DC Firehouses not only reflect the geographic expansion of the capital, but also the city as a place of diverse and vibrant communities. A boom in the construction of municipal buildings took place during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the most critical years of the City Beautiful Movement; included in this wave of new municipal buildings were sixteen firehouses, constructed between 1897 to 1916. The development of the DC Fire Department supplied…

In 2025, seven historic landmarks were added to the DC Inventory of Historic Sites — five of which were sponsored or co-sponsored by the DC Preservation League (DCPL). In addition to these five landmarks, DCPL sponsored a nomination amendment to the Mount Pleasant Historic District designation, and co-sponsored, with the Art Deco Society of Washington, an amendment to the Greyhound Bus Terminal designation. In February, the John Joseph Earley House at 1710 Lamont Street NW in Mount Pleasant…

In 2023, six new landmarks and one new historic district were designated in Washington. The DC Preservation League nominated two of these landmarks: Chevy Chase Savings Bank and Northeast Savings Bank. In January, Chevy Chase Savings Bank, co-sponsored with Historic Chevy Chase DC, was designated by HPRB. The bank, designed by Arthur B. Heaton and completed in 1921, has since been added to the National Register. In October, Northeast Savings Bank, co-sponsored with Capitol Hill Restoration…

Data recorded in 2020 determined that only 2% of 95,000 designated sites on the National Register of Historic Places focused on the African American experience. This percentage reflects a critical gap in historic preservation: sustained neglect of African American properties, particularly those associated with slavery. Very few sites on the National Register describe or identify histories of enslavement. Even famous examples of national register nomination sites, such as George Washington’s…

Historic preservation is almost always focused on the protection of a building or a structure's exterior. Because of this flexibility, residents of historic districts freely remodel the interiors of their homes while external facades are saved from the wrecking ball and incorporated into new construction. Nonetheless, DC's historic preservation regulations allow for the designation of "building interiors." Therefore, interiors are occasionally designated for their historic and/or architectural…