Washington Heights was the original name for what is now Adams Morgan, a neighborhood on the high ground above Columbia Heights that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name was changed in the 1950s as a symbol of racial integration between the neighborhood’s Black and white school communities. These posts explore the history of Washington Heights before and after the name change.
Take a look back in time to 1892 and see what Adams Morgan looked like before the jumbo slices. Explore a topographic map from the Library of Congress showing the area with no 18th St. and 16th St. and a much more rural landscape.
1907 map of Washington Heights, the area which would become Adams Morgan.
Today, 2461 18th St. NW is one of the more popular late-night destinations in the rowdy Adams Morgan neighborhood. Far from it’s days as a store where you could buy a crib.
Explore what Washington Heights (Adams Morgan) and Kalorama looked like in 1903 with this map of the area just north of Boundary Street (Florida Avenue).
Take a look at an old real estate advertisement from Washington Heights in 1904 and learn about the creation of FIFA one week earlier. Today, Washington Heights is known as Adams Morgan.
