H Street (Washington, D.C.)

History

In the 19th century, H Street around North Capitol was the center of a small settlement called Swampoodle which became an entire neighborhood by the 1850s. It played an important role in the construction of Washington, D.C. by providing the workforce needed to build projects such as Union Station.

H Street was separated in two with the railway track where it intersected with Delaware Avenue when Union Station started to be built in 1907. This split created distinct neighborhoods east and west of the railway which have grown independently. In 1902, it was originally planned that H street NE would be cut for 600 feet (180 m) at Delaware Avenue. Thanks to involvement of the Northeast Washington Citizens' Association, the plan was changed to having a 750-foot (230 m) tunnel built to retain the connection between the two sides of the track.

The H Street NE/NW neighborhood was one of Washington's earliest and busiest commercial districts, and was the location of the first Sears Roebuck store in Washington. H Street NE went into decline after World War II and businesses in the corridor were severely damaged during the 1968 riots. This part of the street did not start to recover until the 21st century.

In 2002, the District of Columbia Office of Planning initiated a community-based planning effort to help revitalize the H Street NE corridor. Because it is nearly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, the resulting H Street NE Strategic Strategic Development Plan divided H Street into three districts: the Urban Living district (between 2nd and 7th Streets NE), the Central Retail District (between 7th and 12th Streets NE), and the Arts and Entertainment District (between 12th and 15th Streets NE).

In the mid-2000s, the Arts and Entertainment District began to revitalize as a nightlife district. The Atlas Theater, a Moderne-style 1930s movie theater that had languished since the 1968 riots—was refurbished as a dance studio and performance space where Mosaic Theater Company of DC and Step Afrika! are in residence, and is now the anchor of what is now being called the Atlas District.

H Street NE rapidly re-developed after 2007. The same forces that led to the redevelopment of the neighboring NoMa neighborhood acted on the H St NE neighborhood The median sales price of houses on or near H Street NW from July to September 2009 was $417,000. H Street NE was voted the sixth-most hipster place in America by Forbes magazine in September 2012. This process of gentrification led to tensions with some previous residents, who felt that they were becoming less welcome as the neighborhood changed and worried about being priced out.

As H Street NE continued to develop, its annual neighborhood festival, the H St Festival has grown into the largest neighborhood celebration in the city. It is often chronicled in DC news outlets such as these articles from 2008 2010 2016 2017 2018 2019.

H Street NE is also home to the country's first American Sign Language friendly Starbucks location on the 600 block of H St NE due to its location in the vicinity of Gallaudet University.