Southwest Waterfront is a residential neighborhood in
Southwest Washington, D.C.. Southwest is the smallest of Washington's four
quadrants, and Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is
Bellevue, which, being east of the
Anacostia River, is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in
Southeast. For that reason many residents of Southwest Waterfront will simply refer to themselves as living in "Southwest."
Southwest Waterfront is bounded by
Interstate 395 to the north,
Washington Channel to the west, the
Anacostia River to the south, and
South Capitol Street to the east. Politically, Southwest Waterfront lies in Ward 6.
History
Southwest Waterfront is part of
Pierre L'Enfant's original city plans and includes some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the
Wheat Row block of townhouses, built in 1793, and
Fort McNair, which was established in 1791 as "the U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point."
After the
Civil War, the Southwest Waterfront became a neighborhood for the poorer classes of Washingtonians. The neighborhood was divided in half by Fourth Street SW, then known as 4 Street; Scottish, Irish, German, and eastern European immigrants lived west of 4 Street, while freed blacks lived to the east. Each half was centered on religious establishments: St. Dominic's Catholic Church and Temple Beth Israel on the west, and
Friendship Baptist Church on the east. (Also, each half of the neighborhood...
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