Category: DC Shaw Neighborhood

The History of 7th Street’s ‘Warehouse’

I had no idea this Shaw business had such an interesting history! Warehouse is a great spot in the neighborhood that hosts all kinds of arts events and runs a coffee shop/bar/cafe. One of the most active [arts spaces in DC] is the family-run cluster on 7th street Northwest, comprising the Warehouse Theater, Warehouse Nextdoor […]

Read more

Touring Gentrification

I also took a “hard hat tour” of a big new condo development going up in Shaw next to Breakwell’s. The building, which the developer is calling “The Whitman,” features 185 units ranging from a $300,000 for a 1-bedroom to over $900,000 for the largest 2-bedroom units. On the tour we were told the building […]

Read more

Breakwell’s Coffee Opens at 9th and M

A new coffee shop has opened just across from the convention center at 9th and M Streets NW. Their “soft opening” was this week and they’ll have an official, grand opening next week. I stopped by tonight and the store looked great, the staff very friendly, and the coffee quite good. They told me they […]

Read more

Shaw Heritage Trail Unveiled Saturday

The organization Cultural Tourism DC will be unveiling one of their heritage trails in Shaw with an event this Saturday, May 5th. They’re calling the trail “Midcity at the Crossroads” – click here to view a map of the 17 historical markers. There is a formal ceremony at 11 at the Kennedy Recreation Center and […]

Read more

Homophobia and Gentrification

Wow. This proposed bar would be just down the street from me, and is having license troubles thanks to the minister across the street: “A church leader in the Shaw neighborhood who has described homosexuality as a biblical curse has convinced local commissioners to protest the liquor license for a proposed gay bar he claims […]

Read more

Before CVS

This tidbit from the chapter on Seventh Street in my newly-arrived 1937 WPA guide on Washington: Seventh Street in this region, and immediately east and west of the street itself, becomes invaded with dilapidated houses, small shops, pawnbrokers’ officers, and teeming restaurants. The Old Indian Herb Store, at No. 1726, sells every kind of remedy […]

Read more