Change on theWaterfront
, Southwest became its main working, waterfront community. Its wharves received travelers,food and building materials, slaves and migrants,and weapons for the new City of Washington. Ships were built and repaired here.The port was particularly busy dur- ing the Civil War, when Washington served as the UnionArmy’s headquarters and supply center. By this bustling neighborhood was densely built,with a working-class community of some , .They were modest people of all back- grounds: European immigrants, urban African Americans,and migrants from nearby rural areas. The waterfront was a major marketplace,where Chesapeake Bay watermen tied up and sold fresh seafood and farmers delivered fresh produce. Waterfront warehouses held these commodities for distribution throughout the city. With its small town atmosphere, and modest bri ck and woodenbuildings and shops, Southwest was homey and self-sufficient. As real estate developers opened other areas of the city, Southwest quiet ly aged. Its modest row- houses, elegant older homes, and cramped alley dwellings became run down and overcrowded. By the s,reformers called Southwest obsolete. News stories declared it was located“shamefully ... in the shadow of the Capitol.” The Washington Post led a campaign to tear down Southwest and start over.The press published photographs of urban blight,”ironically situated next to the near- by U.S. Capitol.Consequently nearly all of Old Southwest — acres of buildings and trees— was ra zed between and . In its place a much-admired“new town in the city”was built. But the forced dispersal of , people continues to raise important questions about the benefits of urban renewal.
“
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker