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Midcity at the Crossroads
Shaw Heritage Trail
11 Seventh Street Develops
In 1864 St. Patrick's parish opened an Immaculate Conception Church for Catholics living far from its downtown F Street home. This imposing Gothic style building was completed a decade later. Renowned actress Helen Hayes was baptized here in 1900. Immaculate Conception's community work included its Washington Catholic Hour radio show on WOL (1921-1962). For 99 years, until 1964, the church operated Immaculate Conception School for boys at 711 N Street. It is now an elementary school. Girls attended Immaculate Conception Academy nearby at Eighth and Q streets until 1954.
After much of this area was destroyed in the 1968 riots, Monsignor Joshua Mundell worked to stabilize the neighborhood, encouraging church and federal government collaborations to build modern apartments.
The Seventh Street Savings Bank building is a remnant of the block's business era. The combination bank/residential building opened in 1912. After many mergers, it closed for good in 1983.
Seventh Street developed as a business street because of good transportation. Back in 1810, Congress chartered the Seventh Street Turnpike from Pennsylvania Avenue to Rockville, Maryland. At first omnibuses (horse-drawn wagons) carried passengers along Seventh. Then in 1862 Congress chartered street railways, with a Seventh Street line. Leading abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner made sure that the charter prohibited segregation on the streetcars. The first electric streetcars (1888) ran along New York Avenue to Seventh, but in 1962 were replaced by buses. The latest innovation, Metro's Green and Yellow subway lines, opened in 1991 after seven years of construction |