Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.)

Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in central Washington, D.C.

Geography

Located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., Columbia Heights borders the neighborhoods of Shaw, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Petworth. Park View, and Pleasant Plains although considered by many to be separate neighborhoods, are legally part of Columbia Heights. On the eastern side is Howard University. The streets defining the neighborhood's boundaries are 16th Street to the west; Spring Road to the north; Park Place to the east; and Florida Avenue to the south. It is served by a subway station stop on the Washington Metro Green and Yellow Lines.

History

Once farmland on the estate of the Holmead family (called "Pleasant Plains"), Columbia Heights was part of Washington County, District of Columbia (within the District but outside the borders of the city of Washington; the southern edge of Columbia Heights is Florida Avenue, which was originally called "Boundary Street" because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City). In 1815 an engraver from England, William J. Stone, purchased a 121-acre tract of the Holmead estate — east of Seventh Street Road (present-day Georgia Avenue), and north of Boundary Street — and established his own estate known as the Stone Farm. Nearby, construction of the first building for Columbian College, now The George Washington University , was completed in 1822 on the campus which was bounded by Columbia Road,...
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