Washington, DC Property Values in the 19th Century (how much, house)

[JakilaTheHun]

The other day, I was walking through a small park in Fairfax/Fair Oaks that is dedicated to the history surrounding the Battle of Seven Pines. While I was reading through all the signs, I noticed a very interesting map (maybe I should photograph it when I get home). It showed Washington, DC during the Civil War and it implied that most of the modern day NW DC was nothing more than farmland at that time.

Ever since seeing this map, I've been extremely curious about a few things:

(1) When were most of the buildings in the NW built and what development patterns did the city follow? When did the District "fill out" so to speak?

(2) How much were some of these properties worth during the Civil War era?

The main thing I'm curious is if someone purchased a plot of land in, for instance, Adams Morgan in 1861, how much would that be worth today if they had held it the entire time.

I'm not sure if there are any readily available records on this without doing some extreme Courthouse digging, but would anyone know any info about property values in DC during the 19th Century? Websites? Books? Anything?

I do find it kind of fascinating because DC is one of the few major cities in the northern part of the original Colonial area ("the 13 colonies") that was more exclusively a late 19th to 20th Century growth story. When you think of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond, all of those cities had boom periods that preceded the beginning of the 19th Century.

[JimGriffith]

Most of the housing stock in NW was built during the depression I think.

I've seen old newspaper ads from the 20s, 30s and 40s advertising new housing developments in Glover Park and Petworth the way Ryan Homes advertises place in Loudon County today.

Those areas for a century were country retreats for wealth people who wanted to ride their stagecoaches to higher ground and enjoy some space.

I haven't got any clue what people were buying up there during the Civil War. I'm not sure it was even possible. There were forts up there and some light skirmishing.

[JakilaTheHun]

Originally Posted by JimGriffith

Most of the housing stock in NW was built during the depression I think.

I've seen old newspaper ads from the 20s, 30s and 40s advertising new housing developments in Glover Park and Petworth the way Ryan Homes advertises place in Loudon County today.

Those areas for a century were country retreats for wealth people who wanted to ride their stagecoaches to higher ground and enjoy some space.

I haven't got any clue what people were buying up there during the Civil War. I'm not sure it was even possible. There were forts up there and some light skirmishing.

That's interesting on the newspaper ads.


I didn't (necessarily) literally mean 1861 on the land prices.

More curious about the general time frame. I guess there probably wasn't a whole lot of buying going on in 1861, in particular, but I'm sure there were transactions in the 1850s and the late 1860s, for instance.

[mettler]

I don't know if the US Census would answer that question, but you could probably at least graph the growth of the DC area.

[jm67]

The inner part of DC (the Federal city and what's now the business district south of M St) was mostly settled by the Civil War, along with independent "satellite" communities like Bladensburg, Alexandria, and Georgetown. The original 1791 L'Enfant plan extended north to Florida Ave, then called Boundary Street. That area filled in by ~1900 during a late-19th century building boom. The advent of streetcars in the early 1900's opened up the "suburbs" of Cleveland Park, Columbia Heights, Petworth, Brookland, and Anacostia for development. The rest of the District proper filled in during the 1930's-1950's, together with inner suburbs like Takoma, Silver Spring, and Arlington. I don't know about Civil War era prices, but you can search newspapers from the 1890's at the Library of Congress web site: Chronicling America - The Library of Congress Some of the papers are from DC, and include ads for property. Looks like new row homes at that time were going for a few thousand dollars.

[smakawhat]

THe Calvary Babtist Church which is in the Penn Quarter/Chinatown area on 755 8th ST NW, was completed in 1862.

Beyond that church back in the day was where the DC border ended, there was NOTHING but open fields and farm land.. If you stand there now it seems impossible to believe

Hope that gives you some perspective.

[Moth]

Originally Posted by JakilaTheHun

That's interesting on the newspaper ads.


I didn't (necessarily) literally mean 1861 on the land prices.

More curious about the general time frame. I guess there probably wasn't a whole lot of buying going on in 1861, in particular, but I'm sure there were transactions in the 1850s and the late 1860s, for instance.

I think downtown was still the epicenter in the 1860s. Georgetown already existed of course as it had been a seperate city. I do know that Cleveland Park was largely a place where the downtown elite kept their summer homes so as to escape the heat. Of course the Civil War was in the 1860s and DC was near the front line.

I grew up in upper Northwest (Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights) and my house was built in 1924 or so. Indeed I was there last night and there was a conversation on its origins. There are three others of the same model and they all are located on "the point" of the block. It seems there was a farm here before they were all built and a developer probably bought the farm as they still do. My neighbors back in the 70s told of an old man who showed up and said he used to live there but the farm was gone.

If you walk around, you can still see the odd, original farmhouse here and there.

On another note, the Ft Reno section of Tenleytown has had an off history. It was a black slum for quite some time. When I was a kid, it had a ramshackle appearance replete with tough looking white men sitting on lawn chairs swilling Ballantine. It gentrified in the late 70s.

[smakawhat]

I live in the Brightwood area in a row house, and my place was completed in 1931...

[Mrs. 14th & You]

You can not look at NW DC as having been uniformly developed. For example, Georgetown is a slightly older area because it was a port city unto itself, which was later incorporated into the city of DC. Florida Avenue used to mark the northern edge of the city. (Adams Morgan is immediately north of FL Ave.) The advent of the street car helped DC to push its boundaries outward and made living further away from the city center viable.

Some areas even closer to the city center were still rural backwaters until the turn of the 20th century. Dupont Cirlce is one such example. You must remember that DC was a planned development for the seat of the federal government. It was not a major east coast city for trade or manufacturing, unlike New York, Boston, and the Virginia Beach area. In its early days, DC was known for being a malarial swamp with no cultural activity; the way we think of the city now reflects many changes to the city during the 20th century.

For more info. on specific neighborhoods, you might try Cultural Tourism DC's web site at Cultural Tourism DC - Historic Neighborhoods.

[JakilaTheHun]

Originally Posted by Mrs. 14th & You

You can not look at NW DC as having been uniformly developed. For example, Georgetown is a slightly older area because it was a port city unto itself, which was later incorporated into the city of DC. Florida Avenue used to mark the northern edge of the city. (Adams Morgan is immediately north of FL Ave.) The advent of the street car helped DC to push its boundaries outward and made living further away from the city center viable.

Some areas even closer to the city center were still rural backwaters until the turn of the 20th century. Dupont Cirlce is one such example. You must remember that DC was a planned development for the seat of the federal government. It was not a major east coast city for trade or manufacturing, unlike New York, Boston, and the Virginia Beach area. In its early days, DC was known for being a malarial swamp with no cultural activity; the way we think of the city now reflects many changes to the city during the 20th century.

For more info. on specific neighborhoods, you might try Cultural Tourism DC's web site at Cultural Tourism DC - Historic Neighborhoods.

Information is good, but it's no excuse to be haughty and insulting. Treat people with respect and they are more likely to return the favor.

Also, just because an area is rural does not mean it is a "backwater."