Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill celebrates one of the largest historic districts in the nation and a neighborhood rich in history that shaped a nation and the world. Beginning as a port area on the high plateau near the deep water of the Anacostia River, Capitol Hill was largely shaped by the early residential development near the Navy Yard. Later home to middle-class workers in the 19th century, Capitol Hill is now one of Washington's most elite neighborhoods. While the name of the current neighborhood is derived from its proximity to the United States Capitol, it is actually not located on a hill. Situated on the highest point of land between the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, Capitol Hill began as a small cluster of homes located at First and Second Streets along New Jersey Avenue, Southeast around 1800. The neighborhood was also home to hospitals and boarding houses during the Civil War. The area now known as the Capitol Hill Historic District was primarily built up in the 1880s and 1890s for speculative housing on a more modest scale, but now the district is considered elite with more senators and members of Congress residing there than in any other neighborhood. This volume contains more than 200 images of these prominent homes and noteworthy points of national interest, including Union Station, the Navy Yard, Eastern Market, and the B&O Railroad Company.