Remembering the Black History of Blagden Alley
Many of us are familiar with DC’s alleyways that occupy the space behind many DC homes. Some of the alleys are made of brick, and most aren’t wide enough for two cars to pass. Following the Civil War, the District experienced a population boom with an influx of Black Americans. Alleys became a crucial resource where homes were quickly erected for poor and working-class Washingtonians. Middle- and upper-class Washingtonians lived in the townhouses that these alley dwellings backed up to.
The alley homes in Blagden Alley were situated along two blocks, between 9th and 10th streets and M and O streets NW. Blagden Alley was first occupied by a multi-racial population in the mid-1800s, and by 1880 there were 64 families, all Black, living there. Most Blagden Alley homes had four rooms, a small backyard, a water pump, and a bathroom — often outside, separate from the house. Later, horse stables and businesses took up additional space in the alleys alongside homes.
Because lower-income families in these alley homes were not connected to city utilities, trash wasn’t regularly collected. Rodents became a problem, as did growing piles of horse manure from the stables. Outsiders viewed the alley dwellings as unsanitary and dangerous, but families living in Blagden Alley described a warm, supportive community. Children played in the alleys, protected from the street, and neighbors helped one another.
The history of this Black neighborhood shows that, while the District and federal government continually sounded the alarm about health and safety issues with the alley dwellings, Black families and low-wage workers continued living there because DC lacked affordable housing. In the coming years, Congress passed legislation that outlawed construction of alley dwellings. The District’s Board of Health began repairing some alley homes, while demolishing hundreds of others that they deemed unlivable. The displacement of low-income residents, along with the continued lack of affordable housing options led to multiple tenants, or sometimes multiple families, crammed into one small alley dwelling.
In the early 1900s, Congress continued passing legislation banning alley homes. The DC government labeled alley communities like Blagden Alley slums and created the Alley Dwelling Authority to remove people who were living there. President Woodrow Wilson’s wife, First Lady Ellen Wilson, made ridding DC of alley dwellings her life’s cause. By World War II, 42 of the 57 houses in Blagden Alley had been converted to small businesses, shops, and garages. As people abandoned the Blagden Alley homes in the 1960s and this historic neighborhood continued to fall into disrepair, some investors began purchasing properties and fixing them up. Soon, more banks began making loans to investors looking to get a piece of the “up and coming” neighborhood. In 1990, to preserve Blagden Alley’s historic character, some neighbors successfully got it added it to the DC Inventory of Historic Places and designated as a National Register Historic District.
Today, many of the original buildings constructed and inhabited by Blagden Alley’s first Black residents still exist, occupied by new small businesses, restaurants, and bars. Many visitors don’t realize they’re standing in a historically Black community with rich history. This Black History Month, I encourage people spending time in Blagden Alley to stop and remember the Black people and families who created community out of undeveloped land in an alleyway. And think about the laws and the narratives — true or untrue — that resulted in Blagden Alley’s transformation over the years.
Learn more about Blagden Alley’s history here:
https://savingplaces.org/stories/the-hidden-history-inside-washington-dc-blagden-alley
https://dcist.com/story/18/12/26/the-hidden-history-of-d-c-s-alleyways/
https://ggwash.org/view/4642/the-physical-evolution-of-blagden-alley-naylor-court
