Anacostia, located in southeast Washington, D.C., is bordered by the Anacostia and Potomac rivers on the west, Southern Avenue on the east, and Good Hope and Naylor roads on the north. Located in the city’s Ward 8, Anacostia has approximately 71,000 residents.

Anacostia gets its name from an early community of people who once lived in the area. In 1608, Captain John Smith navigated the Chesapeake Bay, and sailed up the Potomac River and found Nacotchtanke, a Native American trading village. The Nacotchtanks, later called Nacostines, were fishermen and farmers.

The early English explorers encouraged more Europeans to migrate to the area. Most were farmers who grew tobacco. Those who worked the tobacco fields included tenant farmers, indentured servants, and enslaved Africans.

Design by Pearline Waldrop

Anacostia is one of the District’s first suburbs. In 1854, land developers established Uniontown (now called Historic Anacostia) as a place where Navy Yard workers could live. In the beginning, land ownership was restricted to whites, only. Later in 1877, abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass was able to purchase a home that he called “Cedar Hill.”

Before the Civil War, many free blacks settled in other parts of Anacostia. Tobias Henson, for example, owned land in the Congress Heights section. The population of the Barry’s Farm, later Barry Farms, section, also called Hillsdale, increased with more free blacks after the war. Solomon G. Brown, another resident, was a poet, Smithsonian Institution employee, and elected official who represented the Barry’s Farm community.

Anacostia continued to grow and change. Over time, as the population increased, transportation improved, streets were paved, sewers and electricity were brought in, and more houses were built. During the 1950s, white residents left the area as more blacks moved in. Up until the late 1950s, Anacostia had sections that were racially segregated. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the area is approximately 92% African American, 5% white American, and 1% or less Asian, American Indian, or another race.

In Anacostia, you will find the Ft. Stanton and Garfield Heights communities, Anacostia Park, and St. Elizabeths Hospital. Anacostia also has public and private schools, a national historic landmark, private and public housing, a variety of businesses, cultural events, public art, a Smithsonian museum, Metro train station, District of Columbia government offices, health centers, and churches. It promises to be an even greater community with new businesses and houses being built every day.