MOUNT VERNON EAST

“”The neighborhood east of the Washington City Museum unfolds like a wasteland: 30 acres of parking lots and fields, bleakly interrupted by an office building, a subsidized high-rise and the gash left where Interstate 395 sliced through…” -Debi Wilgoren, The Washington Post, March 28, 2004

“The Mount Vernon Triangle has the potential to be lively and diverse, to contain a mixture of housing, workplaces, shopping, culture, and unique public spaces… -DC Office of Planning, March 2004

Plans for this area include up to: 5,000 new housing units; 2,000,000 square feet of office space; 800 hotel rooms; 100,000 square feet of cultural uses; 120,000 square feet of retail and restaurants; 100,000 square feet of open space

But what’s wrong with picturing Mount Vernon East as a blank canvas?

The Mount Vernon East area still has dozens of potentially preservation-worthy buildings. This fact is not acknowledged in the DC Office of Planning news release or in major media writing about the site.

Mount Vernon East once included a commercial center, avenues of fine homes, and blocks of brick row houses.

Survivors from this era include the National Register-listed Jefferson Flats in the 300 block of H Street NW

Several exquisite 19 th century houses are lonely survivors on Massachusetts Avenue

The magnificent turreted house at the corner of 5 th and Mass and this handsome next door neighbor were both built by Charles King in 1892.

433 Mass Avenue NW may date to the 1870s.

A marvelous mansion at Third and Eye.

Double row house at 444 K Street NW

K Street NW has numerous intact 19 th century houses…

…as do the neighboring blocks of Fourth and Fifth Street NW.

In recognized historic districts like Logan Circle, these dilapidated- but-distinctive I Street NW houses would have been restored long ago.

The now-demolished Northern Liberties Market brought buildings for Washington’s wholesale food trade to Fifth and K Streets NW.

This former I Street NW tire store holds a secret.

When it was built in 1912, George W. Ridgeway’s carriage and wagon shop was located in the rear.

George Ridgeway began his career as a carriage builder and blacksmith in the 1880s, and was still in the trade as of World War I.

419 Massachusetts Avenue NW is a classic Washington DC row house design.

It was a true survivor from the 1890s…

…until it lost its face in October, 2004.

Recently several of the Jefferson’s long- time neighbors have been demolished for new development.

Unless planning for the Mount Vernon Triangle takes this historic building heritage into account, significant buildings like these will be lost to demolition, either by development or neglect in anticipation of development.