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BarracudaAcademic539 t1_iy4x7bo wrote

Columbia heights had some very stately houses as many of the farmsteads were being developed between 1900-1920. The Columbia Heights Citizens’ Association put out a pamphlet in 1904 documenting many of these homes and even alluded that the White House might move uptown to the area.

Malcom X park was a pretty poor neighborhood before the land was seized to create the park. There is a fantastic website out there that goes almost house by house on the (soon to be) displaced residents.

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fvb955cd t1_iy5z8xn wrote

1900s wasn't a great time for the park, but just before that it was part of a whacky rich person plan. In 1888, senator John Brooks Henderson built the still existing redstone walls around... His actual castle.

The castle was to be part of a development that would include a better presidential residence to replace the forgettable little white house. Or failing that, the Lincoln memorial. Failing both plans, she settled on a park, leading to your point.

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