TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW! CLEVELAND PARK DAY OF TOURS, OCTOBER 1
On Sunday, October 1st, we are offering three different tours focusing on aspects of Cleveland Park’s history. Each tour will be led by an expert guide and will be limited to 25 people, so don’t wait — get your tickets now using the links below! Scroll down to see all the tour choices.
There is a separate registration link for each tour. To get the member discount for these tours, join or renew your membership at our membership page, or you can buy a membership as part of the ticket-buying process. Memberships purchased now are good through the end of next year and give a full 15 months of discounts for our events.
Tregaron Landscape History & Stewardship: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour
Sponsored by The Tregaron Conservancy
10:00-11:00 AM
Lynn Parseghian, Executive Director of the Tregaron Conservancy, leads a behind-the-scenes tour of the Conservancy. The Tregaron landscape was designed a century ago by the pioneering landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman in partnership with Charles Adams Platt, the leading architect of the American Country House Movement. The tour will showcase the Conservancy’s current projects aimed at recapturing the Estate’s historic landscape design and the Conservancy’s ongoing stewardship of the landmark.
We will email registrants with details about where to meet for the start of the tour.
Tickets are $15 for CPHS members and $30 for non-members.
The Development of Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park, 1916 to 1952
2:00-3:30 PM
Judy Hubbard, longtime leader of the Cleveland Park Historical Society, leads a history tour of Cleveland Park’s Connecticut Avenue commercial area, focusing on its development from the 1916 building of the firehouse to the former Cleveland Park library in 1952.
There will be an optional gathering for refreshments after the tour.
We will email registrants with details about where to meet for the start of the tour.
Tickets are $20 for CPHS members and $35 for non-members.
The Kit Houses of Cleveland Park
3:00-5:00 PM
Kit house expert Catarina Bannier leads a tour of houses in Cleveland Park by Sears, Aladdin, and other kit house companies of the early 20th century. Learn what kit houses are, how to identify them, and how they fit into the development of Cleveland Park.
The tour will include a visit to a Sears house that is still lived in by the family that built it 95 years ago. Refreshments will be served.
We will email registrants with details about where to meet for the start of the tour.
Tickets are $25 for CPHS members and $40 for non-members.
The UPTOWN Sign *UPDATE 7/31: AMC will keep the sign!*
AMC Theaters spokesman Ryan Noonan issued this statement this afternoon: “In response to community feedback, AMC will maintain the Uptown signage, with an upgrade to LED lighting for better energy efficiency and to ensure the sign remains in good working order. We continue to evaluate additional exterior signage plans, including the addition of the AMC brand on the theatre. We appreciate the passion and feedback from the community, and look forward to serving moviegoers at AMC Uptown 1 for years to come.”
The DC Historic Preservation Office (HPO) has canceled AMC’s application and will require a new application from them for any further signage they may propose, as well as for the proposed change to LED for the Uptown sign. Once HPO has received an application with the specifics of the proposed change, if they determine that a change in lighting technology would not alter the character of the sign, they will approve it administratively. If they believe there would be a change to the character of the sign, they will send it to the neighborhood (ARC and ANC) for review. We will update when we know more.
Thanks to everyone who wrote to AMC, contacted them via social media, and expressed concern to us and love for the Uptown’s iconic sign. And special thanks to ANC Commissioner Emma Hersh for being out in front on this issue all weekend. [Read More…]
Connecticut Avenue Issues: Resources and Studies
The CPHS board and staff have been following closely the conversations taking place in the neighborhood about the stresses on our Connecticut Avenue commercial district. We have been attending, and will continue to participate in, meetings with neighborhood organizations and merchants to explore ways to support neighborhood businesses and revitalize Connecticut Avenue.
Our Preservation Task Force (PTF), a newly-formed committee of the board, is studying the issues involved from a historic preservation perspective. The PTF’s mandate is to make recommendations to the board on preservation-related policies and advocacy. The PTF includes five members of the board, including two ARC members. Contact the PTF by email.
While discussions are ongoing, we wanted to share as much useful information as we can to help inform the conversation, including historical, historic preservation, and zoning information, and studies commissioned by neighborhood and DC organizations. We will continue to update this post with more resources.
MARKET STUDIES
The 2017 Neighborhood Profiles directory by the Washington, DC Economic Partnership provides demographic and economic data for 54 neighborhood commercial areas, including Cleveland Park, with a focus on population in the half-mile walkshed for each.
This Commercial Market Analysis and Enhancement Strategy for Cleveland Park (October 2016) was commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and shared with us by the Cleveland Park Business Association.
ZONING
The Neighborhood Mixed Use Zones subtitle of the current (2016) zoning code, which includes the Cleveland Park zone NC-3.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Understanding the Cleveland Park Historic District
This page has a map of the historic district showing contributing and noncontributing buildings, and links to our National Register of Historic Places nomination, which provides a detailed history of the Park & Shop and the Connecticut Avenue business district and the arguments for their significance on which our historic status is based.
This 1991 issue of our newsletter reports on the addition to the Park & Shop that was reviewed by HRPB and built that year. Other early issues of Voices provide perspective on 1980s activism to preserve the neighborhood-serving retail district on Connecticut Avenue.
DC Historic Preservation Law
DC’s preservation law and regulations are posted here: https://planning.dc.gov/page/hp-laws-and-regulations .
This Georgetown Law Library site (which originated with Tersh Boasberg’s preservation law seminar) aggregates all kinds of useful resources on DC preservation law: https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/761426
CPHS Board News and New Preservation Task Force
Annual Meeting Talk
At our annual meeting on May 22nd, we had a great talk by Tom Moriarity on preservation and retail development in our Connecticut Avenue corridor. His recommendation that Cleveland Park form a Business Improvement District or Main Street Program to bring funding and professional support to neighborhood placemaking and businesses is being actively pursued by business owners and community organization leaders. CPHS is eager to support these efforts. [Read More…]
Pics from March 9th Visit to the Historical Society of Washington
Thanks to Anne McDonough, HSW’s Director of Library Collections (and photographer) for these pics! We had a great time looking at CPHS’s archives, Kathy Wood’s photo collection, Baist real estate atlases, city directories, property records of Uriah Forrest, and more. [Read More…]
Rural Remnants of Washington County: Download the Report
We had a fascinating talk on February 9th by Kim Williams of the DC Historic Preservation Office on her research on houses and outbuildings that remain from before the "suburban" development of Washington's outer neighborhoods. If you missed the talk, or if you'd like to … [Read More...]
What is the Period of Significance and what does it mean for Cleveland Park?
In the Cleveland Park Historic District, buildings built between 1880 and 1941 have the full protection of the District of Columbia’s historic preservation ordinance, the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act (1978). Those built in 1942 or after do not. Thus … [Read More...]
Where Was Grover Cleveland’s House?
Here at CPHS, we've received quite a flurry of queries from neighbors recently about where Grover Cleveland's house was. We're not sure what prompted the sudden interest,* but it seemed like a good topic for a blog post. … [Read More...]
“Connecticut Avenue Highlands”
When Cleveland Park was first developed around the turn of the 20th century, it was known as "Connecticut Avenue Highlands". You can just make out a billboard advertising the new development in this photo. The billboard is near the current site of the Uptown Theater and the … [Read More...]
