Anacostia

Anacostia /ænəˈkɒstiə/ is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Marion Barry Avenue (formerly Good Hope Road)SE and the neighborhood contains commercial and government buildings, mid-rise mixed development, city-sanctioned art murals and galleries (under the "Art to Go Go" initiative),a perfroming arts center, a playhouse theater, the local landmark, "The Big Chair," Fredrick Douglass's Home (a museum and historic site) and is adjacent to the Fort Stanton Park neighborhood which hosts the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum.[4] Captain John Smith explored the area in 1608, traveling up the "Eastern Branch"—later the Anacostia River—mistaking it for the main body of the Potomac River, and met Anacostans.It was designed to be affordable for Washington's working class, many of whom were employed across the river at the Navy Yard; its (then) location outside of and isolated from the city made its real estate inexpensive.The initial subdivision of 1854 carried restrictive covenants prohibiting the sale, rental or lease of property to anyone of African or Irish descent.Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, often called "the sage of Anacostia", bought Cedar Hill, the estate belonging to the developer of Uniontown, in 1877 and lived there until he died in 1895.[12] In 1932, during the Great Depression, unemployed World War I veterans from all across the country marched on Washington to demand immediate payment of a bonus promised to them.The Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur dispersed them, but exceeded the orders of President Herbert Hoover by crossing the bridge to Anacostia and torching the veteran's encampment.Anacostia, however, does have a year-round ice skating rink at Fort Dupont Park; the city police boys' club; and a tennis and learning center, combining sports with academic tutoring in Congress Heights.[17] In 2005, Building Bridges Across the River opened the 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC) which is home to eleven nonprofit organizations, all of which share the goal of helping children and adults reach their full potential.In 1957, an Anacostia landmark, the "world's largest chair", was installed at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and V Street SE.Plans include numerous parks restored of their natural wetlands and forests, canoe tie-ups, a playground, a four-acre 9/11 memorial grove, and an environmental education center.