Park View is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. The neighborhood is primarily residential with its main commercial corridor of shops and restauarants located along Georgia Avenue. It is bordered to the west by Columbia Heights, the north by Petworth, and the south by McMillan Reservoir and Pleasant Plains.

Park View was developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, along the western boundary of the U.S. Soldiers' Home. The name of the neighborhood is derived from its relation to the park-like setting of the Soldier's Home, which was formerly open to the public as a park into the 1960s.

Geography Park View is situated in the Northwest quadrant of the city. The territory that defines the Park View neighborhood extends from Gresham Place north to Rock Creek Church Road, and from Georgia Avenue to the Soldiers' Home grounds. The additional area bounded by Park Road, New Hampshire Avenue, and Georgia Avenue completes the neighborhood's boundaries.Park View Citizens' Association. Directory and History of Park View, 1921. p. 29. The southern border of the Park View Citizens' Association was Columbia Road."Park View Citizens Association Has Won Benefits for Many Areas Besides Its Own", The Washington Post, Nov. 11, 1940. p. 13. Sherman Avenue is considered by some to be the western boundary of the neighborhood.

Demographics

The majority of Park View falls within Tract 32 of the 188 Census Tracts in the District of Columbia, which counted 5,099 residents in 2020 vs. 4,913 in 2010, an increase of 3.8%. Previous to there was a 9.7% increase in population from 2000 to 2010.

Ethnically and racially, the area has become less Black and more White and multi-racial from 2010 to 2020. In 2020 there were 35% fewer non-Hispanic Blacks than in 2010, dropping from 2,836 to 1,834 and they formed the plurality of residents, but no longer the majority. The Non-Hispanic White population increased 118% from 723 to 1,576 and they became the second-largest group, taking that position from Hispanics and Latinos. The neighborhood's population was in 2020 was 36.0% non-Hispanic (NH) Black (vs. 57.7% in 2010), 30.9% NH White (up from 14.7% in 2010), 23.5% Hispanic or Latino (vs. 24.2% in 2010), 4.1% NH Asian vs. 1.9% in 2010; 0.08% NH American Indian and Alaska Native vs. 0.28% in 2010; 1.0% NH some other race vs. 0.2% in 2010, and 4.5% NH multiracial vs. 1.0% who identified as such in 2010.U.S. Census 2020 for DC Tract 32

According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2005–09), the average family income was $70,231. This was up 22% from the 2000 census numbers. The same survey reported the unemployment rate in Park View to be 9.6%. Employment for residents 16 years of age or older was 63% at that time.DC Tract Profile, NeighborhoodInfo DC

Political representation Politically, Park View is in D.C.'s Ward 1 and falls within Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A (ANC1A). Three ANC1A Single Member Districts represent the neighborhood. ANC 1A08 represents the northern section, central Park View is represented by ANC 1A09, and ANC 1A10 serves the southern third of the neighborhood.Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A (anc1a.org)

History

The transition of the rural community to the west of the Soldiers' Home into Washington's Park View neighborhood dates to June 4, 1886. On that date, the heirs of Catherine M. Whitney sold the former estate of Asa Whitney, known as Whitney Close, to Benjamin H. Warder of Ohio for the sum of $60,024. Warder immediately set about subdividing the 43-acre tract of land into building lots for a new community."Important Real Estate Sales," The Washington Post, June 5, 1886. p. 2. This was followed by the subdivision and development of other country properties in the area. These subdivisions—including Whitney Close, Schuetzen Park, and Bellevue—were organized into a single neighborhood known as Park View in 1908.Park View Citizens' Association. Directory and History of Park View, 1921. p. 29, 32. Park View eventually included the subdivision of Princeton Heights to the north to round out the neighborhood boundaries. Since the neighborhood abutted the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, and as the grounds were open to the public as a courtesy, the name Park View was chosen to signify the close relationship between these two communities.

The Soldiers' Home Grounds were important in the early life of Park View. The Soldiers' Home granted permission to the neighborhood to hold their Fourth of July celebrations there in 1917 and 1918.Park View Citizens' Association. Directory and History of Park View, 1921. p. 33."Miss Wilson to Lead Singing of War Hymns At Park View July 4", The Washington Post, June 28, 1918. p. 9 Neighborhood children would play on the grounds and sail toy boats on the ponds. Picnics and long walks were also frequent pastimes, with the view of the city and the Capitol being unparalleled.

Reflecting the social changes occurring in the entire city of Washington, Park View desegregated at the end of the 1940s. Black families began to move into the northern part of the neighborhood around 1946. Eventually, the neighborhood became a solidly African American community and remained this way for a period of over 30 years. Following the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro Station opening in 1999 the neighborhood began to change yet again and today can be considered truly multicultural.

The relationship between the neighborhood and the Soldiers' Home began to change during the early 1950s. In response to losing part of its property to the south for the Washington Hospital Center, the Soldiers' home began closing its southern gates from 1953 to 1955.The Old Soldiers’ Home Park Rd Gate … Closed Since 1955. Park View, D.C. blog.Old Soldiers' Home's Randolph Gate Closed in 1953. Park View, D.C. blog. Eventually, its grounds were officially closed to residents of the neighborhoods entirely in November 1968, thus depriving the community of the only real green space it had ever known.Park View United Neighborhood Coalition Web site

Georgia Avenue Georgia Avenue is the commercial artery of Park View. It was built in 1810 which makes it one of Washington's oldest thoroughfares connecting the city of Washington with nearby communities. It was originally known as the 7th Street Turnpike and connected Washington with Rockville, Md., leaving the city from its northern boundary where 7th Street crosses today's Florida Avenue. It was renamed Georgia Avenue in 1908 after Georgia Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon pushed an amendment through Congress for that purpose.Originally Georgia Avenue was in SE, not NW. Park View, D.C. blog.

Architectural and cultural sites of interest

Tenth Precinct Station House

The Tenth Precinct Station House, located at 750 Park Road, was designed by A.B. Mullett and Company and built in 1901. It is significant for its architectural character and its historical association with the police department of the District of Columbia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The designation of the Tenth Precinct and the construction of the police station in 1901 were responses to the expansion of the city limits and urban population into this area. Reforms in the D.C. police department in the latter decades of the nineteenth century had led to the enlargement of the force and creation of new precincts.

The street system in the area north of Florida Avenue (formerly Boundary Street) had been surveyed by 1901, but few buildings had been constructed. By 1910, the block from Sherman Avenue to Georgia Avenue, in which the station house is located, was almost fully occupied by tradesmen and workers. The station house, assessed at $13,000, was by far the most imposing building on the block in which most of the properties were assessed at less than $1,000. Its imposing character in relation to the residential environs as well as its architectural quality suggested the importance of symbolic expression of authority. This expression is characteristic of the City Beautiful movement, a growing belief at the turn of the century that public structures should be imposing, monumental and of classical style.

Until 1886, the D.C. police department had been charged with corruption, political partisanship and venality. Subsequent reforms led to the enlargement of the force and creation of new precincts. Each station house was staffed by a captain, a lieutenant and several sergeants. The station house was the first facility to which an arrested man or woman was brought. At the station house, the arrest was recorded, and the prisoner was confined there until released on bail or removed, to police court for trial or to jail to await grand jury testimony. Misdemeanors were handled at the station house; felonies were dealt with in D.C. Supreme or Police Court.

Today, it houses the Metropolitan Police Department's Fourth District substation. The structure is listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places."Policing the Suburbs: Plans for New Station Are Almost Completed", The Washington Post, July 30, 1900. p. 10.

Park View Christian Church

The old Whitney Avenue Christian Church which had been built in 1877 was replaced in 1920. At that time, it was among the oldest landmarks in Park View. The church, located at 625 Park Road, was the location of the earliest efforts to form the Park View community and build the new school on Warder.

In 1920, the old church was replaced with the building that is there now. The new building was renamed the Park View Christian Church and built at a cost of $30,000."New $30,000 Church", The Washington Post, Jan. 4, 1920. p. 37.

The congregation of the Park View Christian Church eventually moved to Shepherd Park, and the Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church moved to 625–627 Park Rd. in 1944. The structure supported Trinity's congregation until 1983, when Trinity moved to its current location on 16th Street.

The church currently supports the New Commandment Baptist Church. New Commandment purchased 625 Park Rd in 1995 for $600,000.New Commandment Baptist Church Web site

Park View School

The school located at the intersection of Warder and Newton streets was built in 1916 to designs by Snowden Ashford. The origin of the school can be traced back to the efforts of the Park View Citizens' Association and their persistent appeal to Congress for funds to purchase the land and build the school. Ashford designed the school in his preferred style of Collegiate Gothic. The interior is notable for the wooden truss that supports the auditorium roof.

It is constructed of red tapestry brick with trimmings of Bedford limestone and was built on some of the highest ground in the city. Originally a 16-room structure, the school quickly became too small for the needs of the community. In 1920 the progressive platoon school model was adopted which helped address the school's space problem. Two wings were finally added to the building and ready for use by 1931.

By the late 1940s, the racial makeup of the neighborhood had changed from predominantly white to predominantly black. As black schools were overcrowded and white schools were under-enrolled, Park View was transferred to the black division in 1949.Park View Citizens' Association. Directory and History of Park View, 1921. p. 12.Poston, Aurora M. "Platoon School Solves Lack of Space Problem", The Washington Post, Jan. 11, 1925. p. AU6."Park View School Addition to Open", The Washington Post, Nov. 10, 1931. p. 8.

The school is still in use today as a District of Columbia Public Elementary School.

Princeton Heights Development