“Columbia Heights does not have technical boundaries, but based on my experience and the different boundaries that do exist for the city, I would argue Columbia Heights is bounded in the south by Florida, the north by Spring Rd, the west by 16th Street, and the east by Sherman Avenue, maybe Georgia. It gets tricky but it is a nice, neat rectangle. But names are really contested. I went to some of the ANC meetings while I was doing my [dissertation] research; there have been fights over the years about getting recognition of a neighborhood to be called something. For years the people who fought to get Pleasant Plains called ‘Pleasant Plains’ are now being taken up by modern conceptions about what Columbia Heights is, or what Petworth is.”
– Justin Maher, Ph.D. on the contemporary boundaries of Columbia Heights.
A Brief Timeline of Columbia Heights
– ca 1840: The horse track located on 14th and Irving, around which Columbia Heights formed, closes.
– 1871: The area in which Columbia Heights resides officially becomes a part of Washington, DC as part of the DC Organic Act.
– 1881: Former senator from Ohio and real estate investor John Sherman names the 121-acres he purchases “Columbia Heights.”
– 1902 – 1913: 650 row houses are built by Washington developer Harry Wardman.
– 1924: Tivoli Theatre and Riggs Bank building opens.
– 1936: Meridian Hill Park opens on the grounds that formally housed Columbian College (which became George Washington University).
– 1949: The white Central High School was replaced by the “colored” Cardozo High School due to its low enrollment and the increasing African American population in the city. This was the start of a significant demographic change in Columbia Heights.
– 1950s: Columbia Heights, and surrounding neighborhoods transitioned into a middle-class African American area of Washington, DC.
– 1968: Riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. irreparably damage many buildings.
– 1976: Tivoli Theatre closes.
– 1999: Columbia Heights Metro station opens.
– 2008: Target opens.
Ebb and Flow
“Change is what Columbia Heights does best, and every change seems to reflect, in dramatic and exaggerated terms, the state of the city and the city’s most powerful trends.”
– Washington at Home, “Columbia Heights: Passageway for Urban Change” by Brian Kraft
14th Street between Irving and Park Road in 1925.
The same section of street today.
Columbia Heights by the Numbers
“Columbia Heights is one of those rare DC neighborhoods where people of all races, ages, and socioeconomic classes share space, and to many, that – not the revitalized commercial strip – is what gives the community its charm. With the housing market moving slower than its former breakneck pace a few years back, the face of the area might not change drastically in the next few years, but DC neighborhood growth being what it is, it’s unlikely Columbia Heights will stay the same for long. “
– Amanda Abrams, “Columbia Heights: DC’s Most Diverse Neighborhood, But For How Long?,” dc.urbanturf.com
DC’s population according to the 2010 census: 601,723
Number of Columbia Heights residents in 2011: 39,000+ within a half-mile of the metro station.
Average number of house holds: 15,164
Average house hold income: $55,222
Over 25% of Columbia Heights residents are population is between 20 – 34 years of age.
For more information visit our sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Heights,_Washington,_D.C.
http://www.columbiaheightsnews.org/About/History.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/14/AR2005101400789_pf.html
~Rachel Grossman, Connectivity Director
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