Where We Live
Protecting Its Connection to the Past
Jefferson Homes rowhouses are losing their chain link fences and gaining brick, wrought-iron and wood enclosures. Many neighbors spend their warm evenings much the way the old-timers did -- barbecuing and socializing in the back yard.
(By Ann Cameron Siegal For The Washington Post)
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Saturday, April 8, 2006
Vera Henderson's neighborhood, a small enclave of solid brick 1950s rowhouses sporting stoops, aluminum awnings and chain link fences, was once the close-knit domain of generations of black families in Alexandria.
"At one time, no one wanted to be here but us," said Henderson, acting president of the broader Southwest Quadrant Association, of which the community legally known as Jefferson Homes is a part.
But that's changed because the neighborhood has been "discovered." With discovery comes the fear among old-timers that what was once a stable, comfortable community is being renovated and bulldozed out of existence.
In 1966, Henderson and her husband purchased a two-bedroom rowhouse for $17,000. Nearby, a similar house, buffed to resale perfection, is now on the market for $449,999. However, cashing in and moving on is not in Henderson's plans.
"We hang on because this is where we live and we refuse to sell," she said, explaining why so many longtime residents shake their heads at the soaring house values and wonder if they can afford to stay put.
Jesurena Griffin, a native Alexandrian, said, "I've seen it go from a small static community where the same thing happened everyday and where you knew everyone, to where there are so many new faces."
Jefferson Homes is just north of the Capital Beltway where it joins Route 1 at the Wilson Bridge. An old railroad yard to its north was redeveloped into a large luxury townhouse and condo community, where gates cut off vehicle access by others to Duke Street. Five more luxury townhouses were built on the site of a former tombstone business. An apartment complex to the south has gone condo.
"I really worry that those who built this community will be pushed out," Griffin said.
The neighborhood has a history of activism. When students at the now-closed Robert E. Lee Elementary School didn't have uniforms, the coach and residents formed a parents' club to raise the necessary funds. Jaie Moon, who is raising her family in the house her parents purchased in 1965, recalled how her mother led efforts to create a community center after the school shut down in the early 1970s.
"There were no recreational facilities down here," Moon said, noting that children had to go some distance to get to a playground, pool or basketball court. Today, the Nannie J. Lee Memorial Recreation Center, named for Moon's mother, offers classes, day camps and facilities for youngsters throughout the city.
"My mother was an advocate for equity for all kids in Alexandria," Moon said.
Henderson said, "We've worked hard here through the years. We went to City Hall and found a mentor to help us get things done."
