WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Welcome to today's deep dive. Let me ask you 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.440 a question right out of the gate. When you hear 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.179 the words Capitol Hill, what immediately pops 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:11.060 into your head? I'm guessing for most of you 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:12.910 listening, it's a very specific scene. Right, 00:00:12.990 --> 00:00:16.129 like congressional gridlock, a sea of dark suits. 00:00:16.410 --> 00:00:18.809 And those cable news broadcasts with the iconic 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:21.190 white dome glowing in the background. Exactly. 00:00:21.190 --> 00:00:23.350 I mean, it is a phrase we use every single day 00:00:23.350 --> 00:00:25.949 as a miditonum, right? Yeah, a political shorthand 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:29.210 for the United States Congress. But for today's 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:31.570 Deep Dive, we're on a mission to look right past 00:00:31.570 --> 00:00:34.210 that shorthand. We are using a comprehensive 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:37.890 Wikipedia article as our source material to uncover 00:00:37.890 --> 00:00:41.950 the actual living, breathing, two -square -mile... 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:43.899 neighborhood that surrounds that famous building. 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:46.299 Which is such a fascinating angle because the 00:00:46.299 --> 00:00:48.619 reality of the neighborhood is so different from 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:51.460 the political symbol. It really is. And let me 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:53.479 just set the scene for you with a baseline fact 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:55.740 that completely shifted my perspective when I 00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:58.219 was looking through our source. This tiny little 00:00:58.219 --> 00:01:00.600 area is actually one of Washington, D .C.'s most 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:02.759 densely populated neighborhoods. It's incredible. 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:05.790 We are talking about. Roughly 35 ,000 people 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:08.870 living in just under two square miles. It really 00:01:08.870 --> 00:01:11.150 is a staggering density when you think about 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:13.989 the physical footprint. And that's exactly why 00:01:13.989 --> 00:01:16.209 taking this deep dive is so rewarding. Yeah. 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.489 We tend to view Capitol Hill purely as a stage 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:22.510 for national politics, but it is a real community 00:01:22.510 --> 00:01:25.430 with a remarkably complex physical evolution. 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:29.590 Understanding how this specific space grew, adapted 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:33.069 and changed gives us a really unique ground level 00:01:33.069 --> 00:01:35.430 lens. into the history of the American Republic 00:01:35.430 --> 00:01:37.650 itself. I am really looking forward to getting 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:39.170 into the quirks of this neighborhood because, 00:01:39.269 --> 00:01:41.629 well, the history of Capitol Hill is filled with 00:01:41.629 --> 00:01:44.269 weird misunderstandings and grand visions right 00:01:44.269 --> 00:01:46.390 from the start. Oh, absolutely. So here's where 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:48.769 it gets really interesting. The very origin story 00:01:48.769 --> 00:01:51.150 of the hill's name is basically a geographical 00:01:51.150 --> 00:01:54.650 typo. A very persistent typo, yeah. Right. Let's 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:58.329 picture the year 1791. Pierre Charles L 'Enfant 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:00.849 is designing the federal capital city, mapping 00:02:00.849 --> 00:02:04.069 out his famous plan. The grand vision for Washington. 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:07.609 Exactly. He picks the highest point for what 00:02:07.609 --> 00:02:10.349 he calls the Congress House, making it the symbolic 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:13.689 center of the entire city. And he refers to this 00:02:13.689 --> 00:02:16.870 site in his plans as Jenkins Hill or Jenkins 00:02:16.870 --> 00:02:20.349 Heights. Which sounds so official. It does. You 00:02:20.349 --> 00:02:22.909 hear a name like that and naturally assume Jenkins 00:02:22.909 --> 00:02:26.909 was some crucial founding figure or maybe a major 00:02:26.909 --> 00:02:29.210 landowner in the area. You would certainly assume 00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:31.969 that given the prominence of the location. But 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:34.990 the reality is quite different, and it is a wonderful 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:37.490 piece of historical myth busting. I love this 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:40.090 part. There was indeed a man named Thomas Jenkins 00:02:40.090 --> 00:02:43.330 who had once pastured some livestock in the general 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:46.050 vicinity of the new capital city. Just some guy 00:02:46.050 --> 00:02:48.810 with his cows. Exactly. So his name had just 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:50.650 sort of attached itself casually to the area 00:02:50.650 --> 00:02:53.150 through local word of mouth. L 'Enfant simply 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:56.129 took a localized name he heard and mistakenly 00:02:56.129 --> 00:02:58.469 applied it to the specific hill he wanted for 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:00.389 the Congress House. And we know this for a fact 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:02.689 now, right? We do, for two main reasons. First, 00:03:02.930 --> 00:03:04.870 John Trumbull, the famous artist who painted 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:07.169 several of the massive murals you can see today 00:03:07.169 --> 00:03:09.770 inside the Capitol's rotunda, well, he toured 00:03:09.770 --> 00:03:12.800 the site in 1791. And he reported that the site 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.860 chosen for the Capitol was actually covered in 00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:17.520 incredibly thick, dense woods. Which means it 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.419 would be a terrible place for grazing livestock. 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:22.419 Because you can't pasture cows in a... In a dense 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:25.240 forest, exactly. They need cleared, open fields 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:28.319 to graze. Right. So that's the logical flaw that 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.039 historians puzzled over for years. It is. And 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.379 the synthesis of this mystery didn't fully come 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:36.539 together until 2004. That recent? Yeah, recent 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:38.599 research published by the Capitol Hill Historical 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:41.479 Society finally tracked down the property records. 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.460 They proved that Thomas Jenkins' actual land, 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.900 his cleared pasture, was seven blocks east of 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:50.460 where the Capitol sits today. That is so funny 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:53.560 to think about. This grand, world -famous center 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:55.860 of democracy was almost forever known because 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:58.659 of a mapping error by a guy and his cows. It 00:03:58.659 --> 00:04:01.439 really humbles the history a bit. It does. But 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:03.580 before L 'Enfant even arrived, the land actually 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:06.439 had an even more... dramatic name the tract of 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:08.379 land originally belonged to the prominent Carroll 00:04:08.379 --> 00:04:11.240 family and in their ownership records they literally 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:15.060 recorded this specific piece of property as Rome 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:19.300 Rome that detail feels almost too perfectly scripted 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:21.439 for history right and it transitions us right 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.279 into how the area got its final permanent name 00:04:24.889 --> 00:04:28.509 In 1793, Thomas Jefferson, who was serving as 00:04:28.509 --> 00:04:30.769 President George Washington's Secretary of State 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:33.750 at the time, officially named it Capitol Hill. 00:04:33.949 --> 00:04:36.930 Directly invoking the Roman Empire. Yes, invoking 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:40.050 the famous Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:42.230 on the Capitoline Hill, which is one of the legendary 00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:44.410 Seven Hills of Rome. Though the source material 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:46.790 notes that historians still debate the exact 00:04:46.790 --> 00:04:48.910 philosophical connection Jefferson was trying 00:04:48.910 --> 00:04:51.350 to make. They do, but the Roman ambition was 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.899 clearly in the air. The young republic wanted 00:04:53.899 --> 00:04:56.540 to project the permanence and democratic ideals 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:59.699 of antiquity. So we go from a mythical cow pasture 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:02.000 to the Roman Empire in a matter of a few years. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.920 But as the 18th century closes out, the neighborhood 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.339 starts to actually take physical shape. And it 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:09.300 didn't start the way you might expect. Not at 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:11.980 all. When we think of Capitol Hill today, we 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:14.519 think of powerful politicians putting down deep 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:17.259 roots, buying multi -million dollar townhomes. 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.279 But in the early years of the republic, between 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:24.120 1799 and 1810, the politicians we associate with 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:26.600 the hill today didn't actually want to live there 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.100 permanently at all. No, what's fascinating here 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:31.459 is the stark contrast between the government 00:05:31.459 --> 00:05:34.660 and the governed. Early congressmen viewed Washington, 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:38.240 D .C. as a transient, uncomfortable place. Just 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.379 a swampy, underdeveloped construction zone. Precisely. 00:05:41.379 --> 00:05:43.620 Few of them wanted to bring their families or 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:46.220 establish permanent roots in the city. So the 00:05:46.220 --> 00:05:48.560 very first stage of Capitol Hill's history was 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.560 as a boarding house community. Right. Politicians 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:53.399 essentially just wanted to rent a room within 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:55.779 walking distance of the Capitol while they were 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:58.120 in session. And then get out of town the minute 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:00.079 the legislative session ended. They were the 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.639 original long distance commuters, treating the 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.480 Capitol like a remote work assignment. That's 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:06.399 a great way to put it. So if the politicians 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.699 were just passing through, leaving their boarding 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:11.519 houses empty half the year, who were the real 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:13.480 founders of the neighborhood who was actually 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:15.980 living there year round? The real founders were 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.740 the working class. The neighborhood truly began 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:21.019 developing its permanent residential character 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:24.899 in 1799, and it happened alongside the establishment 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:27.360 of the Washington Navy Yard on the banks of the 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.100 Anacostia River. Okay, so a major industrial 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.470 hub right nearby. Yes. The original residential 00:06:33.470 --> 00:06:36.430 population wasn't senators in powdered wigs. 00:06:36.529 --> 00:06:39.149 It was the craftsmen. The people actually doing 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:41.970 the work. Exactly. These were the stonemasons 00:06:41.970 --> 00:06:44.509 and carpenters actually swinging the hammers 00:06:44.509 --> 00:06:47.069 to build the Capitol building and the shipwrights 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:49.389 repairing vessels down at the Navy Yard. Makes 00:06:49.389 --> 00:06:51.329 sense. They chose to settle down in the area 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:53.389 north of the Navy Yard and east of the Capitol, 00:06:53.589 --> 00:06:56.329 carving out a permanent community between those 00:06:56.329 --> 00:06:59.329 two massive federal employment hubs. And the 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:01.430 neighborhood got another huge permanent anchor. 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:05.209 right around that same time. In 1801, Thomas 00:07:05.209 --> 00:07:07.970 Jefferson, who is now president, selected a location 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.209 near the Navy Yard for the Marine Barracks. A 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:13.089 very strategic choice. Purely logistical, right. 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:15.759 The source says the main requirement for the 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.759 location was that the barracks had to be within 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.180 marching distance of both the Capitol and the 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.639 White House in case of an emergency. And that 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.079 establishment, which remains the oldest U .S. 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:27.600 Marines facility and their main ceremonial ground 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.240 to this day, brought a massive influx of daily, 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:34.079 year -round activity to the area. Because suddenly 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:35.819 you have all these soldiers. Right, soldiers 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:38.139 who needed boots repaired, uniforms tailored, 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:42.300 and food to eat. By 1810, because of these permanent 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:45.079 crashes, craftsmen, and the Marines, you suddenly 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:48.759 had a bustling local economy. Shops, blacksmiths, 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.560 goldsmiths, and churches. All flourishing. It 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:53.720 wasn't just a seasonal boarding house town for 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:56.199 politicians anymore. It was a real functional 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:58.800 working class community. As we move into the 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.060 19th century, the neighborhood continues to grow, 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:03.180 but that growth brings some really difficult 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:05.720 chapters. The Civil War obviously reshaped the 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:08.040 entire region. It did. And Capitol Hill became 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.860 a crucial staging ground, seeing several large 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:12.680 hospitals constructed right in the neighborhood 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.220 to care for the wounded coming off the battlefields. 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.199 And the aftermath of that war fundamentally changed 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:21.019 the social fabric of Capitol Hill. Following 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:24.620 the Civil War in the 1870s and 1880s, the area 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:27.500 experienced a massive housing construction boom. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:30.730 New streets being laid out. The city expanding. 00:08:30.750 --> 00:08:33.350 Yes, but this is also the period where the neighborhood 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:36.330 began to distinctly divide along racial and economic 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:39.610 class lines. How did that division actually play 00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:41.929 out on the streets? Did the physical layout of 00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:44.289 the neighborhood change to reflect that? It did. 00:08:44.389 --> 00:08:46.970 You started to see a stark contrast in living 00:08:46.970 --> 00:08:49.269 conditions based on geography and wealth. Right. 00:08:49.370 --> 00:08:51.710 The wealthier, predominantly white residents 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:54.269 began consolidating along the wider tree -lined 00:08:54.269 --> 00:08:56.789 avenues and the areas closest to the Capitol 00:08:56.789 --> 00:08:58.990 building itself. The prime real estate. Right. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.580 Meanwhile, the working class residents, and particularly 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:04.620 the rapidly growing population of formerly enslaved 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.360 Black Americans who had moved to the Capitol 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.759 after the war, were frequently pushed into the 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:11.379 smaller alleyways. Or the less desirable plots 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:14.000 further east. Or closer to the industrial zones, 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.720 exactly. The neighborhood essentially became 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:19.679 a microcosm of the divided nation, navigating 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:22.659 segregation and deep economic disparities right 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:25.500 in the shadow of the Capitol Dome. It is a heavy 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:28.320 reality to sit with, realizing that the streets 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.039 right outside the legislative chambers were dealing 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.700 with those exact fractures. It's a vital part 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:36.639 of the history. It is. But as the 19th century 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:39.759 comes to a close, Capitol Hill also experiences 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.580 an absolute boom of technology. innovation that 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:46.039 shifts the landscape again. Between 1890 and 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.659 1910, the neighborhood transformed dramatically. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.700 The downtown areas of the District of Columbia, 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:55.220 which included Capitol Hill, were among the very 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:58.179 first to get modern municipal conveniences. We 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:00.519 are talking about the arrival of reliable electricity, 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.120 municipal piped water, and indoor plumbing, all 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.600 rolling out in the 1890s. Which is huge. It's 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.860 revolutionary. When you introduce plumbing and 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:11.240 electricity to an area that is already physically 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.559 close to the seat of national power and major 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.360 employment hubs, it sparks a massive real estate 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.919 development boom. Right, because developers realize 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.840 they can tear down older, outdated structures 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:25.539 and build highly desirable modern homes. I want 00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:28.379 you, the listener, to just imagine the sheer 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:30.759 whiplash of that transformation for a second. 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:33.240 And hard to even picture. In just a few generations, 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:35.399 you have a neighborhood that goes from muddy 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.399 18th century boarding houses without houses in 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:42.379 the back to a fully electrified, plumbed, modern 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:44.450 neighborhood. With streetlights. It happened 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.350 incredibly fast. Okay, let's unpack this. With 00:10:47.350 --> 00:10:49.190 all that rapid construction and tearing down 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:51.250 of old buildings, what does the architectural 00:10:51.250 --> 00:10:53.610 history actually look like when you walk down 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:56.029 the street in Capitol Hill today? Is it just 00:10:56.029 --> 00:10:58.740 a uniform wall of brick? Far from it. Because 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:02.019 of that century of rapid, varied growth, Capitol 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.419 Hill is largely a residential neighborhood composed 00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:06.980 of an incredible mix of architectural styles 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:09.559 standing shoulder to shoulder. So real patchwork. 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:13.080 Exactly. You have early 19th century manor houses, 00:11:13.139 --> 00:11:15.779 these large stately standalone homes sitting 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:18.600 right beside federal style townhouses. And federal 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:21.000 style. Those are the classic flat front brick 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.990 buildings with simple, elegant lines. That's 00:11:23.990 --> 00:11:26.870 the one. Then further down the block, you might 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:30.049 see small, simple frame dwellings right next 00:11:30.049 --> 00:11:33.570 to ornate Italianate bracketed houses. Let me 00:11:33.570 --> 00:11:36.110 pause you there. When we say Italianate bracketed 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:38.669 houses, what are we actually picturing? Imagine 00:11:38.669 --> 00:11:41.340 a house with a low -pitched roof. that hangs 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:44.639 way out over the edge of the building. And underneath 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:47.299 that wide roof overhang supporting it are these 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:50.639 heavy, highly decorative wooden brackets. They 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.519 look very grand and slightly romantic, inspired 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.360 by Italian country villas. That paints a great 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.820 picture. But the style that really dominates 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:00.779 the later part of the 19th century during that 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:03.139 big plumbing and electricity boom we talked about 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:06.840 are the press brick row houses. Yes, the classic 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:09.940 DC row house. And they feature these incredibly... 00:12:10.190 --> 00:12:12.870 decorative elements. The source research highlights 00:12:12.870 --> 00:12:15.450 a mix of Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne, 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:18.179 and Eastlakey motifs. It sounds like an architectural 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:20.220 dictionary. Right. So to break that down for 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:22.399 you listening, Richardsonian Romanesque means 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:25.019 you are looking at heavy castle -like stone arches 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:28.019 over the windows and doors. Very sturdy. Very 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.720 dramatic. Exactly. Then Queen Anne gives you 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.200 those asymmetrical fairytale shapes with round 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.019 turrets and wraparound porches. And then Eastlakean 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:39.159 refers to a very specific, intricate, geometric 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:42.179 spindle work, usually carved out of wood on the 00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:45.000 porches or gables. It creates a fascinating architectural 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.450 playground. of these very serious heavy stone 00:12:48.450 --> 00:12:51.970 arches paired with delicate wooden spindle work 00:12:51.970 --> 00:12:54.330 on the exact same block. But it is important 00:12:54.330 --> 00:12:56.129 to note that the neighborhood didn't freeze in 00:12:56.129 --> 00:12:59.429 1910. No, definitely not. The 1990s brought another 00:12:59.429 --> 00:13:01.850 economic boom and intense gentrification to the 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:04.490 district, which meant a lot of the neighborhood's 00:13:04.490 --> 00:13:07.529 non -historic or completely obsolete buildings 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:10.090 were targeted for replacement. I would imagine 00:13:10.090 --> 00:13:12.629 that creates a huge tension. How do you build 00:13:12.629 --> 00:13:14.889 a brand new apartment building or office space 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:17.730 in the 1990s without completely ruining the aesthetic 00:13:17.730 --> 00:13:20.450 of a neighborhood covered in castle arches and 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:22.570 wooden turrets? You do it through strict regulation. 00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:25.169 New buildings in Capitol Hill have to comply 00:13:25.169 --> 00:13:27.889 with rigorous height limits and historic preservation 00:13:27.889 --> 00:13:30.309 restrictions to maintain the character of the 00:13:30.309 --> 00:13:32.470 area. So modern architects had to get creative. 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:35.549 They really did. Much of this newer infill was 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:39.000 done in a decorative modernist style. A standout 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.100 example from the text is the work of architect 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.600 Amy Weinstein. Her designs feature this very 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.000 distinctive polychrome brickwork set in patterned 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.860 relief. Polychrome meaning using multiple contrasting 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:53.799 colors of brick, right? Precisely. Instead of 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.700 just a flat wall of red brick, she used contrasting 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:00.419 colored bricks, reds, browns, creams. And arranged 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:04.000 them in complex, raised geometric patterns. Yes. 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:06.740 It honors the area's deep tradition of masonry 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:09.820 and brickwork, but it brings a distinctly new, 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:13.340 vibrant, modern aesthetic to the streets. It's 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:15.820 a modern building in conversation with the 19th 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:17.740 century architecture next door. That's a perfect 00:14:17.740 --> 00:14:19.759 way to describe it. Speaking of buildings that 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:23.399 completely surprise you. There is a massive nonpolitical 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.840 landmark sitting right on Capitol Hill that I 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.559 had no idea about. I know exactly what you're 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.139 going to say. When you think of this neighborhood, 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:31.720 you think of laws, courts, and government agencies. 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:34.480 You do not necessarily think of Elizabethan theater. 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:36.639 You're referring to the Folger Shakespeare Library. 00:14:37.059 --> 00:14:39.700 I am. And you're right. It is a tremendous cultural 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:43.080 surprise hidden in plain sight. It is a world 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.440 -class research library and museum that houses 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.240 the world's largest collection of material related 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:51.440 to William Shakespeare. The world's largest, 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.659 right there next to the Capitol. It is wild to 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:57.159 think about. And it doesn't stop there. Beyond 00:14:57.159 --> 00:14:59.340 the Shakespeare folios, it also holds the third 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:01.820 largest collection of English books printed before 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:05.259 the year 1641. Just a staggering amount of history. 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:09.029 The facility includes a large museum space and 00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:11.850 operates the Folger Theater, which is internationally 00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:14.570 recognized as a leading interpreter of Shakespeare's 00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:17.970 works. It is a primary global repository for 00:15:17.970 --> 00:15:20.169 rare materials from the early modern period of 00:15:20.169 --> 00:15:22.669 Europe, sitting right in the middle of America's 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:25.240 political center. It really just proves how much 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:27.899 more is going on in this two square mile radius 00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:30.820 than just politics. Absolutely. And you really 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:32.720 feel that neighborhood vibrancy when you look 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.360 at its commercial hubs. Pennsylvania Avenue is 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.919 packed with shops, restaurants and bars. And 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.299 then there is Barracks Row on 8th Street SE. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.820 Which gets its name from its proximity to the 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:45.259 Marine Barracks we discussed earlier. Exactly. 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:48.720 And it is actually one of the city's oldest commercial 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.539 corridors dating all the way back to the late 00:15:51.539 --> 00:15:54.519 18th century. It has recently been revitalized 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.120 and is completely thriving today. There is also 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:00.740 a great newer community center called Hill Center, 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:03.759 which is housed in the beautifully restored Old 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.220 Naval Hospital at 9th and Pennsylvania Avenue. 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:08.799 That concept of restoration brings up a defining 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.419 characteristic of Capitol Hill. It's profound 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.740 resilience. Yeah, that really jumped out in the 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:15.740 research. This is a community that has faced 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:18.720 devastating setbacks, particularly fires, and 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:20.940 has consistently chosen to rebuild and preserve 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:23.340 its history rather than surrender the land to 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:25.519 new development. A perfect example is Eastern 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.919 Market. Yes. Built in 1873, it is a vital public 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.019 market and food hall on 7th Street SE. It is 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.159 the kind of place where vendors sell fresh meat 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.500 and produce inside, while farmers and artisans 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:39.139 host vibrant weekend flea markets outside. But 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:42.539 in April 2007, a major fire broke out and completely 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:45.559 gutted the main historic market building. I can't 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.269 even imagine the emotional toll of that. For 00:16:48.269 --> 00:16:50.570 a community that is so anchored by its history, 00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:54.230 watching a 130 -year -old gathering space burn 00:16:54.230 --> 00:16:57.230 down must have been devastating. It was a tremendous 00:16:57.230 --> 00:17:00.370 blow. The roof collapsed and the interior was 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:02.429 ruined. In many neighborhoods, that would have 00:17:02.429 --> 00:17:04.710 been the end of it. A developer would have bought 00:17:04.710 --> 00:17:07.369 the lot and built condos. Right, took the insurance 00:17:07.369 --> 00:17:09.890 money and ran. Exactly. But the Capitol Hill 00:17:09.890 --> 00:17:12.529 community rallied. They pooled resources, worked 00:17:12.529 --> 00:17:16.190 with the city, and the market underwent a massive... 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.779 painstaking historical restoration. And it triumphantly 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:23.359 reopened to the public in June 2009. And unfortunately, 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.480 they had to prove that exact same resilience 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.680 again just a few years later. With Frager's hardware. 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:31.660 Yes. which had been a beloved neighborhood staple 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:34.000 on Pennsylvania Avenue for nearly 100 years, 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:37.019 they suffered a similarly destructive fire. Yet 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:39.839 just like Eastern Market, the community refused 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.000 to let it go, and they successfully rebuilt on 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.900 the exact same location. That is true neighborhood 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:48.660 pride. You don't rebuild a 100 -year -old hardware 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:51.579 store unless the community demands it. And you 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:54.460 see that pride in their public spaces, too. With 00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:56.640 all that dense housing we talked about, they 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.220 still managed to preserve these fantastic public 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:01.759 parks and squares. Like Lincoln Park. Right, 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:04.319 which sits just east of the Capitol and features 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.019 the Emancipation Memorial, as well as a statue 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:09.359 of the great civil rights leader, Mary McLeod 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:11.779 Bethune. You've got Staten Park, named after 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:14.480 Lincoln's Secretary of War, featuring an equestrian 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.519 statue of Nathaniel Green. There is Seward Square, 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:20.539 where the diagonal roads chop the area into four 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.180 distinct triangular sections. And I love this 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:25.890 next detail. Marion Park in the southern edge 00:18:25.890 --> 00:18:28.089 of the neighborhood is affectionately known by 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:31.710 locals as Turtle Park. A very grounded, unpretentious 00:18:31.710 --> 00:18:33.710 nickname for a park in the nation's capital. 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:36.630 Right. And why is it called Turtle Park? Because 00:18:36.630 --> 00:18:39.650 it has a large, climbable cement turtle in its 00:18:39.650 --> 00:18:41.849 playground. No ancient Roman connections there. 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:45.769 No marble monuments to military heroes. Just 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:48.160 a cement turtle. For the neighborhood kids. Yeah. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.680 And honestly, a neighborhood with that much character 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:53.259 attracts an incredibly eclectic group of residents. 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:55.579 It really does. When you look at who has actually 00:18:55.579 --> 00:18:59.049 called Capitol Hill home over the decades. The 00:18:59.049 --> 00:19:02.049 list is wild. It is a remarkable cross -section 00:19:02.049 --> 00:19:05.210 of American public life. You have the great social 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:07.329 reformer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:10.430 who purchased his first home in Washington right 00:19:10.430 --> 00:19:13.190 on Capitol Hill. Wow. You also have the first 00:19:13.190 --> 00:19:16.190 director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, who was 00:19:16.190 --> 00:19:18.089 actually born in the neighborhood. You also have 00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:20.809 the famed March King composer John Philip Sousa, 00:19:20.930 --> 00:19:23.789 current U .S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and my 00:19:23.789 --> 00:19:26.230 personal favorite curveball on the list, actress 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:28.859 and comedian Anna Gasteyer. Just an incredibly 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:31.740 diverse group of people drawn to these same tree 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:34.160 -lined streets over the centuries. And preserving 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.099 those streets eventually became a formal priority. 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:40.019 In 1976, the Capitol Hill Historic District was 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.240 officially placed on the National Register of 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.380 Historic Places. As we noted earlier, it includes 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:47.079 buildings from the federal period of 1800 all 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:49.480 the way through 1919. Making it one of the largest 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:51.619 historic districts in the entire United States. 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:54.359 If we connect this to the bigger picture, you 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:56.400 can see the modern trajectory of Capitol Hill. 00:19:57.069 --> 00:19:59.630 Throughout its existence, it has largely remained 00:19:59.630 --> 00:20:02.589 a fairly stable middle class neighborhood. Right. 00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:06.190 However, like many urban centers across the country, 00:20:06.390 --> 00:20:09.349 it suffered a period of severe economic decline 00:20:09.349 --> 00:20:12.400 and rising crime in the mid 20th century. And 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.059 during the 1980s, the fringes of the neighborhood 00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:17.200 were heavily affected by the crack epidemic. 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.500 It is important not to gloss over that. Absolutely. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:22.920 The neighborhood went through a genuinely tough, 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:26.000 painful period where longtime residents were 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.900 dealing with systemic urban neglect and a real 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:31.769 public health crisis on their doorsteps. The 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:34.809 historic charm was still there, but the socioeconomic 00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:37.650 reality for many residents, particularly those 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:39.710 on the eastern edges of the neighborhood, was 00:20:39.710 --> 00:20:41.549 incredibly challenging. But the neighborhood 00:20:41.549 --> 00:20:44.150 gradually recovered into the 1990s. And that 00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:46.470 recovery brought an intense wave of gentrification. 00:20:46.849 --> 00:20:49.829 This fundamentally transformed the economic landscape 00:20:49.829 --> 00:20:52.309 once again. As the area became safer and more 00:20:52.309 --> 00:20:56.029 desirable, property values skyrocketed. The obsolete 00:20:56.029 --> 00:20:58.029 buildings were replaced with the modern infill 00:20:58.029 --> 00:21:00.269 we discussed, and the demographics and cost of 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.029 living shifted dramatically, pricing out many 00:21:03.029 --> 00:21:04.869 working -class families who had lived there for 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:09.630 generations. So what does this all mean? Well, 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:11.609 I think the biggest takeaway is that the next 00:21:11.609 --> 00:21:13.910 time you are listening to the news and an anchor 00:21:13.910 --> 00:21:16.549 says, today on Capitol Hill, you shouldn't just 00:21:16.549 --> 00:21:19.569 picture a sea of suits in the Capitol complex. 00:21:19.849 --> 00:21:22.029 Exactly. I want you to picture the kids climbing 00:21:22.029 --> 00:21:25.130 on the cement shell in Turtle Park. I want you 00:21:25.130 --> 00:21:28.170 to think of the federal townhomes built by 18th 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:31.609 century craftsmen sitting right next to Amy Weinstein's 00:21:31.609 --> 00:21:34.349 modern polychrome brickwork. Think of the world's 00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:36.450 largest Shakespeare collection hidden behind 00:21:36.450 --> 00:21:39.329 classic architecture. And the smell of fresh 00:21:39.329 --> 00:21:42.289 produce at the fiercely resilient Eastern Market. 00:21:42.470 --> 00:21:45.990 It is a real, living, complex neighborhood that 00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:48.869 has survived fires, wars, and economic upheaval. 00:21:48.950 --> 00:21:51.250 I think that is the perfect way to frame it, 00:21:51.289 --> 00:21:52.750 and it leaves us with an interesting paradox 00:21:52.750 --> 00:21:55.130 to consider. Well, the history of this neighborhood 00:21:55.130 --> 00:21:57.950 showed us that the very first politicians who 00:21:57.950 --> 00:22:01.009 lived in this area insisted on staying in temporary, 00:22:01.289 --> 00:22:04.130 uncomfortable boarding houses. Right. They treated 00:22:04.130 --> 00:22:06.329 it like a remote work assignment. They explicitly 00:22:06.329 --> 00:22:08.589 did not want to establish permanent roots in 00:22:08.589 --> 00:22:10.769 Washington. They wanted to govern and leave. 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:14.410 Yet today, those exact same streets have undergone 00:22:14.410 --> 00:22:17.289 intense gentrification, with modern residents 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:20.289 fiercely competing and paying top dollar just 00:22:20.289 --> 00:22:22.650 to secure a permanent piece of that historic 00:22:22.650 --> 00:22:25.130 brick and mortar. That's true. Consider how that 00:22:25.130 --> 00:22:27.630 original transient mindset of the early government 00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:31.130 contrasts so sharply with the highly coveted, 00:22:31.130 --> 00:22:33.329 deeply rooted community that eventually grew 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:34.069 up in their shadow.