A series of weekly walking tours that focus on D.C. neighborhoods and historic sites.

 Many of the walks highlight sites located along District of Columbia Neighborhood Heritage Trails produced by Cultural Tourism DC

• All walks begin at 11:00 a.m. and last two hours unless noted.
•  All walks take place rain or shine.
• Cost $15 per person unless noted (age three and younger free)

MAY IS PRESERVATION MONTH

Preservation Month was originally conceived by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We’ve planned three walks about preserving Washington’s built environment.

$5 discount off the regular $15 walk fee for National Trust and DC Preservation League members.

MAY 5

Adolf Cluss in Penn Quarter

MEET OUTSIDE ARCHIVES-NAVY MEMORIAL-PENN QUARTER METRO STATION

In 1862 German immigrant Adolf Cluss went into private practice as an architect and civil engineer in Washington, D.C.  Over the next thirty years, he exerted far-reaching influence over the city’s appearance and infrastructure.  Projects such as the Franklin School, National Museum (today’s Arts and Industries Building), Center Market, and elegant residences for wealthy clients secured his reputation as the city’s leading architect.  The New York Times editorialized that Cluss “had done more than anyone else to foster an improved style of private architecture in the Nation’s Capital.”  Yet all his residential buildings were razed in the 20thcentury, his exuberant red-brick prototype falling victim to changing tastes.  Happily, D.C.’s Penn Quarter neighborhood is home to four significant Cluss sites:  the former Center Market, extant Old Masonic Hall, Calvary Baptist Church, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which contains a stunning interior space designed by Adolf Cluss and restored by Hartman-Cox Architects.  The walk will include an interior tour of this space.

Led by Carolyn and Seth Wilschutz of Hartman-Cox Architects

MAY 12

Renewing Urban Renewal

MEET OUTSIDE WATERFRONT METRO STATION

“Urban renewal” originally described a progressive, well-executed approach to remaking ailing cities in the 1960s.  Today it is equated with wholesale destruction of urban neighborhoods and displacement of thousands of citizens.  In Washington, the epicenter for this phenomenon was a large swath of Southwest, D.C.  Yet although the results of such projects elsewhere were soulless superblocks punctuated by bland architecture, the new Southwest was of a remarkably high quality.  Architects like Chloethiel Woodard Smith used the vocabulary of modernism to design enduring residential communities.  Urban renewal may have forced stark elimination of 19th-century Southwest, yet Woodward Smith’s designs exemplify why planners placed great hope in redevelopment.  As these buildings come of age and are eligible for landmark status (the Tiber Island and Harbour Square coops have filed nominations with the D.C. Office of Historic Preservation) this is the perfect opportunity to explore what might be worth preserving and gain inspiration from the successful restorations of  Arena Stage and the former Marina View Towers.  We’ll also identify what has already been lost, noting the tension between preserving urban renewal landscape plans and developing densely near public transit hubs.

Led by Carolyn

MAY 19

Dupont Conservancy:  Preserving Neighborhood Character

MEET OUTSIDE DUPONT CIRCLE METRO STATION'S Q STREET EXIT

The all-volunteer Dupont Circle Conservancy has been promoting preservation of the Dupont Circle Historic District since 1978.  Past initiatives include gaining landmark status for the home and studio of African American artist Alma Thomas and raising funds for the restoration of the sculptures on the “Buffalo Bridge” that connects Dupont Circle to Georgetown.   During this walk we’ll look at sites that have been on the Conservancy’s more recent preservation radar:  signage along a Connecticut Avenue commercial strip, a specialty shop entrance that likely once opened into a courtyard, the complete exterior restoration of a formerly derelict property (the Conservancy likened the property owner to a slum lord), a recent demolition that appears to be morphing into a project whereby only the façade of the former structure will be saved, and a former automobile showroom that later became  a storefront church and was adapted for the new Room and Board store on 14th Street, NW.  Along the way, we’ll point out the colorful “Art on Call” police and fire call boxes (yet another example of the Dupont Conservancy’s work) and other landmarks that make neighborhood unique.

Led by Carolyn with special guest Rick Busch, former Dupont Conservancy board member

MAY 26

Abraham Lincoln’s Washington

MEET OUTSIDE McPHERSON SQUARE METRO STATION’s White House exit

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln “feared of achieving nothing that would make men remember him.” A single gunshot ensured that he would never be forgotten. He served as U.S. president during the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict to have occurred on American soil. Washington, D.C. was the crucible in which Lincoln’s momentous years in office were cast. Although downtown adjacent to the White House has retained little of its Civil War-era character, if you know where to look, the events of Lincoln’s time in the city come to life, whether you are studying a 20th century office building or a Victorian row house. The busy streets filled with Washingtonians going about their business and slow-moving, congested traffic are not that different today than they would have been in the 1860s, when the president himself made his way--except that 21st century Washingtonians benefit from sidewalks to upon which to tread and paved thoroughfares on which to drive. In Lincoln’s day it would have been a muddy slog. However you make your way, the climax of the Lincoln’s Washington story was tragic: he was the first American leader to be assassinated.

Led by David K.

JUNE 2

Brookland

MEET OUTSIDE BROOKLAND/CUA METRO STATION’s 10th Street exit

Brookland was originally the farm of Col. Jehial Brooks. After his death, the area developed as an early suburb northeast of downtown Washington.  The neighborhood is often referred to as “Little Rome” because of the extraordinary number of Catholic institutions (large and small) that have located there.  A walk through this quiet neighborhood reveals a surprising number of unique, beautiful buildings: the Jesuit and Augustinian colleges, the Franciscan Monastery gardens, the spectacular art deco Franciscan College, St. Joseph’s Seminary, and the hidden Varnum Campus complex.  You’ll see some of the local neighborhood joints, too!

Led by Hayden

JUNE 9

U Street

MEET OUTSIDE U STREET/CARDOZO METRO STATION’s 13^th Street exit

Explore the neighborhood that was shared by African American intellectuals, business leaders, and families of all economic levels.  The businesses they owned and the houses they lived in are featured on this walk.  U Street was dubbed “Black Broadway” for the numerous movie theaters, nightclubs and ballrooms frequented by jazz musicians like Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey, Jelly Roll Morton, and Duke Ellington himself.  You’ll see a theater and club where these performances took place.  The first full service YMCA for African Americans; one of the few hotels that welcomed a black clientele; and the first memorial to African American soldiers who fought in the U.S. Civil War are on the walk route, as are homes occupied by the Ellington family as Duke grew up.  You'll stand on the corner where riots started that extinguished the heyday of the area--but only temporarily.

Led by Amy

JUNE 16

Foggy Bottom and West End

MEET OUTSIDE FOGGY BOTTOM METRO STATION by the bust of George Washington

Led by Carolyn with special guest Matthew Gilmore, co-author of the recently published "Foggy Bottom and West End"

JUNE 23

Capitol Hill and Eastern Market

MEET OUTSIDE EASTERN MARKET METRO STATION

 Highlights “Tour of Duty:  Barracks Row Heritage Trail”

Although the outside world may associate the term Capitol Hill solely with the U.S. Congress, those who make Washington their home conjure up a very different image:  a vibrant neighborhood spread across one of the largest historic districts in the country filled with quaint row houses, leafy parks, shops and cafes, churches and schools.  A stroll through residential Capitol Hill is akin to visiting a small town.  Pride of place is evident in the careful restoration and loving upkeep bestowed upon the 19th century homes, their postage stamp-sized gardens adorned with flower beds and shrubs.  Although many of the stately row houses seen on this walk were not built until after the U.S. Civil War, Capitol Hill is nonetheless one of Washington’s oldest neighborhoods, first developed during the late 1790s just as the federal government prepared to locate here permanently.  This exploration includes the remains of a 1795 estate, a watering hole famous for its jazz singers, an alley that once teemed with 100 residents and a park teeming with young children and dog lovers.  We’ll finish at beloved Eastern Market, considered by many to be the heart and soul of “The Hill.”

Led by David K.

JUNE 30

Mount  Pleasant

MEET IN FRONT OF CAPITAL CITY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL (3047 15TH STREET, NW) 

Higlights "Village in a City" Mount Pleasant Heritage Trail

With its main street, town square, and distinct boundaries, Mount Pleasant still feels like the village it once was. As the city grew around it after the Civil War, Mount Pleasant evolved into a fashionable streetcar suburb, sprouting businesses, churches, and elegant apartment buildings. Later it became a working-class urban neighborhood, a haven for immigrants fleeing political turmoil, and the heart of DC’s Latino community.

 Led by Amy

JULY 7

Georgetown’s East Village

 This walk is $20 and includes a guided tour of historic Tudor Place.

MEET OUTSIDE THE ENTRANCT OF TUDOR PLACE (1644 31ST STREET, NW)

Led by Jim

JULY 14

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

MEET OUTSIDE MINNESOTA AVENUE METRO STATION’s Minnesota Avenue exit

 This walk through far northeast D.C. travels through the quiet, settled 1950s neighborhood Eastland Gardens and past historic 1930s apartment buildings, following the eastern bank of the Anacostia River.  A highlight is the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, the only U.S. National Park devoted to aquatic plants.  Founded in the late 19th century as a hobby for a government worker, the gardens have grown to become one of the most beautiful and least known attractions in Washington, D.C. Besides seeing its famous water lilies, you’ll stroll the boardwalk over river wetlands, looking out for herons and dragon flies. 

Led by Hayden

JULY 21

Abraham Lincoln’s Washington

MEET OUTSIDE McPHERSON SQUARE METRO STATION’s White House exit

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln “feared of achieving nothing that would make men remember him.” A single gunshot ensured that he would never be forgotten. He served as U.S. president during the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict to have occurred on American soil. Washington, D.C. was the crucible in which Lincoln’s momentous years in office were cast. Although downtown adjacent to the White House has retained little of its Civil War-era character, if you know where to look, the events of Lincoln’s time in the city come to life, whether you are studying a 20th century office building or a Victorian row house. The busy streets filled with Washingtonians going about their business and slow-moving, congested traffic are not that different today than they would have been in the 1860s, when the president himself made his way--except that 21st century Washingtonians benefit from sidewalks to upon which to tread and paved thoroughfares on which to drive. In Lincoln’s day it would have been a muddy slog. However you make your way, the climax of the Lincoln’s Washington story was tragic: he was the first American leader to be assassinated. 

Led by David K.

JULY 28

Capitol Hill and Eastern Market

MEET OUTSIDE EASTERN MARKET METRO STATION

 Highlights “Tour of Duty:  Barracks Row Heritage Trail”

Although the outside world may associate the term Capitol Hill solely with the U.S. Congress, those who make Washington their home conjure up a very different image:  a vibrant neighborhood spread across one of the largest historic districts in the country filled with quaint row houses, leafy parks, shops and cafes, churches and schools.  A stroll through residential Capitol Hill is akin to visiting a small town.  Pride of place is evident in the careful restoration and loving upkeep bestowed upon the 19th century homes, their postage stamp-sized gardens adorned with flower beds and shrubs.  Although many of the stately row houses seen on this walk were not built until after the U.S. Civil War, Capitol Hill is nonetheless one of Washington’s oldest neighborhoods, first developed during the late 1790s just as the federal government prepared to locate here permanently.  This exploration includes the remains of a 1795 estate, a watering hole famous for its jazz singers, an alley that once teemed with 100 residents and a park teeming with young children and dog lovers.  We’ll finish at beloved Eastern Market, considered by many to be the heart and soul of “The Hill.”

Led by David K.

AUGUST 4

U Street

MEET OUTSIDE U STREET/CARDOZO METRO STATION’s 13^th Street exit

Explore the neighborhood that was shared by African American intellectuals, business leaders, and families of all economic levels.  The businesses they owned and the houses they lived in are featured on this walk.  U Street was dubbed “Black Broadway” for the numerous movie theaters, nightclubs and ballrooms frequented by jazz musicians like Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey, Jelly Roll Morton, and Duke Ellington himself.  You’ll see a theater and club where these performances took place.  The first full service YMCA for African Americans; one of the few hotels that welcomed a black clientele; and the first memorial to African American soldiers who fought in the U.S. Civil War are on the walk route, as are homes occupied by the Ellington family as Duke grew up.  You'll stand on the corner where riots started that extinguished the heyday of the area--but only temporarily.

Led by Amy

 AUGUST 11

National Mall Memorials:  an Architect’s Perspective

MEET IN FRONT OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES in front of the statue of Queen Isabella I (Constitution Avenue and 17^th Street, NW)

A professional architect teams up with a veteran Washington Walks guide to present a fresh take on the classic tour of a selection of the capital city’s famous memorials. You’ll hear how controversy has always accompanied memorial-building in our democracy, and you’ll see how the collective decision-making of multiple review committees has shaped what ultimately is built.  The Washington Monument set the precedent, perhaps, for national landmarks becoming entangled in controversy.  The proposed site for the National World War II Memorial was greeted with strenuous objection.  Veterans who had survived the Korean War grappled with how their service could be honored as powerfully as the Vietnam War vets who had succeeded in erecting a memorial--but only after a wrenching process.  Even revered Abraham Lincoln did not come by his stately seat at the Mall’s terminus easily.  This walk will visit all these sites and relay the dramatic, fraught backstory of each along with design critiques and assessments.   

Led by Mary Anne and Seth Wilschutz of Hartman-Cox Architects

AUGUST 18

Logan Circle

MEET OUTSIDE McPHERSON SQUARE METRO STATION’s 14th Street exit

Few Washington neighborhoods have witnessed the dramatic change and breathtaking renaissance of Logan Circle, the city's only unaltered Victorian residential district.  It evolved from rural obscurity to an enclave of architectural splendor, home to wealthy white and later African-American residents.  If you're a fan of Second Empire or High Victorian Gothic homes, this walk is for you.  If you're fascinated by the dynamics of urban neighborhoods, consider the residents of Logan Circle:  Their tenacity and vision preserved the historic district when it teetered on the brink of decline.  Today it is one of the most sought-after addresses in Washington.  Impressive restoration and renovation continue; cool restaurants and shops multiply.

Led by Carolyn

AUGUST 25

Georgetown Waterfront

MEET IN THE LITTLE PARK LOCATED AT 28th STREET AND PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW—NEXT TO THE GAS STATION

Georgetown was originally a bustling tobacco port, a gritty place with wharves and rowdy taverns.  After the Potomac River silted up, however, the tobacco trade dwindled and Georgetown’s economy required a new engine to drive it.  This came in the forms of mills constructed along the waterfront.  You’ll see what has become of them on this walk.  First, though, stroll past the little houses resided in by the waterfront inhabitants.  Lock #3 of the C & O Canal comes next, followed by a panoramic view from the edge of the Potomac River.  A tiny neighborhood once called “Brickyard Hill” now boasts a luxury hotel constructed around a former incinerator.  Alley life is revealed with a trek into Cherry Hill.  Then peek inside what was once Georgetown’s public market.  We’ll conclude with a walk through Cady’s Alley, Georgetown’s enclave for swank home design and furnishings.

Led by Carolyn and Seth Wilschutz of Hartman-Cox Architects

SEPTEMBER 1

Mount  Pleasant

MEET IN FRONT OF CAPITAL CITY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL (3047 15TH STREET, NW) 

Highlights “Village in a City" Mount Pleasant Heritage Trail

With its main street, town square, and distinct boundaries, Mount Pleasant still feels like the village it once was. As the city grew around it after the Civil War, Mount Pleasant evolved into a fashionable streetcar suburb, sprouting businesses, churches, and elegant apartment buildings. Later it became a working-class urban neighborhood, a haven for immigrants fleeing political turmoil, and the heart of DC’s Latino community.  If you’re in luck, the walk route will coincide with a peak at the weekly Mount Pleasant farmer’s market.

Led by Amy

SEPTEMBER 8

Watts Branch Park

MEET OUTSIDE CAPITOL HEIGHTS METRO STATION

 Watts Branch is one of two creeks running from Maryland into the Anacostia River, and has a lovely park along its entire length.  We begin by finding the eastern-most boundary stone of the District of Columbia and then follow the creek through residential neighborhoods until it reaches the Anacostia River.  The walk will stop by the historic Nanny Helen Burroughs School and a place known as “The Swamp.”

Led by Hayden

SEPTEMBER 15  

Columbia Heights

MEET OUTSIDE COLUMBIA HEIGHTS METRO STATION’s north exit by the Columbia Heights Heritage Trail sign

 Highlights “Cultural Convergence” Columbia Heights Heritage Trail

 The 14th Street corridor between Irving Street and Park Road was one of Washington’s most important shopping and entertainment destinations outside downtown. That is until April 4, 1968, when riots following the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sparked extensive looting and burning of commercial property. For decades afterwards, boarded-up businesses and empty lots marred the formerly vibrant Columbia Heights.  Nearly 40 years later, change has swept the area once more: the opening of the Columbia Heights Metrorail station in 1999 spurred construction of apartment buildings, row houses, and the massive shopping complex D.C. USA. 

Led by Brian

SEPTEMBER 22

Please join us for Walkingtown D.C., a weekend of free public walking tours presented by Cultural Tourism DC.

SEPTEMBER 29

Please join us for Walkingtown D.C., a weekend of free public walking tours presented by Cultural Tourism DC.

OCTOBER 6 

Penn Quarter

MEET OUTSIDE ARCHIVES-NAVY MEMORIAL STATION

”Penn Quarter” describes downtown's Seventh Street corridor, where the 19th-century meets the 21st. Hip hotels, restaurants and loft apartments continue to sprout up amidst attractions like the International Spy Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Shakespeare Theatre and National Building Museum. That most of these are housed in buildings constructed during the 1800s is what makes this walk an irresistible urban scavenger hunt to discover a bygone era--a time when Chinese, German and Italian immigrants lived and worked on and around Seventh Street. If you know where to look,  you can find the old U.S. Patent Office where newcomer Emile Berliner filed applications for the first microphone and disk record ever invented, where Italian stone carvers once worshipped (and where their descendants still enjoy espresso after Sunday Mass), the ornate archway welcoming you to D.C.’s Chinatown, and the humble wooden synagogue that took an historic ride to avoid the wrecking ball.

Led by Carolyn

OCTOBER 13 

L’Enfant  Plaza:  More Than You Think

MEET OUTSIDE L'ENFANT PLAZA METRO STATION'S MARYLAND AVENUE, SW EXIT (corner of Maryland Avenue and 7th Street, SW)

 Believe it or not, L’Enfant Plaza is going to be one of the Next Big Things.  But can it overcome its urban renewal-pedestrian-unfriendly design?  What can we admire about this bewildering mass of ramps, pocket parks, open spaces, and mid-century architecture?

Led by Carolyn with special guest Dan Emberley, tour guide and urbanite

OCTOBER 20 

Southwest Waterfront:  From Watermen to Wreckers to “The Wharf”

MEET OUTSIDE WATERFRONT METRO STATION

 Highlights “River Farms to Urban Towers” Heritage Trail

In less than 200 years Washington’s Southwest waterfront has morphed from a small collection of late 18th-century brick buildings along the Potomac River to a large group of mid 1960s structures of steel and concrete.  In between, the riverside has been the site of a conflagration during the War of 1812, the largest escape attempt by slaves in U.S. history, the execution of the “Lincoln Conspirators,” a clinic providing medical treatment to both black and white neighbors, fish and produce sellers, and even bodies on ice in the District of Columbia Morgue.  Next year, another chapter in the waterfront’s identity is poised to be written when the development team Hoffman-Madison Marquette begins to construct that which has eluded its predecessors:  a lively and vibrant destination for locals and visitors alike.

Led by Carolyn with special guest Kael Anderson, President, Southwest Neighborhood Assembly

OCTOBER 27 

Kalorama

MEET AT THE CORNER OF 22ND STREET AND DECATUR PLACE, N.W. BY THE OLD POLICE AND FIRE CALL BOXES

Highlights Sheridan-Kalorama Art on Call

Joel Barlow named the estate he purchased in 1807 Kalorama for the expansive views to be had from its place overlooking today’s Rock Creek Park.  No more exquisitely beautiful enclave exists in America’s capital.  Kalorama has always been a prime residential area, its glory the urban mansions located on the high ground between Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues.  We’ll start by ascending the “Spanish Steps” to reach the heights where Washington’s diplomatic community is evident everywhere you look, many of the original single family homes now occupied by ambassadors or embassy offices.  Former police and fire call boxes punctuate the neighborhood as imaginative works of public art as does a brightly colored panda.  See if you can identify the oldest house in the District and discover the Woodrow Wilson House.  Wilson was the only U.S. president to retire in D.C.  Like him, once you’ve sampled the architectural and natural radiance that is Kalorama, you won’t want to leave!   

Led by Carolyn

Get Local Bonus Weekends

Washington National Cathedral fundraiser

OCTOBER 27, 28   NOVEMBER 2, 3

 Woodley Park and Washington National Cathedral

MEET OUTSIDE WOODLEY PARK-ZOO-ADAMS MORGAN METRO STATION