A recent open house in LeDroit Park perfectly illustrated a great feature of the L’Enfant Plan. The house at 469 Florida Avenue sits directly on the New Jersey Avenue view corridor of the Capitol. Typically this location would be reserved for a civic monument such as a statue, circle, square, or government building, but L’Enfant drew his capital within the confines of Florida Avenue, the two rivers, and Rock Creek.

In some cases, such as Rhode Island, New York, and Maryland Avenues in Northeast, Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues in Northwest, East Capitol Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, subsequent city officials and developers continued these avenues beyond the city’s original boundary.

LeDroit Park, however, stood right in the way of what could have been an extended New Jersey Avenue NW. Instead of terminating the avenue at a civic point, builders in the neighborhood’s rowhouse era (1880s and after), built without regard to the design principles of the L’Enfant Plan. The result is that one row house has a stunning Capitol view worthy of a monument.

How was LeDroit Park established and who built all those unique homes on U Street? Why did the neighborhood start as exclusively white but become important to black history? As part of the annual WalkingTown DC event, I will lead two free walking tours of the neighborhood.

The tours will be on Saturday, October 5 at 1 pm and again on Sunday, October 6 at 10 am. Meet me at the arch at 6th Street and Florida Avenue NW.  The tours are free and open to the public.

We’ll cover

• The neighborhood’s founding
• Relationship with the Howard Theatre
• Architectural history
• The Park at LeDroit
• Walter Washington
• Ernest Everett Just
• Robert & Mary Church Terrell
• Anna Julia Cooper
• William Birney
• Edward Brooke
• Octavius Williams
• Oscar De Priest
• Griffith Stadium

Photo by NCinDC on Flickr

The Post reports that music venue owner IMP, which operates the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion, is now managing the District-owned Lincoln Theater.

As we noted before, the Lincoln Theater’s revival in the 1990s failed to measure up to the Howard Theatre’s recent rebirth.  Last year we compared the number of scheduled events at both theaters from May 11 to June 30, 2012. The contrast was stunning as the Howard had announced 51 scheduled events compared to the Lincoln’s paltry five.

The District’s new operator for the Lincoln has already booked comedians Ira Glass and Cheech and Chong, as well as musical performers Janelle Monae, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, and KT Tunstall for next month.

The Lincoln is just one of four big venues within a mile of LeDroit Park:

The Lincoln Theater’s 1,225 fixed seats set the venue apart.  Though this configuration limits the types of acts that will perform, it also guarantees each patron a reserved space.

Check out the Post’s handy comparison chart, including typical headliners and food options for each venue.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr

There are several upcoming LeDroit park events.

Sunday: LeDroit Park historical walking tour

As part of the annual WalkingTown DC event, I will lead two free walking tours of the neighborhood. The tours will be on Sunday, September 30 at 1 pm and again at 3:30 pm. Meet me at the arch at 6th Street and Florida Avenue NW.  The tours are free and open to the public.

Monday: Monthly LeDroit Park happy hour

Come for drinks, free appetizers, and chat with your neighbors Monday, October 1 from 6 to 8 at Nellie’s (9th & U Streets NW).  Nellie’s owner, a LeDroit Park resident, has kindly donated appetizers for the event.

How was LeDroit Park established and who built all those unique homes on U Street? Why did the neighborhood start as exclusively white but become so important to black history? As part of the annual WalkingTown DC event, I will lead two free walking tours of the neighborhood.

The tours will be on Sunday, September 30 at 1 pm and again at 3:30 pm. Meet me at the arch at 6th Street and Florida Avenue NW.  The tours are free and open to the public.

We’ll cover

• The neighborhood’s founding
• Relationship with the Howard Theatre
• Architectural history
• The Park at LeDroit
• Walter Washington
• Ernest Everett Just
• Robert & Mary Church Terrell
• Anna Julia Cooper
• William Birney
• Edward Brooke
• Octavius Williams
• Oscar De Priest
• Griffith Stadium

Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr

It’s that time again! Come for drinks, free appetizers, and chat with your neighbors Monday, September 10 from 6 to 8 at Nellie’s (9th & U Streets NW).  Nellie’s owner, a LeDroit Park resident, has kindly donated appetizers for the event.

We had a very large turnout in August. Aside from the usual suspects, I got to meet a neighbor five doors down and another neighbor around the corner.

Back in 2009 we noted that Google had updated all its streetview photos of LeDroit Park. What we didn’t notice is that Google for some time now has been adding panoramic photos of the interiors of local businesses.

Drag the little streetview man to U Street, for instance, and you’ll notice two types of blue dots. The darker blue dots are user-contributed photos. The lighter dots, however, give you tours inside the buildings.

Google has covered a good deal of U Street and 14th Street.  The closest venue to LeDroit Park is Wazobia at T and Wiltberger Streets. You can even “walk around” these establishment and pan and zoom the images.

Here are a few notable places near LeDroit Park and along U Street:

• Wanda’s Hair Salon – 1851 7th Street (Wanda’s has moved)
• Greg’s Barber Shop – 1909 7th Street – (old-timey cash register to boot!)
• Nellie’s – 900 U Street – (blown-up print of Nellie Storrs Newman behind the bar)
• Dickson Wine Bar – 903 U Street
• Zula Ethiopian Restaurant – 1933 9th Street
• Lounge of Three – 1013 U Street NW – (Sign reads, “Music we play may cause severe neck injury.”)
• 9:30 Club – 815 V Street NW
• Ben’s Chilli Bown – 1213 U Street NW – (Sign famously notes that only the Obamas and Bill Cosby eat for free)

Tulips on the 200 block of Elm Street NW

Nothing says spring like pastel tulips on a sunny Easter morning.  Much to the benefit of passersby, one Elm Street resident caught tulipmania this year!

What do Wale, Wanda Sykes, the Roots, Esperanza Spalding, and Chuck Berry have in common?  They are all performing at the Howard Theatre in April.  Also, each Sunday the theatre will host a gospel brunch and gospel choir.

We have studied the neighborhood’s name before, noting that ‘Le Droit’ evolved to ‘LeDroit’. But wait, there’s more! The neighborhood’s pronunciation is still debated today.

This became clear during the DC Council’s debate on the formal naming of our park when the two pronunciations emerged on the dias and on Twitter. Is it pronounced LEE-droyt and luh-DROYT?

Many residents and Councilmember Graham (D – Ward 1) pronounce it LEE-droyt. Other residents, this writer included, pronounce it luh-DROYT. A friend on Twitter jokingly asked, “Does anybody pronounce it Luh-Dwah, like a Frenchman?”

Ultimately how you pronounce it doesn’t matter, but we suspect Frenching it up as luh-DWAH might take it over the top.