DC -- Downtown area (K Street environs -- between New Hampshire and New York, Penn and M):
- Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.
- Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.
- Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
- Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.238.142.134 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.
- Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]
|
[1] DOWN_190313_01.JPG
|
[2] DOWN_190313_07.JPG
|
[3] DOWN_190320_02.JPG
|
[4]
DOWN_190320_04.JPG
|
[5] DOWN_190320_08.JPG
|
[6] DOWN_190320_14.JPG
|
[7] DOWN_190320_25.JPG
|
[8] DOWN_190320_33.JPG
|
[9] DOWN_190320_46.JPG
|
[10]
DOWN_190320_50.JPG
|
[11]
DOWN_190320_56.JPG
|
[12]
DOWN_190320_60.JPG
|
[13] DOWN_190320_65.JPG
|
[14] DOWN_190320_71.JPG
|
[15] DOWN_190323_01.JPG
|
[16] DOWN_190323_06.JPG
|
[17] DOWN_190323_15.JPG
|
[18] DOWN_190327_01.JPG
|
[19]
DOWN_190327_05.JPG
|
[20] DOWN_190327_19.JPG
|
[21] DOWN_190327_27.JPG
|
[22] DOWN_190327_35.JPG
|
[23] DOWN_190327_51.JPG
|
[24] DOWN_190327_57.JPG
|
[25]
DOWN_190424_01.JPG
|
[26]
DOWN_190506_01.JPG
|
[27] DOWN_190506_09.JPG
|
[28] DOWN_190506_12.JPG
|
[29] DOWN_190506_18.JPG
|
[30] DOWN_190506_22.JPG
|
[31] DOWN_190506_47.JPG
|
[32] DOWN_190614_19.JPG
|
[33] DOWN_190906_04.JPG
|
[34]
DOWN_190906_06.JPG
|
[35] DOWN_190906_12.JPG
|
[36] DOWN_190906_15.JPG
|
[37]
DOWN_190906_19.JPG
|
[38] DOWN_190906_28.JPG
|
[39] DOWN_190920_01.JPG
|
[40] DOWN_190920_05.JPG
|
[41] DOWN_190920_07.JPG
|
[42] DOWN_190920_11.JPG
|
[43] DOWN_190920_28.JPG
|
[44] DOWN_190920_42.JPG
|
[45] DOWN_191023_06.JPG
|
[46] DOWN_191023_10.JPG
|
[47] DOWN_191023_15.JPG
|
[48] DOWN_191023_17.JPG
|
- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- DOWN_190320_04.JPG: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
Edward R. Roybal
Building for Leadership Development
Est. 1978
CHCI
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
Developing the Next Generation of Latino Leaders
- DOWN_190320_50.JPG: Red Light Running
Enforcement Zone
- DOWN_190320_56.JPG: Block the Box
- DOWN_190320_60.JPG: Street Sense
- DOWN_190327_05.JPG: American Federation of Labor
Org'd Nov. 15th 1881
Labor Omnia Vincit [ Work conquers all ]
- DOWN_190424_01.JPG: 1201 New York Ave. NW
- DOWN_190506_01.JPG: Thaddeus Stevens School (Washington, D.C.)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Thaddeus Stevens School is a historic African American school building located at 1050 21st Street, N.W., in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. It houses classrooms for the nearby and also as an early childhood center.
History
With a 92% increase of freed slaves between 1840 and 1860, a large population of this demographic migrated to wards 1 and 2 of Washington, DC. This is proved by the census data of the wards of Washington, DC from 1860. This influx of freed slaves to the Foggy Bottom neighborhood caused apparent demand for a public school. The Stevens School was erected in 1868 because the city needed a public colored school and the most feasible place to put it was on square 73 which was accessible by both wards 1 and 2. It seemed apt to build a school for freed black in this area, as it was derelict and unsanitary. Within square 73 the school was built on lots 22, 23, and 24. The property that provided the grounds for the Stevens School was initially privately owned by Alfred Jones and his wife in 1868. These lots were bought in 1868 for a combined value of $7,413.14. Once the physical building was built, the final cost was $89,099.17. For the time, this was considered to be inexpensive, both for the land and the development of a public school. In 1932 the American Banking and trust company purchased lot 20. The Stevens School was comparatively smaller than other public, namely white, contemporary institutions such as the Grimke School and Slater School. The Stevens School was under the jurisdiction of the Board of Colored Schools and many of the board members were African American. The D.C Board of Colored Schools was consolidated in 1880 into one Board of Public Schools that had control over both white and black public schools
An addition was built in 1885 and it was partially rebuilt and enlarged again in 1895-96. A pioneering school for African-Americans, it was named for Thaddeus Stevens, the Radical Republican abolitionist congressman from Pennsylvania. The Preparatory High School for Negro Youth was housed in the building after it was founded in 1871 and later moved becoming the M Street High School and ultimately Dunbar High School.
The building was listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in 1972 and then on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
As of 2001 it was the oldest extant elementary school still being used as a school in the District of Columbia, but soon after was involved in controversy as the district government planned to convert it to residential use.
In 2008, students were moved to the Francis Junior High School campus, becoming the Francis-Stevens Education Campus, due to low enrollment. In 2017, the District of Columbia government announced that the Stevens building would re-open as a child development center for infants and toddlers, as well as extra classroom space for Francis-Stevens.
Enrollment
Enrollment for the Stevens School progressed throughout the years, gaining popularity as the population in wards 1 and 2 increased. The enrollment in 1877, according to The First Report of the Board of Trustees of Public Schools of the District of Columbia, was 980 students. There were also 13 teachers, 715 desks, and 14 classrooms. Additionally, this report reveals the fact that the teachers taught at both the grammar and primary levels, which is equivalent to a ‘K-12' educational structure. Enrollment at the Stevens School grew to as large as 949, just 5 years after its initial opening. The School's value also depreciated to $29,000. The increased enrollment corresponds to the population trends in 1873 as large numbers of freed slaves migrated to wards 1 and 2 of DC. As mentioned above in Section 2, the school had 980 students by 1877– but only 715 desks. Four years before, in 1873, the building had a mere 14 classrooms. Simply put there were approximately 70 students per classroom and a desk shortage of 265.
Stevens School fire
On January 11, 1876, a fire occurred at the Stevens School that started in an upstairs classroom used by the 4th primary school. As news of the fire quickly spread, children began to panic and storm down the stairs to get out. There were no casualties but there were a few children that sustained minor injuries from being trampled by other students during the commotion. Two small boys jumped from a third floor window but thankfully they were caught by spectators in the crowd. Teachers were praised as heroes for the calm and safe manner in which they got the children out of the building. An investigation was later conducted after the incident and the fire was said to be caused by a buildup of waste that was swept into the radiating surface. The rails of the staircase were also damaged due to the pressure that the children exerted on it during the commotion. Total damages weren't expected to exceed $150 or $200 and the damages were covered by insurance.
Early physical condition (1870s)
The school property contained 16,481 feet; the building was built out of brick and was four stories in height. The buildings held a large assembly hall and 12 school rooms, each room was thirty-eight feet long, twenty-three feet wide, and twelve feet high. The rooms were used for about 750 sittings for the students. Two additions were made to the building in 1873. After the first addition, the school was able to house 14 class rooms and after the second addition five more rooms were added. The physical condition of the building was in shambles, as Superintendent Cook's Report from 1874-1875 points out the Stevens School sanitary condition was, "unsatisfactory and in violation of the laws of health, and if not remedied is likely to result in such diseases of diphtheria, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, and such other fevers as result from want of proper ventilation and sewerage". Referring to Figure 13, it can be seen that the value of the building dropped to $29,000, which is much less than it cost to produce it at $89,099.17. As all of these documents would suggest, the Stevens School was a poor school in a poor neighborhood riddled with danger and disease.
Importance
As one of DC's landmarks as deemed by the National Park Services, the Stevens School is still in its original location on Square 73. As the NPS Statement of Significance says, the Stevens School "is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history," there is no doubt that this building played an important role in developing Foggy Bottom. Its role of bringing public colored education to an unskilled and overpopulated community provided the inhabitants with opportunity and hope for the American Dream.
Notable alumni
* Amy Carter, daughter of President Jimmy Carter, attended fourth and fifth grade at Stevens while her father was in office. She transferred to Rose Hardy Middle School.
* Charles R. Drew, a pioneer in the preservation of blood and plasma who led the American Cross Blood Bank during World War I.
* Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning soul singer.
* Ralph "Petey" Green, television and radio talk-show host.
* Fred Gregory, an Air Force colonel and astronaut, the first African-American to command a space flight.
* Robert Hooks, actor.
* Colbert I. King, columnist and editor for the Washington Post.
* Rayford Whittingham Logan, African-American historian and Pan-African activist.
* Roman Oben, former NFL player.
* Tony Perkins, news anchor.
- DOWN_190906_06.JPG: The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church building occupied this site from 1871 until 1975.
The first Baptist congregation in the city met here in 1802, with both white and black attending services. The "First Baptist Church" moved in 1833 and this location became home of the "First Colored Baptist Church of the City of Washington" (1839).
The church was rebuilt in 1871 after the street name was adopted. Shown here is the 1917 east wall, built of brick with a wood cornice and slate roof.
An example of the brickworks is nearby.
The original iron fence has been reused to enclose this yard.
- DOWN_190906_19.JPG: The mural above the plaque, BTW, is by Maggie O'Neill who has her own page here.
User comment (suggested): The mural above the plaque, BTW, is by Maggie O'Neill who has separate pages.
- Wikipedia Description: Downtown (Washington, D.C.)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downtown is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., as well as a colloquial name for the central business district in the northwest quadrant of the city. Geographically, the area extends roughly five to six blocks west, northwest, north, northeast, and east of the White House. Several important museums, theaters, and a major sports venue are located in the area. A portion of this area is known as the Downtown Historic District and was listed on the NRHP in 2001.
Location
The boundaries of the Downtown district are irregular and difficult to define. Historically, downtown was bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue NW, New York Avenue NW, Massachusetts Avenue NW, and Indiana Avenue NW. This area includes the Penn Quarter, Mount Vernon Square, Chinatown, and Judiciary Square neighborhoods. With the growth of the city, "downtown" is now considered to include Federal Triangle, the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, the K Street NW corridor west to Connecticut Avenue NW, and the Connecticut Avenue NW corridor below the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
However, in 2004 Frommer's defined downtown's boundaries as 7th Street NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 22nd Street NW, and P Street NW. This definition includes the neighborhoods listed above, as well as Foggy Bottom, West End, Logan Circle, and the lower part of the Dupont Circle neighborhood. This more expansive definition of downtown is due to extensive construction of major new office buildings around Farragut Square, west along K Street NW, and along Connecticut Avenue NW. Similar construction in the area east of 7th Street to Union Station (bounded on the north by Massachusetts Avenue NW and to the south by Constitution Avenue NW) was, by the mid 2000s, beginning to push the boundary of "downtown" eastward. Cassidy & Pinkard, a real estate commercial services company, defined downtown in 2004 as extending from P Street NW south to Constitution Avenue NW, and from 15th Street NW east to 4th Street NW. This is mostly concurrent with the definition adopted by Frommer's.
Character, attractions, and services
By the 1990s and continuing into the 2010s, the core of the downtown district was almost exclusively commercial, and its primary commercial use was as office buildings. The area also featured a number of attractions, including museums (such as the International Spy Museum, National Aquarium, National Archives, National Building Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts, National Portrait Gallery, Newseum, and Smithsonian American Art Museum) and theaters (such as Ford's Theatre, National Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Warner Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre). The Penn Quarter and Chinatown areas in particular are home to many bars and restaurants, and the observation deck in the tower of the Old Post Office Pavilion is known for its views of the city. 7th Street NW between H and F Streets NW—a short commercial strip known as "Gallery Place"—has become a major hub of bars, restaurants, theaters, and upscale retail shops.
However, even as late as 2010, most of the core area tended to be empty of pedestrian foot traffic at night, except for streets immediately around theaters and restaurants. Downtown D.C. has been adding residents, however, and pedestrian traffic at night is increasing. In 1990, the area had about 4,000 residents, but this had increased to 8,449 by 2010. Such increases appear small, but are more significant than they seem because the city's height restrictions limit population density. The completion of the $950 million CityCenterDC project in late 2013 is estimated to add another 1,000 or more residents. One exception to the low nighttime foot traffic is Gallery Place. Large crowds gather day and night at Gallery Place, especially after sporting events at the Capital One Arena. Crime and street brawls in the area skyrocketed in the area and its adjacent Gallery Place Metro station between 2008 and 2010, primarily due to the large groups of teenagers (from throughout the metropolitan region) gathering there.
Several notable restaurants exist in the downtown district, including Fogo de Chão, Kinkead's, Loeb's NY Deli, Old Ebbitt Grill, and Wok 'n' Roll (located in the Mary E. Surratt Boarding House). Chinatown and Gallery Place are noted for being geographically small but also having a very large number of restaurants.
The Capital One Arena (originally named the MCI Center and later changed to the Verizon Center), a major basketball, hockey, and events venue, opened in the Chinatown neighborhood on the eastern edge of the downtown district in 1997. It proved to be a major attraction, drawing more than 20 million visitors in its first decade of operation.
Cityscape
The majority of downtown Washington is composed of office buildings of varying architectural styles. The oldest tend to be of the Federal school, as are the White House, the Treasury Building, Blair House, and the rowhouses that line Lafayette Square. Others run the gamut from Neoclassical (such as the buildings at Federal Triangle) to Second Empire-style (the Eisenhower Executive Office Building) to postmodern (One Farragut Square South and Franklin Tower at 1401 I Street NW).
Height restriction
Unlike other large cities in the U.S., Washington's downtown has a low skyline. With the advent of the skyscraper and the construction of the Cairo Hotel, residents were concerned that the city's European feel might be dwarfed by high-rise buildings. Congress therefore passed the Heights of Buildings Act in 1899, limiting any new building in Washington to a height of 110 feet (34 m). The act was amended in 1910 to allow buildings 20 feet (6.1 m) higher than the width of the adjacent street.
As of 2006, the tallest building in downtown Washington—excluding the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, Washington National Cathedral, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, all of which are outside of the downtown district—is the Old Post Office Pavilion, whose 315-foot (96 m) tall clock tower looms far above other nearby structures. The tallest commercial building is One Franklin Square, at 210 feet (64 m).
Parks and public squares
A number of public urban parks exist in the downtown area. Among the more prominent are: Farragut Square, Franklin Square, Judiciary Square, Lafayette Square (the portion of President's Park north of the White House), McPherson Square, Mount Vernon Square, Pershing Park, Scott Circle, Thomas Circle, and Washington Circle.
The largest paved square in the city, Freedom Plaza, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 13th and 14th Streets NW.
Governance
Two business improvement districts cover the downtown D.C. area. The Downtown DC Business Improvement District (Downtown DC BID) is bounded by 16th Street NW, Massachusetts Avenue NW, and Constitution Avenue NW, and is funded by a voluntary tax provided by 825 businesses in the area. The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (Golden Triangle BID) is bounded by 16th Street NW, Massachusetts Avenue NW, 21st Street NW, and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Both BIDs work to enhance the diversity of business in their respective jurisdictions as well as the quality of life by providing directions for tourists, improving street and sidewalk cleanliness, and advising police about potential or existing problems.
Various federal (Federal Protective Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, United States Mint Police, United States Park Police, etc.), city (Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, District of Columbia Housing Authority Office of Public Safety), and regional (Metro Transit Police Department) law enforcement agencies have concurrent, overlapping jurisdiction in downtown D.C. Both BIDs in the area also provide semi-uniformed unsworn police forces, which help to maintain order and provide street intelligence by communicating via cell phone with the Metropolitan Police Department and Metro Transit Police. D.C. Housing Authority Police do not have jurisdiction outside public housing, but do patrol Gallery Place to pick up and provide intelligence on the activities of youth congregating there who live in city-provided housing units.
- Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.)
I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com
and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
- Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
- Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].