The gateway neighborhood pre-1600 was only a collection of campsites and fishing villages on the west banks of the Anacostia river. Fertile grounds surrounded by lush swamp lands provided excellent growing ground. In fact, just south of the Gateway neighborhood in the National Arboretum, several archaeological studies have confirmed the existence of these sites. These mostly native populated sites however, became overtaken around the middle of the 1600’s when English King Charles I established official villages under the colony of Maryland. These farm homesteads and tobacco plantations represented the first true settlements and were likely populated with both Europeans and enslaved African labor. Some hundred years later, these villages and collection of farmsteads slowly grew and a new County of Washington and what used to be part of Prince George’s County in Maryland became Ward 5 and the gateway neighborhood.
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As tobacco farming gave way to other, more nourishing options like fruit, vegtables, and grains, Bladensburg road, bordering the Gateway neighborhood to the north was the most traveled route in the area because the collection of villages and businesses continued to grow. Eventually, it would be Bladensburg road that would be used by the British to march from Maryland into Washington during the War of 1812 to ultimately, destroy both the Capitol and President’s house by fire.
Adjacent to the Gateway neighborhood to the west, Fort Lincoln was constructed in 1860 to defend Washington in the Civil War. Before the American Civil War, railways and streetcar lines made their way through Ward 5 and the Gateway neighborhood. These included the nation’s first railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) which ran along Baldensburg road to the north of the Gateway neighborhood. This railroad line began to encourage industrial works like brick making and other heavy labor to begin in the area surrounding and including the gateway neighborhood. |
Eventually, roads for cars began to supplement the railroads and streetcars and residential neighborhoods began to expand. Gateway and the surrounding neighborhoods fought against highways through their towns but, as they were historically an active collection of communities, welcomed these smaller roads. With these roads came universities and colleges that are located nearby to Gateway like Gallaudet. In addition to these higher education institutions, secondary schools, first for white students opened within the Gateway neighborhoods only to be reassigned to the colored division in 1900. With Crummell school in the adjacent Ivy City, these two schools were the only black schools in the northeastern part of Ward 5.
However, at the end of the 19th century, areas surrounding the Gateway neighborhood were still open and rip for land-intensive endeavors like the National Arboretum. Additionally, two black developments, a housing development and a golf course opened near the Gateway neighborhood. An increase of roads and easy transportation continued to drive both residential and industrial growth. Large warehouses built along the B&O lines, along with major manufacturing centers began to take over the residential neighborhoods even as residents fought hard against these developments.
However, at the end of the 19th century, areas surrounding the Gateway neighborhood were still open and rip for land-intensive endeavors like the National Arboretum. Additionally, two black developments, a housing development and a golf course opened near the Gateway neighborhood. An increase of roads and easy transportation continued to drive both residential and industrial growth. Large warehouses built along the B&O lines, along with major manufacturing centers began to take over the residential neighborhoods even as residents fought hard against these developments.
These large developments that grew over the last 100 years began a sharp decline in the 1950’s as the city’s newer and easier accessible suburbs outpaced the growth in the Gateway neighborhood and surrounding areas. Railroads became less used in favor of newer transportation methods. The warehouses and factories that once ruled this area couldn’t compete with the new sprawling suburban warehouses being built in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The racial composition began to change from white to predominantly black in the 1950s. Many prominent black residents lived in the Gateway and surrounding areas. However, with the school desegregation decision of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the outlawing of segregation, mixed with the move of industry out to the suburban areas, more affluent white familes moved into the Virginia and Maryland suburbs allowing blacks to enter into the mostly low-density neighborhoods of Gateway and the surrounding cities. This trend continued to the 1970’s until initiatives to reinvest in the neighborhoods. Massie real estate scams subverted rent control laws and forced long-term stable renters and homeowners from many Ward 5 cities including Gateway and replaced them with transients and drug traffickers. To date, Ward 5 and the Gateway neighborhood still is diverse. Even with parks and surrounding areas being built with wealth, Gateway remains struggling for investment into the future.
The racial composition began to change from white to predominantly black in the 1950s. Many prominent black residents lived in the Gateway and surrounding areas. However, with the school desegregation decision of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the outlawing of segregation, mixed with the move of industry out to the suburban areas, more affluent white familes moved into the Virginia and Maryland suburbs allowing blacks to enter into the mostly low-density neighborhoods of Gateway and the surrounding cities. This trend continued to the 1970’s until initiatives to reinvest in the neighborhoods. Massie real estate scams subverted rent control laws and forced long-term stable renters and homeowners from many Ward 5 cities including Gateway and replaced them with transients and drug traffickers. To date, Ward 5 and the Gateway neighborhood still is diverse. Even with parks and surrounding areas being built with wealth, Gateway remains struggling for investment into the future.