Nob Hill KENYON and 11TH STREETS NW
For nearl y 50 years this corner was home to Nob Hill Restaurant, one of the nation’s first openly gay bars for—and run by—African Americans. Started in the 1 9 05 s as a private social club, Nob Hill went public in 1 9 5 7. Patrons enjoyed enter- tainment ranging from male dancers to weekly “Gospel Hours” with local church choirs. One regular called the low-key club “a house party that charged a cover.” When Nob Hill closed in 0 02 4, it was considered DC’s longest-enduring gay bar. Across Kenyon Street are the playing fields of Harriet Tubman Elementary School. The school opened in 1 97 0 amid controversy over whether it would destroy the neighborhood’s essential character. Despite resident s' efforts to block the school, construction went ahead, displacing 1 7 long-standing businesses along 11 th Street and fine, three-story rowhouses on 1 3th, Irving, and Kenyon Streets. The remaining single-story commercial strip between Kenyon and Lamont streets dates back to the early 1 9 10 s, shortly after the 11 th Street streetcar line arrived and increased foot traffic here. On the way to Sign 8 is Columbia Road, where Ralph Bunche lived at number 1123 in the early 1 93 0 s. Bunche later founded Howard University’s Political Science Department and served as a U.S. diplomat. For his work on establishing the state of Israel, Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1 9 50 , the first African American so honored.
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator