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Conceived as a suburb in the 1870s, LeDroit Park is one of the
oldest neighborhoods outside the original city of Washington. As such,
the neighborhood has some truly outstanding architecture. The LeDroit Park Historic District stretches from W Street (to the north) to Rhode Island & Florida Avenues (to the south) and from Howard University (to the west) to 2nd Street (to the east). Unfortunately, this once exclusive suburb fell victim after World War II to a sharp period of decline. The neighborhood soon became overrun with boarded up buildings. For many years, the LeDroit Park Civic Association desperately tried to no avail to get Howard University more involved in the community, rather than merely expanding its campus grounds. The university not only dominates the neighborhood but had bought and held property for years, allowing them to fall into a sad state of disrepair. Many of those properties purportedly were on the National Register of Historic Places. Finally, in recent years, the university has stepped up, selling several houses to community-based organizations to be revitalized and embarking on a multi-million dollar effort to revitalize the area. With a HUD grant for community economic development and the help of Fannie Mae, Howard has sought to provide affordable housing in the neighborhood. Specifically the university renovated a section of Georgia Avenue, renovating. Howard University Hospital's emergency and trauma center for $ 6 million, and converted a nearby liquor store into a police substation. The school also opened a community association in what used to be a convenience store. Howard alumnus purportedly also hope to develop 25 open acres nearby McMillan Reservoir, creating a "town center," and adding a museum or two. Like the rest of the neighborhood, the reservoir grounds are rich with history, as the area is said to have been designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., the same architect who designed New York City's Central Park. Interestingly enough, the university and the community have always been linked. It was a faculty member of the university, Amzi Barber, who originally developed the neighborhood. The neighborhood even takes its name from Barber's father-in-law, LeDroit Langdon, who was a real estate developer in New York. To learn more about LeDroit Park, click here. To read about Howard University's efforts in the community, check out these articles:  Washington Post
Article Washington Post
Article New York Times
Article
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