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Duke Ellington’s D.C. legacy Take a tour of the local places where Duke Ellington lived and played music.
The True Reformer building at 1200 U St. NW
The Ellington mural, by G. Byron Peck, gazes down at the nearby U St./Cardozo Metro stop.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
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1805 13th St. NW
The Ellington home from 1910 to 1914, like all of the places where the musician lived in the city, is a private residence, though there is a historical sign out front.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
1805 13th St. NW
SA sign marks the place where Duke Ellington lived during his teenage years.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW
Built in 1910, it began as the center of black culture locally and nationally. The largest venue in the world to serve those of African descent when it opened, it had its struggles over the years, closing after the 1929 stock market crash, only to reopen in 1931 with a week-long engagement by its own favorite son, Duke Ellington. Decaying for decades, it’s in the midst of a huge renovation, and a spring reopening is still planned.
Historical Society of Washington
The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW
Built in 1910, the Howard is undergoing a major renovation.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
Formerly Frank Holliday’s Poolroom, 624 T St. NW
Right next to the Howard Theatre, it’s where young Ellington would listen to the piano players beginning at age 14 and eventually play there himself. Most recently the Cafe Mawonaj, it’s now part of the renovated complex of buildings alongside the Howard.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
A Heritage Trail marker across the street from the Howard Theatre notes places of significance near the intersection of T St. and Florida Ave. NW.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
The Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW
Another cornerstone to the U Street corridor, it opened in 1922 as a silent movie house and vaudeville site for the city’s African Americans before turning into a luxury movie house in the late ’20s with a ballroom in the basement, the Lincoln Colonnades, one of the many dance halls Ellington’s popular band played. Closed and deteriorating, its renovation came in 1994, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities took over operations last month.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
The Whitelaw Hotel, 1839 13th St. NW
The first luxury hotel for African Americans opened in 1919, was closed and now retains its noble facade as affordable housing, just up the block from two homes Ellington lived in as a teen. Ellington played functions there and was a frequent guest when he returned to his home town to perform.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
A Greater U Street Heritage Trail marker at the intersection of 13th and T St. NW, across the street from the Whitelaw Hotel building, informs passersby about the building’s significance.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
The True Reformer building, 1200 U St. NW
A local African American landmark, it’s where Ellington played his first public performance in one of the second-floor ballrooms. Still standing, it’s the headquarters of the Public Welfare Foundation .
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
2728 Sherman Ave. NW
The modest rowhouse, the only property Ellington purchased in the District, was on busy Sherman Avenue in Columbia Heights. It was also the contact address on the business card for his first band, Duke’s Serenaders, a group that played “Irresistible Jass.” After standing neglected for years, it became the office for the National Partnership for Community Leadership and sports a plaque noting its musical legacy.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
Henry Grant home, 1114 Fairmont St. NW
Ellington took piano lessons from Henry Grant, a major figure in D.C. music who taught at Dunbar and led the all-high school orchestra, helping create a sound in Ellington’s mind. Ellington stayed in contact with him, consulting with him after he bought his own house in the neighborhood and later after he moved from town.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
Duke Ellington Building, 2121 Ward Court NW
The office building containing a post office takes up the site of Ellington’s birthplace. A plaque denoting the birth was installed in 1990 and a mural above it by Aniekan Udofia was completed in November.
Michael Cotterman
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The Washington Post
Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge
The span on Calvert Street NW between Connecticut Avenue and Columbia Road was named in his honor in 1974, the year he died.
Ann Cameron Siegal
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For The Washington Post
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The home of the president, where Ellington’s father occasionally did catering jobs, is where Richard Nixon gave the musician and international ambassador the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a gala event and late-night jam session on the Duke’s 70th birthday, April 29, 1969.
Alex Wong
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Getty Images
Duke Ellington Building, 2121 Ward Court NW
A Duke Ellington mural by Aniekan Udofia. Ellington was born on this street, then known as Ida Place, in 1899.
Michael Cotterman
/
The Washington Post
Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW
Founded in 1926, the jazz club that began life as the Caverns and Crystal Caverns is one of the spots Ellington and other musicians came to relax after local shows to enjoy after-hours jazz. It’s also one of the few clubs from the 1920s to have survived, despite some periods of shutdown, and remains one of the jazz hot spots of contemporary D.C.
Michael Cotterman The Washington Post
Ben’s Chili Bowl, 1213 U St. NW
Though it looks historic — as the city’s only remaining structure built as a nickelodeon — the famous eatery didn’t open until 1958. But the popular place notes Ellington as someone who made sure he dropped by when his concert tours brought him back to town.
Jeffrey Porter
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