“For the past 25 or 30 years, that sidewalk has been all broken up,” said Moon, who grew up in Anacostia and now lives in Landover. “A lot has changed here. You can see Anacostia going in a new direction.”
The new sidewalk, new restaurants — Uniontown Bar and Grill is one of a handful— and newly rehabbed houses all feed into a belief among many residents that their long-struggling Southeast Washington neighborhood is on the cusp of a rebirth.
Anacostia takes its name from the Native American village that preceded it, Nacotchtank, which Captain John Smith noted during his 1608 voyage up the Chesapeake Bay, according to the National Park Service. In the 1850s, developers established Uniontown for white Navy Yard workers, according to the park service.
In the beginning, covenants allowed only whites to buy property in the neighborhood. But by 1880, roughly 15 percent of the residents were black, according to the National Park Service. Notable black residents included abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who lived in the neighborhood from 1877 to 1895, according to the park service.
In recent decades, the neighborhood has battled poverty and unemployment. Ward 8, which comprises Anacostia, has long been the poorest section of the city.
But many residents say the neighborhood’s reputation for being crime-ridden and run-down is largely undeserved.
Charles Wilson, 35, a lawyer who serves as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for the neighborhood, said he “kept hearing about this place called Anacostia,” when he was living in the Trinidad neighborhood of northeast Washington several years ago.
“Pretty much everyone told me not to go there, that it was crime-infested, dangerous, dirty, and that people were crazy,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he drove to Anacostia one Saturday afternoon, and found “the exact opposite,” and fell in love with the neighborhood’s historic charm and energy.
He moved into his 105-year-old wood-frame home five years ago, and founded the Historic Anacostia Block Association to improve communication between young professionals moving into the neighborhood and older, longtime residents.
Darrin Davis, 46, owner of Anacostia River Realty, said a host of young professionals have moved into the neighborhood in recent years, attracted by inexpensive historic houses and proximity to downtown Washington and Northern Virginia.
The neighborhood also boasts historic and cultural resources such as Frederick Douglass’ home and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum.
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