as a laundress and lived in a dwelling with two rooms and a stable and paid $3 in rent. Charles Dickson also lived in a dwelling with two rooms and a stable and paid $3 in rent. All three of them had small gardens. Unfortunately, urban development around Rock Creek Park and the push for recreational use of the park – which was formally established in 1890 – likely displaced these three families by the turn of the 20th century. These three sites and other rural dwellings are important in understanding the development of the African American community in DC in the second half of the 19th century, and provide important background for the future settlement patterns that occurred in the 20th century. The documentation and designation creates a snapshot into the lives of African Americans at these rural home sites, which are not publically accessible.

African American Rural Home Sites in Washington, DC, 1865-1900 MPS
National Register: May 29, 2024