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46-633: Located on the Southwest Waterfront of Washington, D.C. , in the shadow of Interstate 395 , the Maine Avenue Fish Market stands as a cultural relic popular with locals and little known the tourists who flock to the monuments and museums just five blocks north. There are more than ten stores, each with a specialty. The Maine Avenue Fish Market is open throughout the week, with the largest selection of fish on display Friday evening through Sunday. A multitude of fresh seafood

92-678: A companion piece to Tiber Island by the same architects. In 1968, the Titanic Memorial was moved to the Washington Channel , near Fort McNair in Southwest Waterfront. The Washington Metro built the Waterfront Metro station on its Green Line and opened it in 1991. The District of Columbia Public Library operates a branch library in the neighborhood. The Southwest Neighborhood Library

138-661: A few buildings were left intact, notably the Maine Avenue Fish Market , the Wheat Row townhouses, the Thomas Law House , and the St. Dominic's and Friendship churches. The Southeast/Southwest Freeway section of Interstate 395 was constructed where F Street, SW, separated the quadrant's business district from the residential Waterfront neighborhood. The heart of the urban renewal of the Southwest Waterfront

184-485: A glass and aluminum high-rise building that architect Charles Goodman designed. Constructed in 1965 in a pinwheel shape with a large courtyard and with town houses in its quadrants, Tiber Island , which architects Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon designed, received the American Institute of Architects award for Multi-Family Residential design in 1966. Carrollsburg was completed in 1967 and developed as

230-460: A green roof, and received LEED Platinum certification for environmental design. Starting around 2003, the Southwest Waterfront began gentrifying. A number of the neighborhood's apartment buildings began extensive renovations and condominium conversions. Residential and commercial developers started to take a more serious interest in Southwest. In 2004, the city announced that it would build

276-490: A new building and having made application for the new quarters. By that time, the existing buildings had been in use for close to 40 years. No proper sewerage existed and all the water run-offs went in the ground under the buildings. Finally, on July 21, 1914, the District appropriation bill created the post of Market master and wharfinger and approved $ 50,000 to rebuild the wharves and prepare plans. On March 3, 1915, $ 125,000

322-829: A railway bridge during the American Civil War . It was also the access point to the Capital for steamboat lines. The following lines operated from there in 1903: the Washington & Potomac Steamboat Company , the Maryland, Delaware & Virginia B.Y. Company and the Norfolk & Washington Steamboat Company . In the 1950s, city planners working with the Congress decided that the entire Southwest quadrant should undergo significant urban renewal — in this case,

368-487: A result, except for a few scattered buildings such as Thomas Law's (a land speculator who was able to put down pounds sterling) and workers' shanties, settlement of the Southwest Waterfront was extremely slow. Despite his crippling of the region's growth, Greenleaf's name was eventually given to the section of land along the bank of the river on which the Arsenal stood. Law himself was the other prominent figure in defining

414-556: A thriving commercial district with grocery stores, shops, a movie theater, as well as a few large and elaborate houses—mostly owned by wealthy blacks— but most of the neighborhood was a very poor shantytown of tenements, shacks, and even tents. The latter were frequent subjects of photographs published with captions like, "The Washington that tourists never see." It was also a major traffic hub from Virginia. The Long Bridge connected horse, stagecoach, and foot traffic from Alexandria, VA to Maryland Avenue SW before becoming

460-582: Is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in Southeast . Southwest Waterfront is bounded by Interstate 395 to the north, Washington Channel to the west, the Anacostia River to the south, and South Capitol Street to the east. Politically, Southwest Waterfront lies in Ward 6. Southwest Waterfront is part of Pierre L'Enfant 's original city plans. It includes some of the oldest buildings in

506-655: Is sold on floating barges that line the pier along Water Street. These barges, which rise and fall with the tide, are a tribute to an old tradition dating back to the Civil War . For years, fishmongers would navigate once a week down the Potomac to the Chesapeake. There, they would purchase seafood from the watermen and head back to the Washington, D.C., wharf. In 1961, refrigerated trucks became more efficient to bring

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552-490: The Soviet Premier that the nation's capital was working to assist its more impoverished citizens. Due to its history of urban redevelopment, most of the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood is composed of large cooperatives or condominiums, often containing both townhouses and apartment buildings. Most of the building projects are examples of Modern Architecture . Constructed in 1962, River Park contains townhouses and

598-560: The Fish Wharf was placed under the control of Col. W.C. Haskell, Superintendent of Weights, Measures and Markets of the District. Wharfage fees remain the same. At the time, the three wharves were used for: On July 12, 1913, the retail of melons at the wharf was banned by the District Commissioners. In addition, fish were sold in 17 shacks facing Water Street SW between 11th Street SW and 12th Street SWe. A plan for

644-479: The New Market called for a main building to be built along Water Street SW with wings extending along the wharves. The cost was estimated at $ 98,000 for the building with an additional $ 25,000 for the smoking and packing houses. An addition $ 10,000 would be needed to improve the surroundings. However, the funds were not approved in 1913 in the District appropriation bill in spite of all the dealers being ready for

690-412: The Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, during which time he attended Syphax Elementary School and then Randall Junior High School . 38°52′52″N 77°00′59″W  /  38.8812°N 77.0164°W  / 38.8812; -77.0164 Snowden Ashford Snowden Ashford (1866–1927) was an American architect who worked in Washington, D.C., his native city. Born on January 1, 1866, Ashford

736-490: The area. The residential aspect of the project began with a large apartment complex and park called Potomac Place, located on 4th Street between G and I Streets. When Nikita Khrushchev visited Washington in 1959, he pointed out to President Dwight D. Eisenhower the substandard dwellings that stood on the way from Bolling Air Force Base (where Khrushchev had arrived in the city) to the downtown area; Eisenhower, in response, ordered their driver to pass by Potomac Place to show

782-578: The catch from the Eastern Shore and the "buy boats" were permanently docked and later replaced by today's steel barges. The Washington wharf has hosted a fish market since the 1790s, when fisherman sold their catch directly off their boats. The Maine Avenue Fish Market has been in continuous operation since 1805, making it the oldest operating fish market in the United States and 17 years older than New York City's Fulton Fish Market , which

828-691: The city would acquire nearly all land south of the National Mall (except Bolling Air Force Base and Fort McNair), either through voluntary purchases or through the use of eminent domain , evict virtually all of its residents and businesses, destroy many of its streets and all of its buildings and landscapes, and start again from scratch. There was some opposition to the plan, notably from the Southwest Civic Association, because of its emphasis on building luxury housing rather than supplying low and moderate-income dwellings to replace

874-461: The city, including the Wheat Row block of townhouses, built in 1793, the Thomas Law House , built in 1796, and Fort McNair , which was established in 1791 as "the U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point." Before the federal government's survey and appropriation of the District of Columbia, most of what is now Southwest Waterfront was part of a large slave plantation owned by Notley Young. After the city

920-448: The city. Congress looked into the matter in 1912 for the 1914 budget. The District Commissioners recommended the creation of a new office of marketmaster and wharfinger, which would be in charge of wharfage, dockage rentals, rents for fish houses and a proposed fish wharf and market. They sought authorization to take over and operate the water front on the Potomac on Water Street SW between 11th Street SW and 12th Street SW. On March 15, 1913,

966-457: The developer PN Hoffman said, "Washington’s historic Fish Market will be preserved and renovated and the maritime heritage of the site promoted." District Wharf complex opened with Phase I in October 2017, including residential space, hotels, live music venues, shops and restaurants, many overlooking the redesigned wharves and marina. Water Street SW was converted to pedestrian use. Phase II of

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1012-472: The developers next door why,” co-owner Pete White said. Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a neighborhood in Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants , and the Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is Bellevue , which, being east of the Anacostia River ,

1058-525: The early character of the Southwest Waterfront. He built its first industrial outpost, a sugar refinery, in 1797. He also initiated the construction in 1802 of the Washington City Canal , which connected Tiber Creek , at the western foot of the National Mall , with the Anacostia River —then called the "Eastern Branch"—just east of the Arsenal. The canal opened in 1815 but was too shallow and subject to unstable tides to be useful as

1104-586: The frontage road of Water Street, where the waterfront buildings and wharf were located. Some support structures on Water Street, including the sole remaining land-based eatery, were scheduled to be razed ”to keep the Fish Market in safe and operable condition until the redevelopment occurs”, said an official with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. A website associated with

1150-549: The homes slated for demolition. John Ihlder , the director of the Alley Dwelling Authority, also spoke out about the plan's failure to provide enough affordable and public housing. However, the redevelopment plans, which had been crafted by architects Louis Justement and Chloethiel Woodward Smith and included modernist buildings, ample green spaces, and plenty of parking, were popular among many city residents and officials, and their appeal eventually won out. Only

1196-436: The industrial pipeline Law had hoped for; instead, it quickly filled with trash and stagnant water, isolating the Southwest from the rest of the city. As a result of Law's canal, the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood was known as The Island . It was further cut off from the city when railroad tracks were built along Maryland Avenue SW. It was known primarily for its brothels, its crime, and its filthy, decrepit alley slums, and

1242-639: The late House Representative John Conyers and former Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey . Hubert Humphrey lived there while serving as U.S. Vice President, and Thurgood Marshall , Lewis Powell , and David Souter all had homes in Southwest during their tenures on the United States Supreme Court . Singer Marvin Gaye spent his youth (until about age 15) living at the Fairfax Apartments (now demolished) at 1617 1st Street SW in

1288-403: The new Washington Nationals baseball stadium just across South Capitol Street from Southwest. The Southwest Waterfront has been targeted as a site for the next wave of DC redevelopment. Large development projects include a mixed retail-commercial-residential development at Fourth & M Streets SW (Waterfront Station); the expansion and redesign of Arena Stage; and the redesign and overhaul of

1334-444: The occupants told to leave by November 1, 1959. Instead, the vendors refused to leave, citing a clause in their leases allowing them to stay for 99 years. The deadline for moving was pushed to January 1, 1960, and then put on hold while proposals to move the seafood dealers were debated. However, a Municipal Court ruling decided on January 22, 1960, that the District was not required to move the dealers before evicting them. The building

1380-510: The project to be an interim improvement that could be in place for ten years while the area awaited further redevelopment. Hoffman-Madison Waterfront and the District of Columbia government agreed to invest $ 4 million in the project in an effort to improve neighborhood connectivity in the area. Construction began on the project in September 2017 and was completed during the spring of 2018. Current and former residents of Southwest D.C. include

1426-647: The redevelopment commenced in mid-2018 and was completed in October 2022. On November 4, 2021, two of the three barges operated by Captain White, one of the largest seafood vendors at the Market, were "detached from the pier and towed by boat down the Potomac River," Washingtonian magazine reported. The third barge is to leave as well in December, and the business reestablished elsewhere. “You’re going to have to ask

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1472-710: The redevelopment project opened with a four-day series of public events during October 2017. In April 2017, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approved plans for a staircase and bicycle paths through Benjamin Banneker Park to connect the Mall and L'Enfant Plaza to the Southwest Waterfront. In addition, the project would add lighting and trees to the area. The NCPC and the National Park Service intended

1518-647: The spring of 1918. On August 7, 1958, the House District Committee approved the demolition of the Municipal Fish Market and the nearby Farmers' Market to make way for the Southwest Waterfront Renewal Project. The bill passed the full council soon after. Thirteen restaurants and seafood dealers occupied the building at the time. The two-story brick Municipal Fish Market was scheduled to be razed and

1564-606: The waterfront itself, to include residences, office space, hotels, and retail establishments. On March 19, 2014, developers PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette broke ground on a massive redevelopment of D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront into a mixed-use complex named "The Wharf" . Stretching across 24 acres of land and more than 50 acres of water from the Municipal Fish Market to Fort McNair, The Wharf, when complete, will feature more than 3 million square feet of residential, office, hotel, retail, cultural, and public uses including waterfront parks, promenades, piers and docks. The first phase of

1610-419: The west and Blacks to the east. Each half was centered on religious establishments: St. Dominic's Catholic Church and Temple Beth Israel on the west and Friendship Baptist Church on the east. Each half of the neighborhood was the childhood residence of a future American musical star; Al Jolson lived on 4 1 ⁄ 2 Street and Marvin Gaye was born in a tenement on First Street.) The Waterfront developed

1656-418: The wharf since about 1803. T.W. Riley had been involved in its operation for close to 80 years when he died aged 93 in 1912. The wharf was leased to W.W. Riley, T.W.'s son, until March 15, 1908, when the lease was not renewed. Litigation ended on March 15, 1913. Meanwhile, sanitation concerns and the smell emanating from the fish wharf drew the public to request the building of a municipal fish market managed by

1702-541: The wharfage fee was $ 105 per month. The Fish Market has been praised by urban planners as an example of the sort of small-scale, integrated streetscape that has been displaced by large-scale urban redevelopment in much of the Washington, D.C., area. However, the Market is somewhat isolated from the Mall due to its location under the freeway, and the city has refrained from promoting it as an attraction due to uncertainty about whether it can be preserved. By 2009, plans were underway to once again redevelop Maine Avenue and remove

1748-581: Was Waterside Mall, a small shopping center/office complex mostly occupied by a Safeway grocery store and satellite offices for the United States Environmental Protection Agency . The Arena Stage was built a block west of the Mall, and a number of hotels and restaurants were built on the riverfront to attract tourists. The now closed Southeastern University , a very small college that had been chartered in 1937, also established itself as an important institution in

1794-416: Was appropriated to build the buildings on the site of the municipal fish wharf and market, including refrigeration and cold-storage plants to accommodate retail and wholesale. The total amount to be spent was fixed at $ 185,000. The building was designed by Municipal Architect Snowden Ashford and built at a cost of $ 150,000 with an additional $ 50,000 spent on the three concrete wharves. The building opened in

1840-520: Was closed on February 1, 1960, and its demolition slated to start on March 1, 1960. The fishing boats remained on site, their future uncertain. After several years of negotiations and planning, decks and a marina along with several buildings were announced, but the displaced businesses had no new home in 1965. Ultimately, the current Municipal Pier was built for the market under the I-395 12th Street highway offramp. Vendors occupy new floating barges. In 1987,

1886-593: Was educated at Rittenhouse Academy and at the Christian Brothers Roman Catholic school. He studied architecture at Lafayette College and, upon graduation, entered the office of Alfred B. Mullett , who had formerly been supervising architect of the United States Treasury. Ashford entered the District service in 1895 and became Washington's first municipal architect. The Washington Post characterized him as "Architect of

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1932-415: Was established, much of the former Young plantation was purchased by a Bostonian venture capitalist named James Greenleaf, who received a discount on sixty thousand real estate lots in exchange for a promise to build ten new houses on them per year. Greenleaf, however, had not secured the financial backing he had claimed and was unable to finance the promised construction. (He declared bankruptcy in 1797. ) As

1978-521: Was first opened in 1940 as part of the then-new Thomas Jefferson Memorial Junior High School and then reopened in its current location in 1965. In 2019, it was fully demolished and reopened with a completely new structure May 15, 2021 (at a cost of approximately $ 18 million). The new Southwest Library offers a large meeting room, multiple smaller conference and study rooms, an outdoor reading porch, and an Innovation Lab with 3D printers . It features an environmentally sustainable design with solar panels and

2024-659: Was moved to the Bronx in 2005. The Maine Avenue Market was moved a few blocks along the Washington Channel in the 1960s. On March 19, 1823, by Ordinance of the Corporation of the City of Washington established the following sites are established as " fishdocks ": The wharf on the Potomac was located at the end of M Street SW. At the time, the corner of 7th Street SW and M Street SW did not exist. Until 1880, no revenue

2070-545: Was paid to the city for the fish wharf until W.A. Wimsatt & Co. leased it from the city government. The wharf moved just north to where 11th Street SW lands on the river with rents paid annually in February. Several species of fish were sold at the market. By 1900, a lot of shad was sold at the Washington fish wharf, while herrings were mainly sold at the Alexandria wharf, across the river. The Riley family had owned

2116-461: Was regarded as among the worst neighborhoods in Washington. After the Civil War , with the Canal covered, the Southwest Waterfront became more organized. However, it remained a neighborhood for the poorer classes of Washingtonians. The neighborhood was divided in half by Fourth Street SW—then known as 4 1 ⁄ 2 Street— with Scottish, Irish, German, and eastern European immigrants to

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