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Worthy Ambition
LeDroit Park/Bloomingdale Heritage Trail
10 Bloomingdale
You are standing in the heart of Bloomingdale. Noted DC developer Harry Wardman, responsible for 180 Bloomingdale houses, was one of many builders who built here between 1890 and 1910.
These Victorian rowhouses were designed for well-to-do families. The houses' first floors were raised for privacy and separation from muddy streets. Basements housed maids' quarters. Towers or attics added grandeur. Upstairs sleeping porches helped residents survive sweltering DC summers before air conditioning was invented. Bay windows offered a view down the street. Numbers 2103-2133 First Street were designed and built by Thomas Haislip in 1902. He and his family lived in number 87 V Street, the grand house across V Street. Architect/builder Francis Blundon built the houses at numbers 115-127, across First Street.
Prominent Washington businessman and activist Flaxie Pinkett grew up at 122 V Street. At age 14 Pinkett began working for her father, founder of the successful real estate and insurance firm John R. Pinkett, Inc. She took over the company in 1958, and became a much-honored member of the city's business establishment. In 1981 she was the first African American, and the first woman, named "Man of the Year" by the Washington Board of Trade.
The Reservoir Market at First and U Streets served Bloomingdale in the 1960s. There young Barry Cohen lived with his parents above their store and sold food, cigarettes, sweaters, coats, and holiday turkeys. The neighbors "would look out for me," Cohen recalled. Everyone watched over each other."
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Turn right into the alley off V Street to find a hidden gem: Crispus Attucks Park. After the 1970s closing of a C&P Telephone warehouse on this site, the community persuaded C&P to donate the property for a park and arts center. A fire destroyed the center in 1990, but the park remains, cared for by its neighbors. Return to the Heritage Trail (Sign 11) at First St. and Rhode Island Ave. |