Battleground to Community

— Brightwood Heritage Trail —

English, Irish and German settlers, as well as enslaved and free African Americans, were the first non-natives to claim Brightwood. Farmers dominated until the Civil War. Then in the 1890s electric streetcars allowed government workers to live here and ride to jobs downtown. By the 1940s, sons and daughters of Jewish, Greek, and Italian immigrants had arrived, often leaving crowded conditions in older neighborhoods.

Abraham Posin, founder of Posin's Deli and Bakery, was typical of the newcomers. His family had immigrated from Russia around 1910. Young Abraham visited an uncle living in Washington, where he met and married Gertrude Rose, another Russian ?migr?. The couple opened a store in Foggy Bottom. Posin's followed its Jewish customers' northward migration, first to the Arcade Market in Columbia Heights. Finally it opened here in 1947 at 5657 Georgia Avenue. Abe's sons, World War II veterans Max and Hyman, eventually took over the store.

Although most of his Jewish customers moved on in the 1950s, Max stayed to serve the African Americans and Caribbean immigrants who took their places. Everyone was welcome. Max died in 1995, and his son Randy closed the store three years later.

The Firehouse just beyond Posin's is here because, back in 1891, residents formed the Brightwood Citizens' Association and lobbied for city-style improvements. In addition to the firehouse, they secured sewers, sidewalks, streets, electric and gas service, and an elementary school.

The church at 5714 Georgia became the home of Canaan Baptist Church in 1956. In less than ten years, the robust church outgrew the space and moved to 16th Street in Mount Pleasant.

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