Neighborhood
The thirteen acres of the Bryant Street site in the Edgewood neighborhood sits on the border of an area that was once part of two nineteenth century estates: Edgewood and Eckington. Its history intertwines with U.S. history from the days of Native Americans through the 1600s, Civil War, and early 20th century. We’ve captured all the details in this historical narrative — and you can read below for some highlights of the people and stories who have shaped this DC neighborhood through hundreds of years.
New Troy and other land parcels just south of Bryant Street.
1600s:
Early Settlement
English settlers first colonized the area, taking it from the Powhatan people of the Algonquian tribe. The original land tract, formalized in 1663, was called New Troy and corresponds to the present-day site of the Mall, Union Station and the surrounding Swampoodle neighborhood, southwest DC, and the Washington Navy Yard.
Late 1700s:
Post-Residence Act
In 1790, the area was incorporated into Washington County, Maryland as part of the Residence Act that created the City of Washington. Landowner Colonel Washington Berry named his estate just outside the boundaries of the Federal City “Metropolis View.” Primarily used for gentleman farming, with enslaved labor working the land, a wooded quarter of the property became a picnic destination for Washingtonians looking to escape the city.
Bryant Street general location on an 1861 map that includes the Metropolis View estate.
Civil War Era:
Salmon P. Chase
In the Civil War, the Metropolis View property was used by Federal officers and troops who seriously damaged the mansion. The U.S. government considered relocating its executive mansion to this higher ground north of the city, but the land was divided into smaller plots sold at auction.
Salmon P. Chase had been one of many bachelors invited to the estate as a potential suitor for one of Colonel Berry’s daughters. Instead, he fell in love with Metropolis View and in 1869, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he purchased forty acres of the Metropolis View tract.
Salmon P. Chase circa 1860, who created Edgewood and is the namesake for our first homes at Bryant Street—The Chase
Chase was a passionate abolitionist and life-long public servant—a U.S. Senator, Governor of Ohio, Supreme Court Supreme Justice, and Secretary of the Treasury. He hired Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark to restore the mansion over two years and renamed the estate Edgewood in 1871.
Chase was beset by personal adversity, burying three wives and four children by the time he was 46, and devoted his life to educating and elevating his daughter Kate.
Late 1800s:
Kate Chase Sprague
A well-regarded socialite and intellectual, Salmon Chase’s daughter Kate was once referred to as “one of the most remarkable women ever known to Washington society.” Her intellect, charisma, and political acumen served her father’s political career and established her as a prominent figure of her time.
Kate Chase Sprague in 1855
Obituaries for Kate Chase Sprague in 1899
However, she suffered a similarly tragic personal life as her father, including an abusive marriage, financial ruin and rescue, infidelity rumors, divorce, ill health, and estrangement from her sister over ownership of Edgewood. She died in 1899 after fighting for years to keep the property, and creditors took possession of the estate.
Into the 1900s:
St. Vincent’s Orphanage
St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls was established in 1825 and had been located at 10th and G Streets NW since 1828. The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph purchased part of Edgewood for $67,000, demolished the Chase mansion, and built a new orphanage at the site. When the orphanage closed in 1968, it was the oldest institution of its kind in Washington. The building was demolished shortly after its closure.
St. Vincent’s Orphanage on the Edgewood site in the 1920s
Development of the Rhode Island Avenue Mall in The Washington Post, 1984
The 1980s &
Rhode Island Avenue Mall
Through the 1980s, the Edgewood, Eckington, and Brookland neighborhoods were short on retail options. In 1983, plans were announced to build a $20 million shopping center that included Safeway, Peoples Drug Store, and the first Zayre department store in D.C., financed through a $4.25 million federal Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG).