Shooting @16th & Raum

A pretty disturbing alert just went out on the MPD-5D listserv. About an hour ago police responded to 1265 16th Street where they found a female suffering from a gunshot wound to the face. She was conscious and is in stable condition. Police are looking for a black male wearing a black Northface jacket and a black ski mask. He entered the home through the backdoor and fled into the alley.
This is located in northeastern Trinidad, immediately south of Mt. Olivet Road and immediately west of Bladensburg Road.

Looking Back on Morse

Unfortunately this guy remains boarded up (this photo is from a couple of years ago). He does have a new roof and door, and every so often someone stops by to consider whether they should purchase him (corner of Montello & Morse).

Neal Street

the 1200 block

The Transformation

Several years ago this house was set on fire by the serial arsonist. An elderly woman died of smoke inhalation. Until recently the house sat there empty, a burned out shell. But after going up at the tax sale last year the house is being renovated. Here's what it looks like now.

This was also the site of the Trinidad-Ivy City Garden Club's first treebox planting. Click here to see a few photos of that planting.

Here's one shot from the first planting.
Join the Garden Club for a tree planting at Joe Cole Rec Center on Saturday.

I Am A Giant

1200 Morse.

Also available in black and white:

Reminder: 2 Trinidad Events Tomorrow

PSA 504 Meeting
What: a Police Service Area meeting
Where: Youth Services Center (1000 Mt. Olivet Road)
When: 10am Sat March 17th

Trinidad Recreation Center Grand Opening*
What: a celebration of the center's opening, a lob fair, summer camp sign up, tours, and more.
Fenty, Harry Thomas, and others will make appearances.
Where: 1380 Childress
When:10am Sat March 17th

*Bonus: did you know that the Trinidad Recreation Center boasts a green roof (part of a demonstration project in DC)?

Neal Street

This is the 1200 block of Neal (taken from the southern side of the street looking northwest).

The Convergence

Joe Cole Recreation Center & Wheatley Elementary (Morse & Neal at Montello).

Got Something to Say...

about Trinidad?
I'm (on behalf of a contractor working for the city) actively soliciting info (and ASAP because he's got a presentation to make on Friday). He's specifically looking for people that have lived here a long time and can give him a little sense of the place's history. He's trying to put together a flag for the community, and he's run into the problem that Trinidad (not uncommon in some historically working/lower-class communities) is not well documented. Right now he's got an early 80's cite from the Post mentioning something about athletes (in conjunction with the construction on Joe Cole), but not much else (aside from a history of community activism). Let's help the guy, and ourselves, out a bit. Special request here, please email me a little info and phone numbers (no time for dilly-dallying here) for interested individuals. My email address is inked[at]hotmail.com. You can also call 202-631-8254 (leave a voicemail). Just let me know soon. This is part of the DDOT beautification project in the neighborhood.

WP: 4 Injured in Drive-By on Trinidad Ave

Rowhouses in the Trinidad neighborhood
The Post reports on a drive-by shooting that occurred late last night in the 1600 block of Trinidad Avenue. Four young men (late teens and early twenties) were injured, but there no fatalities.

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).