Day 108

Dupont Circle / Logan Circle / Shaw (October 27, 2020)

During our walk today we noticed that many of the row houses had pleasant front gardens. These gardens have become more used during these Covid times. People want to get out of their houses where they have been confined for months and also meet with friends and family more safely outdoors. Here are some of our favorites.

On T Street we passed by a building where Todd Duncan lived from 1935 to 1960. Duncan was a renowned baritone during the middle part of the twentieth century. He is most famous for his role as Porgy in George Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess. He refused to perform that role at the District’s segregated National Theatre until the venue changed its policy for the production’s brief run in 1935.

The area has seen massive growth during the last twenty years with apartment blocks springing up on what seems a daily basis, particularly along 14th Street. We thought that this building was one of the more interesting.

But the area still consists mainly of row houses. Here are some of our favorites from today’s walk.

We passed a building that was once the home of Frelinghuysen University. Named for a U.S. Senator from New Jersey who was a civil rights activist during Reconstruction during the 1860s and 1870s, the school provided education, religious training and social services for black working-class adults. Unfortunately, it closed its doors for good in the late 1950s. The home, known as the Edwin P. Goodwin House after its first owner, was built in 1879 in Queen Anne style and was designed by Diller B. Groff. Over the years it gradually fell into disrepair until it was bought in 1992 for $90,000. Now it has been beautifully renovated.

Recently, we have found ourselves on a number of one-block streets that we have found quiet and inviting. Westminster Street is another example. It had the added advantage of having a beautiful small children’s playground set between the homes.

The playground included a large colorful mural called “Community” that was painted by Anne Marchand who Lauren, coincidentally, used to dance with in days gone by.