H Street Heritage Trail

In case you missed the last 6A meeting here is a sort of press release on a drive to get H Street its own heritage trail:

Efforts are underway by a group of citizens to fill one of Cultural Tourism DC's last remaining slots for a Heritage Trail along H Street. This is a two-year process, and the group is asking for any parties interested in the project to please contact Thomas Gallo at gallo4343@hotmail.com who is compiling a centralized list of contacts. The first step is building strong support from the community, as Cultural Tourism DC is not interested in putting a Heritage Trail into a community that does not show support for it. Also appreciated, of course, are any accounts of the history of H Street that you may have: pictures, stories, newspaper clippings, etc.The group will be looking to have it's first meeting by summer's end, in which Cultural Tourism will make a presentation to the community about the Heritage Trails and the (approximately) two-year process that goes into establishing one on H Street. Again, if at all interested, please email Thomas at gallo4343@hotmail.com. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to call (202) 286-4343.

Welcome to Trinidad

Trinidad is a tiny neighborhood located north of Capitol Hill (or in Capitol Hill according some realtors). Actually, it's next to Galludet. If you look at a map Trinidad looks like someone took it and just twisted the entire neighborhood a bit. The streets don't exactly match up with the streets outside the neighborhood. Trinidad is a tiny almost square patch that was at one point a rich man's country estate. Later it was the source of clay for brick works. Finally, it was home to working class housing. More recently, Trinidad, like the rest of the immediate area, was hit hard by the flight of both whites and middle class blacks (accelerated by the rioting on H Street in 1968). In the 1980s and 90s Trinidad (according to what I've read and heard) showed just how bad things could get. Crack was big, heroin was big, and Trinidad (located very close to the original stomping grounds for the Murder Inc. crew) was generally regarded as a place to avoid. However, this view is changing. As people get priced out of capitol Hill, they begin to venture a bit further north. Florida Avenue is the border between Old City 1# and Trinidad. More recently it has served as the border for how far north many newcomers are willing to venture a bit out of the trendy neighborhoods for housing (this distinction appears to be disappearing as new businesses, metro access and high housing prices elsewhere prompt more people to shop Trinidad homes).