Neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Place in the United States
Mount Pleasant
is a
neighborhood
in
Washington, D.C.
, located in
Northwest D.C.
The neighborhood is primarily residential, with restaurants and stores centered along a commercial corridor on Mt. Pleasant Street. Mount Pleasant is known for its unique identity and multicultural landscape, home to diverse groups such as the
punk rock
, the
Peace Corps
and
Hispanic Washingtonian
communities.
[1]
The neighborhood was initially developed around the
Mount Pleasant Hospital
, which was built and operated during the
American Civil War
. Following the war, the largely rural was subdivided for real estate development. Following the advent of the
D.C. streetcar system
, Mt. Pleasant became Washington's first
streetcar suburb
and burgeoned as an affluent residential area until the mid-1940s. The neighborhood entered a period of decay following the
white flight
and the
1968 Washington, D.C. riots
. Since the 2000s, Mount Pleasant has undergone increasing
urban redevelopment
and levels of
gentrification
.
[2]
[3]
History
[
edit
]
Mount Pleasant General Hospital
was operated to serve
Union
soldiers during the
U.S. Civil War
.
18th century
[
edit
]
In 1727,
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
, then governor of the
Province of Maryland
, awarded a
land grant
for present-day Mount Pleasant to James Holmead. This estate, later named "Pleasant Plains", included the territory of present-day neighborhoods of
Adams Morgan
,
Columbia Heights
,
Meridian Hill
, and
Pleasant Plains
(which only covers a portion of the original estate of the same name).
After the creation of the
District of Columbia
in 1791, Pleasant Plains estate became part of
Washington County
, but not part of the City of Washington.
In 1794 and 1796, noted Georgetown businessman Robert Peter conducted the first land surveys in the area and created maps for tracts of some of his land in Mount Pleasant for transactions with commissioners of the city.
[4]
19th century
[
edit
]
Townhomes built during the development of Mount Pleasant at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1861,
William Selden
, former
Treasurer of the United States
, owned 73 acres (300,000 m
2
) of land north of Pierce Mill Road, but having been a Confederate sympathizer, was forced was forced to sell his land at a low price and move back to Virginia. The purchaser was
New England
native Samuel P. Brown,
[5]
who built a house and also allowed the
Mount Pleasant General Hospital
to be constructed on his land.
After the
American Civil War
, Brown began selling his land in parcels. He named the area
Mount Pleasant Village
because it contained the land having the highest elevation within the original Pleasant Plains estate. Brown sold all of his land except for the parcel he retained around his house at 3351 Mount Pleasant Street, NW.
[6]
In the 1870s, a horse-drawn
streetcar
began traveling between the Fourteenth and Park intersection to downtown Washington city, making this the first
streetcar suburb
in the District of Columbia. In 1878, Mount Pleasant merged into Washington when the city's boundaries became
coterminous
with those of the District.
20th century
[
edit
]
Dedication ceremony of the
Francis Asbury Memorial
in 1924.
In 1901,
16th Street NW
was extended north of Florida Avenue, establishing the boundary of the neighborhood.
[7]
Mount Pleasant developed rapidly as a
streetcar suburb
after the expansion of the mechanized
Washington streetcars
along 16 1/2 Street (now Mount Pleasant Street) in 1903.
[1]
[7]
In 1907, developer Fulton R. Gordon purchased large sections of the neighborhood, marketing lots as "Mount Pleasant Heights" with Robert E. Heater.
[8]
Many houses and apartment buildings were constructed between 1900 and 1925, primarily marketed to middle- to
upper middle class
people.
In 1925, the city built the
Mount Pleasant Library
, designed by
Edward Lippincott Tilton
and partially funded by philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie
.
[9]
By 1927, all homeowners in the neighborhood had signed
restrictive covenants
forbidding sale to African Americans. By the time of
World War II
, many of the row houses were converted to
boarding houses
, many of which were occupied by single women.
[1]
Guglielmo Marconi Memorial
at Marconi Plaza, erected in 1941.
The neighborhood changed after the 1948 decision by the
United States Supreme Court
in the case of
Shelley v. Kraemer
, which struck down the
restrictive covenants
. After a Black
Howard University
professor moved into a prestigious Park Road home in 1950, some white residents began to leave the neighborhood. This
White flight
increased after the
1968 Washington, D.C. riots
and by 1970 the neighborhood was 65% black.
[1]
Beginning in the 1960s and increasing through the 1980s, immigrants from Central America, particularly from
Intipuca
,
El Salvador
, settled in the neighborhood. The new residents developed businesses catering to
Hispanic and Latino Americans
along commercial portions of Mount Pleasant Street. The neighborhood also attracted former
Peace Corps
workers.
In 1973, the Community of Christ, a lay-led Lutheran group dedicated to social justice, bought a large building on Mount Pleasant Street and made it available rent-free to peace activists, pro-immigrant groups and musicians. In the 1980s, the group house scene flourished.
[1]
However, from the 1970s to the 1990s, the neighborhood suffered from the
crack epidemic
and the
illegal drug trade
was rampant.
[10]
The Vintage on 16th, a historic church redeveloped into luxury apartments, in 2016.
In 1987, the neighborhood was designated as a historic district.
[11]
[12]
The neighborhood was
majority-minority
in 1990, with African Americans making up 36% of the population, Latinos 26%, and whites 35%.
In May 1991, the
Washington, D.C. riot of 1991
erupted following the shooting of Daniel Enrique Gomez by an
MPD
officer. The riot, which injured twelve people and destroyed several buildings in the neighborhood, was a pivotal moment in the emergence of Latino activism in DC.
[13]
[14]
In response, MPD Chief
Isaac Fulwood
,and city government began an outreach effort to the Latino population.
[15]
21st century
[
edit
]
The
2010 United States census
, the
ZIP Code
20010, which includes Mount Pleasant, was one of the "most whitened" areas of the country, with the percentage of non-Hispanic white residents increasing from 22% in 2000 to 46.7% in 2010.
[16]
As of 2021, housing prices had risen significantly.
[17]
Geography
[
edit
]
View down Mt. Pleasant Street
It is bounded by
Rock Creek Park
to the north and west; Harvard Street NW to the south; and
16th Street NW
to the east. It is north of
Adams Morgan
and west of
Columbia Heights
.
Demographics
[
edit
]
Lamont Plaza sits in the heart of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
The population of Mount Pleasant, according to the
2010 census
, was 10,459, down from 11,794 in
2000
.
|
1990
|
2000
|
2010
|
white non-Hispanic
|
35%
|
35%
|
50%
|
black non-Hispanic
|
36%
|
27%
|
26%
|
Hispanic
|
26%
|
31%
|
25%
|
Asian/Pacific Islander
|
3.0%
|
6.3%
|
5.6%
|
Incomes rose during this time period.
|
1979
|
1989
|
1999
|
2010
|
Average family income (2010 $)
|
$75,980
|
$77,704
|
$90,838
|
$130,790
|
Ratio to DC average
|
98%
|
83%
|
89%
|
114%
|
Local institutions
[
edit
]
Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market is held every Saturday in Lamont Plaza.
The Mount Pleasant Historic District covers a variety of types and styles of building. The western portion of the neighborhood is a largely wooded residential enclave bounded on two sides by
Rock Creek Park
, just east of the
National Zoo
. Structures in this area are primarily
row houses
of
Neoclassical architecture
with rear porches.
[18]
The eastern side of the neighborhood, along
16th Street NW
and Mount Pleasant Street, is marked by mid-rise apartment buildings.
The
Eighteen Hundred Block Park Road, NW
is notable for its 10 detached "suburban" houses on terraces overlooking the street.
The 12
buildings at 1644?1666 Park Road NW
, designed by
Appleton P. Clark Jr.
in the style of
Colonial Revival architecture
, were completed in 1906.
[9]
The
Guglielmo Marconi Memorial
is located at Marconi Plaza.
Education
[
edit
]
Mt. Pleasant Library
, built in 1925 with funding from
Andrew Carnegie
.
- District of Columbia Public Schools
operates the public schools.
- Bancroft Elementary School, 1755 Newton Street NW
- Private Religious Schools.
- Sacred Heart School, 1625 Park Road NW
District of Columbia Public Library
operates the
Mount Pleasant Library
.
[19]
Transportation
[
edit
]
The neighborhood is served by the
Mount Pleasant Line
and the
Crosstown Line
buses. There is no
Washington Metro
station in the neighborhood, with the closest being located in
Columbia Heights
.
[20]
Notable people
[
edit
]
Businesses on Mt. Pleasant Street
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Morley, Jefferson (January 25, 2021).
"The Mount Pleasant Miracle"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Gentrifiers, distinction, and social preservation: A case study in consumption on Mount Pleasant Street in Washington, DC
- ^
Washington Post - The Mount Pleasant Miracle
- ^
Miller, Iris (2002).
Washington in Maps 1606?2000
. New York:
Rizzoli International Publications
. pp. 62?63.
ISBN
9780847824472
.
ISBN
0-8478-2447-0
- ^
"Mount Pleasant Historic District"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Village in the City"
.
Cultural Tourism DC
.
- ^
a
b
"The Architectural Legacy of Mount Pleasant Street"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"FULTON R. GORDON AND ROBERT E. HEATER ARE Extending and Beautifying the Nation's Capital.: Virginians Make a Specialty of Opening New Northwest Suburban Property".
The Washington Post
. February 24, 1907.
- ^
a
b
"Mount Pleasant Historic District"
.
National Park Service
.
- ^
Dvorak, Petula (January 18, 2004).
"In Mt. Pleasant, A Divided View On Street Crime"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Orton, Kathy (April 5, 2013).
"Mount Pleasant in Northwest Washington, D.C. offers a small-town feel"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
"National Register Information System"
.
National Register of Historic Places
.
National Park Service
. March 13, 2009.
- ^
Friedman, Emily (May 5, 2011).
"Mount Pleasant Riots: May 5 Woven Into Neighborhood's History"
.
WAMU
.
- ^
Jones, Mark (April 28, 2015).
"Mount Pleasant Boils Over, 1991"
.
WETA
.
- ^
Hermann, Peter (September 1, 2017).
"Isaac Fulwood, Washington police chief during tumultuous era, dies at 77"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
DeBonis, Mike (June 11, 2012).
"D.C. has three of America's most-whitened Zip codes"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Wolfrom, Jessica (January 27, 2021).
"Once a rural village, D.C.'s Mount Pleasant now an 'oasis in the city'
"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
"Mount Pleasant Historic District nomination"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library"
.
District of Columbia Public Library
.
- ^
Washburn, Mark (February 14, 2023).
"Why Mount Pleasant is One of the Coolest Neighborhoods in DC"
.
DC CondoBoutique
. Retrieved
December 10,
2023
.
External links
[
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]
Places adjacent to Mount Pleasant (Washington, D.C.)
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