Hitched up for a harness race at Brightwood, around 1900.
Brighton (later Brightwood) Post Office. By 1859 a racetrack at the southwestern edge of today’s Brightwood drew racing fans from all points. As the United States erupted into civil war in 1861, Brightwood’s calm gave way to activ- ity. Union forces built a ring of forts around Washington, strategically locating Fort Stevens along the turnpike in Brightwood. The fort displaced homes and even a chapel, but all was quiet until July 12, 1864. On that hot and dusty day General Jubal A. Early led his Confederate troops down this route from Maryland, where they encountered Union troops marching north from downtown Washington. By the day’s end, neighbors had joined with Union troops to repel the Rebels. The capital was saved, and the only Civil War battle fought in Washington was over. Among Washington’s defenders was local militia leader Matthew Gault Emery, a prominent builder whose Brightwood summer home became a camp for troops, a signal station, and a transfer point for the wounded. Later Emery was elected as Washington City’s last mayor
during our first period of home rule (1802-1871). Part of his estate is today's Emery Park.
After the Civil War, Washington’s peace-
time economy boomed. Brightwood, like other rural parts of the District of Columbia, began to
Matthew Gault Emery, photographed by Mathew Brady.
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