Bygone Brookland (original) (raw)

A short, photo-rich history of the Brookland neighborhood in Washington DC.

Most people know about the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth and David Herold after the assassination of President Lincoln. Far fewer know about Lewis Powell’s desperate run to our area as he tried to escape after his attack on Secretary of State William Seward.

The story of the Brookland Baptist Church and the people who created it, in the words of a well-known Brookland developer. Begun as the Queenstown Baptist Church in 1881, it changed as the neighborhood began to grow.

In 1835, Jehiel Brooks is appointed commissioner to treat with the Caddo Nation to purchase their lands in Louisiana, nearly a million acres. His daily journal offers insight into the negotiations and the final treaty, from which would flow long-lasting repercussions.

A look at the beginnings of the Fort Totten neighborhood, including a still-existing building that was there at the start, and the vanished village of Rupliville.

The 1881 murder of two children in Washington County set off a storm of newspaper coverage, centering on a poor, illiterate African American woman.

Brookland old-timers might remember Catholic University’s first sports stadium. Two photos taken of its construction contain some interesting views of old Brookland.

During the Civil War, Camp Barry was an artillery depot on the eastern side of Washington DC. This rare view from an 1863 photograph shows a broad, open landscape before development came after the war.

DC’s schools were strictly segregated until the Brown v. Board decision of 1954. Hugh Price was one of the first Black students to integrate Taft Junior High School that September. He went on to a remarkable career.

A look at the evolution of Lincoln Road and the expansion of city streets into the former farmland of Washington county. Glenwood Cemetery and Trinity College figure prominently.

The intersection of 18th and Monroe Streets in 1928 was a bustling area with a major gas station and loads of food stores.