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Kingman Park

Published by Office of Planning | District of Columbia | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2021-03-23T15:45:55.000Z
Kingman Park is a neighborhood in northeast Washington developed in the years between World Wars I & II, during the height of segregation when black Washingtonians struggled to find decent housing. African Americans were largely shut out of new housing developments in and around the city by racially restrictive covenants.With no such restrictions imposed on the new housing in Kingman Park, house sales took off, attracting an exclusively African American population. The residential development engendered the building of a new neighborhood, including churches, businesses, and other institutions, all of which were segregated. Kingman Park residents enjoyed a vibrant and tight-knit community, but they were also removed from white Washington and were continuously denied equality in public education and recreation by government policies.To fight racial injustices, residents banded together. Several sites in Kingman Park became important scenes of civil rights demonstrations and activities contributing to the end of legally sanctioned segregation practices in the city and nationwide.In 2018, in recognition of its cultural history, the Kingman Park Historic District was created and listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places. The Kingman Park Historic District is in Northeast Washington DC, on the banks of the Anacostia River.Learn more within this story map.

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