Existing comment:
The Most Pleasant Suburb:
The Tivoli site and its neighborhood during the 19th and early 20th centuries have a rich and varied history. Although the area that is now Columbia Heights lay outside Washington's original boundaries, this hilly area north of the city, with its pleasant breezes and cooler temperatures, was a popular retreat from the malaria-ridden summers of swampy Washington. 14th Street has long been a major thoroughfare leading north from the city, connecting Civil War fortifications and hospitals, later the village of Mount Pleasant, and finally the Columbia Heights community to L'Enfant's Washington. Horse-drawn, then electric trolleys had their northern terminus at 14th and Park Road until 1907, with that intersection becoming a hub for bustling commerce. Columbia Heights in the early 20th century was one of Washington's most desirable suburbs for commerce, recreation, and home, boasting several theaters, the Arcadia amusement house, and attractive residential subdivisions.
Over the years, the Tivoli property has played several roles, witnessing to the sick and wounded of nearby Mount Pleasant hospital during the Civil War, then hosting the Sacred Heart Church during the early 20th century. Diverging from its humanitarian and spiritual tales, it became an entertainment place during the Roaring '20s, beckoning to all who wished to throw care aside and revel in the sensual tableaux of the "Temple of the Arts."
One of a series of Civil War hospitals that ringed the hilly area north of Washington's original boundaries, Mount Pleasant Hospital was located near the intersection of Park Road and 14th Street. According to oral tradition, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was treated at the hospital by army surgeons after a carriage accident in July 1863. |