Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

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Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

Location:	Washington, D.C., USA
Nearest city:	Washington, D.C
Coordinates:	38°51′48″N, 76°59′07″W
Area:	9 acres (0.04 km²)
Established:	February 12, 1988
Total Visitation:	23,226 (in 2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service

Image:Frederick Douglass's House.jpg

Frederick Douglass home

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service, is located at 1411 W St., SE in Anacostia, a neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, D.C.. Established in 1988 as a National Historic Site, the site preserves the home and estate of Frederick Douglass, one of the most prominent African Americans of the nineteenth-century. Douglass lived in this house, which he named Cedar Hill, from 1877 until his death in 1895. Perched high on a hilltop, the site also offers a sweeping view of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington D.C. skyline.

The historic site is open to the public daily, except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the summer, and from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the fall and winter. While there is no admission fee to the historic site, there is a $2 fee for tours of the Douglass home.

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is located about a ten minute walk from the Anacostia Metro station.

[edit] History

The site of the Frederick Douglass home was originally purchased by John Van Hook circa 1855. He built the main portion of the present house soon after that. For a portion of 1877 the house was owned by the Freedom Savings and Trust Company and later that year purchased by Frederick Douglass.

After Douglass' death, his widow (in 1900) founded the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association. In 1916, the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs joined with the association. These groups owned the house until 1962, when the federal government took the deed to the house through the National Park Service, with the intent of restoring and preserving it.