Capitol Hill is the neighborhood located east of the United States Capitol, located on Capitol Hill. The hill that the Capitol is on was originally known as "Jenkins Hill", and the neighborhood was named since it was on a small plateau coming from Capitol Hill towards the Anacostia River.
Pierre L'Enfant envisioned E. Capitol Street becoming a major thoroughfare as the link between the Capitol and the Anacostia River, which would be the site of port facilities. Commercial enterprises would then flourish on this route. Early on, though, unreasonably high land values kept the neighborhood from being developed. Most of what were built were boarding houses that were the homes of Senators and Representatives while they worked in the capital, and shacks that housed the workers building the Capitol
After the Civil War, the neighborhood was finally developed, with Washington's standard rowhouses with bay windows being constructed throughout. Apartment buildings also went up in some areas, and Capitol Street saw some commercial development. Proximity to the nation's capitol prompted city officials to dream of bigger ideas, and in 1929 a plan was put out to line E. Capitol Street with public and semi-public buildings, terminating with a sports center along the Anacostia River. This plan would not only make tie the neighborhood to the Capitol, but would also alleviate traffic west of the Capitol. This plan largely did not coe to fruition, with the notable exception of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.
In the early to mid-1900s, the middle class families began to move out, and the area went into decline. However, gentrification began in the 1950s, starting with the blocks immediately surrounding the Capitol and spreading outward. The historic housing stock and proximity to government buildings made the neighborhood attractive to a new wave of residents, and the area has enjoyed a considerable amount of prosperity since.
The United States Capitol, on the top of Capitol Hill. The Capitol is located in the middle of the four quadrants that the city is divided into.
The Capitol was designed by William Thornton, with modifications by Stephen Hallet, Charles Bulfinch, and Benjamin Latrobe.
The cornerstone for the Capitol was laid by President George Washington on September 18, 1793, and the building was finished with the completion of the House of Representatives wing in 1811. Both wings were expanded in the 1850s, and a new, larger dome was later added.
The Capitol dome was built from 1855 to 1863. The Statue of Freedom, originally known as "Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace", was placed on top of the dome in 1863.
The Supreme Court Building, on 1st Street NE. The structure is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Supreme Court Building was completed in 1935. Above the entrance is the motto "Equal Justice Under Law".
The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, on 1st Street SE. The structure was built in 1897 and is topped with the "Torch of Learning". The building was partially based on the Paris Opera House in France.
The Florida House, on 2nd Street NE.
The Florida House was built in 1891 and acts as Florida's "embassy" in the nation's capital.
Rowhouses and apartment buildings on 2nd Street NE.
Rowhouses on A Street NE.
Houses on A Street NE.
Rowhouses on Terrace Court NE.
More rowhouses on Terrace Court NE.
Houses on 3rd Street NE.
Rowhouses on 3rd Street NE.
Rowhouses on A Street NE.
Rowhouses on A Street NE at Millers Court NE.
Rowhouses on A Street NE. The Frederick Douglass Museum is on the left, next to his townhouse.
Houses on A Street NE at Frederick Douglass Court NE. The Frederick Douglass House, where Douglass lived from 1871 to 1878, is on the right.
Rowhouses on 4th Street NE.
Houses on 4th Street NE.
Houses on 4th Street NE.
Businesses on Capitol Street SE. Capitol Street was planned by L'Enfant to be a grand avenue, and thus was designed to be 160 feet wide. This right of way forced buildings to be built away from the curb of the street that never became that wide, and gardens and green space went up in the right-of-way.
Buildings on Capitol Street NE.
Houses on Capitol Street.
Houses on 5th Street SE.
Houses on 5th Street SE at A Street SE.
Houses built after the Civil War on Capitol Street NE. The S.W. Tullock House on the left was remodeled in 1887 and given a Richardsonian facade. The Sarah Spofford House in the center was remodeled in 1896.
Wooden rowhouses on 5th Street NE.
A house at 5th & A Streets NE.
Rowhouses on 5th Street NE.
Houses on 5th Street NE.
Houses on Constitution Avenue NE.
Rowhouses on Constitution Avenue NE.
The statue of Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene in Stanton Park. The statue was dedicated in 1877. Stanton Park is named aftr Edwin M. Stanton, who was the Secretary of War from 1862 to 1868.
The old George Peabody School, on C Street NE facing Stanton Park. The school was built in 1880.
Looking up Maryland Avenue NE from Stanton Park. On the right is the Imani Temple.
Rowhouses on C Street NE across from Stanton Park.
A house on 4th Street NE across from Stanton Park.
Rowhouses on 4th Street NE.
Union Station, on Columbus Circle at Massachusetts Avenue and the end of Delaware Avenue. Union Station was built in 1907 and replaced two train terminals in the city that did not run concurrently.
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