National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

NPS Form 10-9W* OMB Approval No. 10244018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
CLEVELAND PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT
WASHINGTON D.C.
Section number 8 Page 1*
time again by the residents over the 90-year life span
of the neighborhood.
B. The Cleveland Park Club
The Cleveland Park Club was founded in the 1920's by
a small group of neighbors who joined together and
acquired a house in the heart of the neighborhood to
serve as a gathering place for members; in a sense it
replaced the Lodge on Connecticut Avenue (which burned
down about 1912) originally built by Sherman to house
community meetings and to provide a waiting station for
the streetcar. The Cleveland Park Club has remained an
active and central element in the community for over 60
years, a clear sign of the vitality of the neighborhood
and the desire of the residents to have a place where
they can gather with their neighbors to conduct
community business and socialize.
C. The Residents of Cleveland Park
Cleveland Park was home to businessmen and scientists
in the early years; more government people, journalists
and lawyers have been moving in from the 1950's
to the present. It has also been home to substantial
numbers of people of local and national significance.
These people have sought out Cleveland Park as a
community in which to raise their children and in which
to be involved as active participants. Over and
over again we hear that people chose this neighborhood
because of the community spirit and because it offered
a place where they and their children could feel
connected with other people and the community.
D. The Cleveland Park Businesses
As small businesses grew in the 1920's and 1930's
on Connecticut Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue the shop
keepers became an integral part of the community. As
Judith Caitlin, who grew up living in the Sedgwick
Gardens, wrote in a recent Washington Post article,
"The two blocks between Macomb and Porter streets were
lined with *Ma and Pa 1 stores... Down-the-street, as we
called our little shopping area, were special friends...
*(Judith Caitlin, "Coming of Age in Cleveland Park,"
Washington Post, September 27, 1984)
In summary, the streets of Cleveland Park visually reflect its history of
growth and change from a large tract of land supporting country and summer
houses to a streetcar suburb created by an enlightened developer and