The remarkable architectural and social history of DC’s multifaceted alleyways Alleyways in Washington, DC, have always been a fundamental part of the city’s life and economy. Deliberately hidden from public view by the capital’s early planners, DC’s alleys were created to provide access to stables, carriage houses, and other utility buildings. But as the city grew and property values rose, the nature of some alleys and their buildings changed, resulting in a parallel world of residential , manufacturing, and artistic spaces. Kim Prothro Williams reveals this world in a fascinating and richly illustrated history. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the city’s inhabited alleys were often unsanitary spaces that were home to its poorest residents. These conditions spurred Progressive Era campaigns to demolish alley dwellings, which in turn led to the displacement of minority and disadvantaged communities. Today, many remaining alleyways, with their intimately scaled buildings, have been transformed into vibrant commercial and residential spaces. Yet this new wave of development raises questions about how spaces that were once reserved for the city’s poorest residents now cater to the wealthy. This book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in Washington, social history, architecture, or historical preservation.

"Kim Prothro Williams explains the remarkable architectural and social history of Washington, DC's multifaceted alleyways. This richly illustrated book also provides an appealing visual record of the roles and evolution of alleyways in the city. Washington's alleys were never intended to be seen. They were deliberately hidden from public view to conceal the services and people behind the grand design envisioned by the capital's early planners. But more so than in most American cities, alleyways in DC have always been a fundamental part of the life and economy of the city. Many alleyways have contained a parallel world of neighborhoods, manufacturing, and bohemian spaces. DC alleys were created in the original Plan of the City to provide access to the rear of the large lots for stables, carriage houses, and other utility buildings. As the city grew and property values rose, land owners changed the purpose of some alleys by building and renting out alley dwellings. Other alleys began to serve commercial and industrial purposes. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, inhabited alleys were mainly home to the city's poorest people, especially Black residents and recent immigrants. Unsanitary conditions spurred Progressive Era campaigns to demolish alley dwellings, but this began a new and complex era in the history of DC's alleys as reform efforts threatened to displace communities without offering them a place to go. Today, there are far fewer alleyways, as office and apartment blocks were built over many. This century has seen a transformation of many remaining alleyways into vibrant commercial and residential spaces that display stunning nineteenth century architecture. But this latest wave of gentrification has raised questions about how spaces that were once utilitarian or attainable for the poorest residents now cater to the wealthy. Hidden Alleyways of Washington, DC is a fascinating portrait of these important and varied architectural and social spaces in the life of the capital city"--

Forgotten today, established Black communities once existed in the alleyways of Washington, D.C., even in neighborhoods as familiar as Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom. James Borchert's study delves into the lives and folkways of the largely alley dwellers and how their communities changed from before the Civil War, to the late 1890s era when almost 20,000 people lived in alley houses, to the effects of reform and gentrification in the mid-twentieth century.

"Before chain coffeeshops and luxury high-rises, before even the beginning of desegregation and the 1968 riots, Washington's Greater U Street was known as Black Broadway. From the early 1900s into the 1950s, African Americans plagued by Jim Crow laws in other parts of town were free to own businesses here and built what was often described as a "city within a city." Local author and journalist Briana A. Thomas narrates U Street's rich and unique history, from the early triumph of emancipation to the days of civil rights pioneer Mary Church Terrell and music giant Duke Ellington, through the recent struggle of gentrifiction" --

The Evolution of Washington, DC is a striking volume featuring select pieces of the extraordinary collection of Washingtoniana donated by Albert H. Small to the George Washington University in 2011. It showcases treasures such as an 1860 lithograph of the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in front of the White House and a contemporary print of old Potomac River steamboats. Other unique pieces include early designs for the White House, the Capitol, and the Washington Monument as well as presidential portraits and Civil War memorabilia. Each object--from architectural plans and topographical maps to letters and advertisements--tells a fascinating story, and together they illustrate the history of our nation's capital and indeed our nation itself.

224 rare photos: Lincoln's inauguration, Ford's Theater in 1865, Frederick Douglass, Women's Suffrage Parade, Georgetown in 1893, more. Stunning views by Brady, Bishop, Peale, others. Pre-Civil War to modern era.

Washington has a rural history of agrarian landscapes and country estates. John Adlum, the Father of American Viticulture, experimented with American grape cultivation at The Vineyard, just north of today's Cleveland Park. Slave laborers rolled hogsheads - wooden casks filled with tobacco - down present-day Wisconsin Avenue from farms to the port at Georgetown. The growing merchant class built suburban villas on the edges of the District and became the city's first commuters. In 1791, the area was selected as the capital of a new nation, and change from rural to urban was both dramatic and progressive. Author Kim Prothro Williams reveals the rural remnants of Washington, D.C.'s past.