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U Street (Washington, D.C.)

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G. Byron Peck's Duke Ellington mural on the True Reformer Building, as seen from across the street at Ben Ali Way — named for the owner of Ben's Chili Bowl.
A former silent movie house on U Street has been the home of Ben's Chili Bowl since its establishment in 1958.

The U Street Corridor is a collection of shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and galleries on U Street in northwest Washington, D.C.. It extends from 9th Street on the east to 18th Street and Florida Avenue on the west.

The corridor became commercially significant when a streetcar line operated there in the early 20th century. A part of the larger Shaw neighborhood, U Street has long been a center of Washington's music scene with the Lincoln Theatre, Howard Theatre, Bohemian Caverns, and other clubs and historic jazz venues. In its cultural heyday, it was known as "Black Broadway". Duke Ellington's childhood home was located on the nearby 1200 block of T Street. The Lincoln Theater opened in 1921, and Howard Theater in 1926.[1]

Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, the intersection of 14th Street and U Street was the epicenter of violent and destructive riots by African-American residents. Following the riots, and the subsequent white flight of residents and businesses from the area, the corridor became blighted. Gentrification began in the 1990s, prompted by spillover development from Adams Morgan, and later from Logan Circle. In 1986, the city built a major municipal building, the Reeves Center, at 14th and U Street. More than 2,000 upscale residential condominiums and apartments have been constructed between 1997 and 2007.

See also

References

  1. ^ Kaiser, Robert G. (April 22, 2004). "A City of Splendid Spaces, Great Events; 4 Landmarks Offer Washingtonians Gateways to a Capital Adventure". The Washington Post.


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