This lecture is part of two series:
When Washington was built, the streets in the Northeast quadrant were laid out in the grid system designed by Pierre L’Enfant, with Florida Avenue (then known as Boundary Street) forming the northern border of the city. However, nearly all of the land remained undeveloped in the early 19th century, used as farmland to cultivate fruits and vegetables for the more developed sections of the city.
In the 1830s, the B&O Railroad constructed its Washington Branch, which entered the city at roughly 9th and Boundary Streets and proceeded through the neighborhood to the downtown area. Its presence gradually led Northeast to evolve into a working-class neighborhood: wood and coal yards appeared to serve the railroad and its terminals, with houses subsequently built for the employees of the railroad industries. Sites covered in the series include those with historic connections to the railroad and public markets, as well as education and social change, a president, and a neighborhood once known as Swampoodle.
Featured Topic: Historic Swampoodle
Before there was Union Station, there was Swampoodle. The neighborhood, developed during the second half of the 19th century, provided a place of refuge for Irish immigrants fleeing the Potato Famine. It gained a reputation for being a lawless shantytown, where crime, prostitution, and drunkenness were rife. But Swampoodle was also a thriving community, whose Irish construction workers helped build Washington.
Presenter Kathleen Lane, whose family has deep roots within the neighborhood, is a visiting lecturer at Catholic University's School of Architecture and Planning and executive director of the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
