page_title: Capitol Hill
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Capitol Hill / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Capitol Hill
context_page_description: Capitol Hill is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington D.C.. The neighborhood covers an area east of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the oldest residential communities in Washington. Its two square miles house 35,000 people, so it is one of the most densely populated neighborhood. The phrase "Capitol Hill" can sometime mean the United States Congress instead of the neighborhood.
  Capitol Hill is also a hill as well as a neighborhood. The hill rises in the center of the District of Columbia and extends eastward. Pierre L'Enfant, as he began to develop his plan for the new Federal City in 1791, chose to locate the "Congress House" on the crest of the hill, facing the city, a site that L'Enfant characterized as a "pedestal waiting for a monument."
  A large portion of the neighborhood is now designated as the Capitol Hill historic district. The name Capitol Hill is often used to refer to both the historic district and to the larger neighborhood around it.
context_section_description: L'Enfant referred to the hill chosen as the site of the future Congress House as "Jenkins Hill" or "Jenkins Heights." However, the tract of land had for many years belonged to the Carroll family and was noted in their records of ownership as "New Troy." Some people have said that a man named Jenkins had once pastured some livestock at the site of the Capitol (and thus his name was associated with the site), artist John Trumbull, who would paint several murals inside the Capitol's rotunda, reported in 1791 that the site was covered with a thick wood, making it an unlikely place for livestock to graze. Noone knows who Jenkins was and how his name became associated with the hill, as reported by L'Enfant.
  The neighborhood that is now called Capitol Hill started to develop when the government began work at two locations, the Capitol and the Washington Navy Yard. It became a distinct community between 1799 and 1810 as the federal government became a major employer. The first stage in its early history was that of a boarding house community developed for members of Congress. In the early years of the Republic, few Congressmen wished to establish permanent residence in the city. Instead, most preferred to live in boarding houses within walking distance of the Capitol.
  In 1799 the Washington Navy Yard was established on the banks of the Anacostia River, and provided jobs to craftsmen who built and repaired ships. Many of the craftsmen who were employed both at the Navy Yard and in the construction of the Capitol chose to live within walking distance, to the east of the Capitol and the north of the Navy Yard. They became the original residential population of the neighborhood. In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson selected the location of the Marine Barracks, which had to be within marching distance of both the Capitol and the White House, not far from the Washington Navy Yard. By 1810, shops, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and churches were flourishing in the area.
  The Civil War resulted in more building in the Capitol Hill area, including new hospitals. Building new houses continued in the 1870s and 1880s. The neighborhood began to divide along racial and economic class lines.
  Electricity, piped water, and plumbing were introduced in the 1890s, and were first available in the downtown areas of the District of Columbia, including Capitol Hill. There was a real estate development boom between 1890 and 1910 as the Capitol Hill area became one of the first neighborhoods having these modern conveniences.
  In 1976, the National Park Service added the Capitol Hill Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the largest historic districts in the United States. The boundaries of the historic district are irregular, extending southward from F Street NE, as far east as 14th Street, as far west as South Capitol Street, and with a southern limit marked chiefly by Virginia Avenue but including some territory as far south as M Street SE. It includes buildings from the Federal period (1800 to 1820) through 1919, but most of the buildings are late Victorian.
  Capitol Hill has remained a fairly stable middle-class neighborhood throughout its existence. It suffered a period of economic decline and rising crime in the mid-20th century but gradually recovered. During the so-called "Crack Epidemic" of the 1980s, its fringes were often affected. More recently, the neighborhood has undergone intense gentrification.
caption: United States Capitol
exif: {}