Shepherd Park
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Shepherd Park is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
In the years following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
,
restrictive covenant A covenant, in its most general and covenant (historical), historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the ...
s which had prevented Jews and African Americans from purchasing homes in the neighborhood were no longer enforced, and the neighborhood became largely Jewish and African American. Over the past 40 years, the Jewish population of the neighborhood has declined (though it is now increasing again) but the neighborhood has continued to support a thriving upper and middle class African American community. The Shepherd Park Citizens Association and Neighbors Inc. led efforts to stem
white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
from the neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s, and it has remained a continuously integrated neighborhood, with very active and inclusive civic groups. Shepherd Park and the rest of Ward 4 were represented in the
Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...
by
Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...
, until her election as
Mayor of the District of Columbia The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the D.C. Council. ...
in the fall of 2014. It is home to a number of prominent people, including former NAACP President
Benjamin Jealous Benjamin Todd Jealous (born January 18, 1973) is an American civil rights leader, environmentalist and executive director of the Sierra Club. He served as the president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement ...
. A number of judges, professors, newspaper reporters, and doctors also live in the community.


Geography

The northern line of the neighborhood is defined by Eastern Avenue NW, which divides Shepherd Park from
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...
. The neighborhood is further bounded at the south by Parks at Walter Reed (the former
Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), officially known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951, was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in Washington, D.C., it served more ...
), at the east by
Georgia Avenue Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Maryland. In Washington, D.C., and for a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Rout ...
NW, and the west by
16th Street NW 16th Street Northwest, briefly known as the Avenue of the Presidents, is a prominent north-south boulevard in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The street was laid out as part of the 1791 L'Enfant Plan, whi ...
. Most east-west streets are named after flowers, shrubs, and trees. Iris Street, Kalmia Road, and Geranium Street are but a few flower-inspired street names. Georgia Avenue is the only commercial corridor near the neighborhood. Downtown Silver Spring and Rock Creek Park are both within walking distance. The neighborhood is served by bus services on Georgia Ave. and 16th Street, and the Silver Spring and Takoma Park Metros are equidistant, both approximately one mile away. Local architecture includes Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, and Spanish Colonial Revival houses; bungalows and other early-20th-century vernacular styles; and mid-century ramblers. There is a significant concentration of mail-order kit houses by the Lewis Manufacturing Company and by Sears in the southeast corner of the neighborhood.


History

The neighborhood takes its name from its most famous resident:
Alexander Robey Shepherd Alexander Robey Shepherd (January 30, 1835 – September 12, 1902) was an American politician and businessman who was the 2nd Governor of the District of Columbia from 1873 to 1874. He was one of the most controversial and influential civic lead ...
, the governor of the then-Territory of DC from 1873 to 1874. The neighborhood was originally called Sixteenth Street Heights. Part of the neighborhood was renamed Shepherd Park in 1926 when developer L.E. Breuninger proposed 200 new homes. His first model home was built in the new Shepherd Park was 7707 13th St., NW. Shortly before becoming governor (in 1868), Shepherd built a grand Second Empire-style Victorian that once stood near the corner of Floral and 14th Street. (The carriage house still stands in the alley off of Floral, entrance across from the modern house.) Shepherd chose the location because of its elevation and its proximity to Rock Creek. Shepherd dubbed his large country home "Bleak House" after the
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...
novel ''
Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
'', which he and his wife were reading at the time of their home's construction. The mansion was demolished in 1916. Shepherd owned a plant nursery in the District of Columbia, which enabled the 60,000 trees he had planted. His nursery led to a variety of wild flowers that still thrive in the yards of city residents. It is also the genesis of the streets in Shepherd Park being named for flowers. The Shepherd Park Citizens Association formed 1917 to petition the government to build a neighborhood elementary school and pave 16th Street between Alaska Avenue and the District line. After developers acquired the land around 1911, they designed it so that the new homes would sit on large tracts of land, and they advertised the location as a "high-class" neighborhood. The developers made sure to retain the large trees in the neighborhood when building the streets. The developers also made sure that the land was bound by covenants prohibiting its sale to blacks and Jews. The covenants stood until after World War II when the Supreme Court struck them down as unconstitutional. At that point, speculators would move a black family into a house on a block that otherwise had white residents. Speculators would then tell the white residents that property values would imminently fall and pressure the white families to sell their homes to the speculators. The speculators would then sell the homes to other black families at large profits. This was called
blockbusting Blockbusting was a business practice in the United States in which real estate agents and building developers convinced residents in a particular area to sell their property at below-market prices. This was achieved by fearmongering the homeowne ...
. Starting in 1958, the Shepherd Park Citizens Association and Neighbors Inc led efforts to fight
blockbusting Blockbusting was a business practice in the United States in which real estate agents and building developers convinced residents in a particular area to sell their property at below-market prices. This was achieved by fearmongering the homeowne ...
and maintain the integrated nature of the neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s. It is one of the only neighborhoods on the east side of
Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
where
white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
was stemmed in those years. In 1973, 7 family members of
Hamaas Abdul Khaalis Hamaas Abdul Khaalis (1921 – November 13, 2003), born Ernest Timothy McGhee, was leader of the Hanafi Movement, a Black Muslim group based in Washington, D.C. Khaalis founded the group following a split with the Nation of Islam in 1957. In ...
family were
murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...
at 7700 16th Street NW, which had been purchased by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...
and donated for use of the Hanafi Muslims. In 1985, residents learned that the owner of an apartment building on Georgia Avenue was close to selling the land for a Wendy's to be built on it. Residents protested, saying that the neighborhood needed a library much more than another fast food location. The District Council decided to build a library on the site instead, and the library opened in 1990. Named the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Library, it is named after the neighborhood activist who led the neighborhood association in its efforts to have the library built there.


Neighborhood Institutions

*
Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue Ohev Sholom Congregation (previously Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah and Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue) (Hebrew for Lovers of Peace and Study of Torah) is the oldest Orthodox synagogue in the Shepherd Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in ...
* Congregation Tifereth Israel * Alexander Shepherd Elementary School * Shepherd Park Citizens' Association * The Washington Ethical Society * former Hanafi Madhab Center * Shepherd Park Christian Church * Shepherd Park Community Center


Education

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city. Compositi ...
operates public schools.
District of Columbia Public Library The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system for Washington, D.C. The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, DCPL's central library. History In October 1895, ...
operates the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library,Hours & Locations
"
District of Columbia Public Library The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system for Washington, D.C. The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, DCPL's central library. History In October 1895, ...
. Retrieved on October 21, 2009.
which opened in 1990.


Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library

Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It opened to the public on July 29, 1990.


References


External links


Shepherd Park History
Documentary produced by
WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (90.9 FM). The two outlets share stu ...

Shepherd Park Homes
Documentary produced by
WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (90.9 FM). The two outlets share stu ...
{{Coord, 38.9844, -77.033, display=title Neighborhoods in Northeast (Washington, D.C.) 1917 establishments in Washington, D.C. African-American history of Washington, D.C. Jews and Judaism in Washington, D.C.