Cultural Convergence

— Columbia Heights Heritage Trail —

For Nearly 50 Years, this corner was home to Nob Hill Restaurant, one of the nation's first openly gay bars for-and run by-African Americans.

Started in the 1950s as a private social club, Nob Hill went public in 1957. Patrons enjoyed entertainment ranging from male dancers to weekly "Gospel Hours" with local church choirs. One regular called the low-key club "a house party that charged a cover." When Nob Hill closed in 2004, it was considered DC's longest-operating gay bar.

Across Kenyon Street are the playing fields of Harriet Tubman Elementary School. The school opened in 1970 amid controversy over whether it would destroy the neighborhood's essential character. Despite resident efforts to block the school; construction went ahead, displacing 17 longstanding
businesses along 11th Street and fine, three-story rowhouses on 13th, Irving, and Kenyon Streets.

The remaining single-story commercial strip behind you dates back to the early 1910s, shortly after the 11th Street streetcar line arrived and increased foot traffic here.


As you proceed to Sign 8, you'll pass Columbia Road, where Ralph Bunche lived at number 1123 in the early 1930s. Bunche later founded Howard University's Political Science Department and served as a U.S. diplomat. For his work on established the state of Israel, Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, the first African American so honored.

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Charles R. Drew and Lenore Robbins Drew
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Main Street
The Next Wave
Girard Street Elites Historical

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