Introduction
THE NEAR NORTHEAST H STREET neighborhood is a child of early Washington’s largest transportation hu bs. e railroads, streetcars, and major roads brought industrial and distribution facilities to the area, while working-class families, attracted by federal building projects and factory jobs, created a community. Planners of the Nation’s Capital chose Maryland Avenue as a primary link between the Capitol and Boundary Street (today’s Florida Avenue). At Boundary Street it joined an old farm road lead-ing to Bladensburg, Maryland. During the War of 1812, British forces traveled this route on their mission to burn the seat of U.S. government. Two decades later, the B&O Railroad laid tracks from Baltimore along I Street, NE, to a terminal near the Capitol. A settlement north of the Capitol provided many of the laborers — mostly Irish immigrants and free African Americans who had
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