Brookland is a neighborhood in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., historically centered along 12th Street NE. Brookland is bounded by 9th Street NE to the west, Rhode Island Avenue NE to the south, and South Dakota Avenue to the east. Michigan Avenue is the northern boundary between 9th and 14th Streets; The President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument is also located near Brookland. (It is technically in Park View.) The Lincoln cottage was the once rural place where President Abraham Lincoln spent the summers of 1862 to 1864, to escape the heat and political pressures of Washington. Brookland has been nicknamed "Little Rome" by some for the many Catholic institutions clustered around The Catholic University of America (CUA) which lives atop what was Fort Slemmer, constructed to protect the city during the Civil War[1].
Brookland is served by the Brookland–CUA station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro.
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For most of the 19th century the area was farmland owned by the prominent Middleton and Queen families. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad later connected this portion of Washington County to downtown. Bellair, the 1840 brick Greek Revival mansion built by Colonel Jehiel Brooks who married Ann Margaret Queen, still stands. It is referred to as Brooks Mansion. It is the site of offices and production facilities for the Public Access Corporation of the District of Columbia, the city's Government-access television (GAVT) channel known as DCTV.
Change came rapidly during and after the American Civil War. First, Fort Slemmer and Fort Bunker Hill were constructed as defenses against the Confederate Army, and later the Old soldiers' home was constructed to the northwest. The population of the city itself increased with the expansion of the federal government, and the former Brooks family estate became a housing tract named "Brookland."
Growth continued throughout the 1870s when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened its Western Branch Line in the developing Brookland neighborhood.[2]. With the construction of nearby Sherwood, University Heights, and other tracts, and the expansion of Washington's streetcars, a middle-class streetcar suburb developed, and eventually its expansion southward met Washington's northward. Many Queen Anne style and other Victorian homes still stand.
In 1887, the Roman Catholic Church purchased the Middletown estate, adjacent to Brookland, as the site for The Catholic University of America (CUA). The presence of CUA attracted many other Catholic organizations and institutions to the area, including Trinity College (now Trinity University), established 1897, and the Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery in 1905. Construction of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, to be the patronal church of the United States, began in 1920. The Pope John Paul II Cultural Center opened in 2001. Nearly 60 Catholic institutions called the neighborhood home by 1940. The Brookland area has been nicknamed "Little Rome" by some for the many Catholic institutions clustered around CUA.
While mostly Caucasian at its founding, Brookland integrated in the 20th century, especially after the white flight of Irish Catholics after World War II. Although there was some hostility directed at early black integration of the neighborhood, by the middle of the century, Brookland had developed into a neighborhood fairly integrated among economic classes and races. During the mid-twentieth century, Brookland could boast of such prominent residents as Ralph Bunche, Sterling Brown, Edward Brooke, Ellis O. Knox, Rayford W. Logan, and Pearl Bailey, John P. Davis, and Robert C. Weaver . It remains a relatively diverse and stable area of Washington.
Brookland was also home to the playwright Jean Kerr and her playwright/critic husband Walter Kerr who taught at nearby CUA. The writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings spent her childhood in Brookland.
Justine Ward, the music educator and author, lived in Brookland and built the large residence now occupied by Ronald McDonald House in the 1300 block of Quincy Street. Catholic University's School of Music is named in her honor. Also on Quincy St is the Quincy House,[1] a long-time residence of Catholic graduate students who regularly host coffee houses and other community events.
Dance Place, located at 3225 8th Street, was founded in 1980 and serves as a theater school and community resource.
Brookland has a small but thriving business community. Full-service restaurants include Col. Brooks Tavern, San Antonio Grill, Brookland Cafe, and The Library. There is one coffee shop, Cafe Sureia. Carry-out and delivery services provide Chinese, Jamaican, and Italian food.
Brookland Hardware has anchored the 12th Street business corridor for many years. Other businesses found on the strip include Yes! Organic Market, the Brookland Inn, along with realtors, art galleries, auto mechanics, salons, and interior decorating stores.
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