Brickyards to Buildings
1000 BLOCK FLORIDA AVENUE NE
THE TRINIDAD NEIGHBORHOOD got its start in the 1890s a er the Washington Brick Machine Company used up the clay in the soil here. With Greater H Stre et lling in with houses and businesses, the company sold its land for housing lo ts. e rowhouses that arose sold to white families, many of whom walked to work on H Street or at Union Station. Once the brickyard closed, the American Baseball League built a short-lived ballpark here. Around 1900 John Fisher operated a wholesale candy business in his home at 1008 Florida Avenue. Sons John and Edward Fisher continued the family business until 1941. e Arthur Nock family owned the large house nearby at 1001 K Street. A er hardware salesman Arthur died in 1930, his widow Louise took in boarders. During the Great Depression (1929-1941), hungry dr i ers, alerted by a previous hobo’s mark on the back door, knew to rap on the door for something to eat. Between 1945 and 1960, many white Washington- ian s left t he city. Some wanted newer, suburban- style housing. Others, a er 1954, were unwilling to send their children to newly desegregated DC schools. Like many older neighborhoods, Trinidad changed very quickly from white to African American. Construction foreman Charles “Bob” Martin and family moved to Trinidad Avenue in 1948, and railroad dining car steward Joseph Strowder and his wife Korea arrived on Queen Street in 195 0. ey joined other newcomers to create community, leading DC’ s fir st African American Camp fir e Girls, a Boy Scout troop, and Mount Olivet Heights Civic Association.
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