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Timeline
Colonial History – 1730
Crystal
Springs, an established farm settlement at a crossroads (Rock Creek Road
and Milk House Ford Road, now Georgia and Missouri Avenues) in the area
that would become Brightwood, from our findings, appears to be the
oldest community in the area that becomes the District of Columbia.
Vinegar Hill – 1820
The present-day Ft. Stevens area, bordered by
Georgia Avenue, Military Road, and Rock Creek Park, is the historical
site of the oldest community of freed Negro slaves within the District
of Columbia.
Fort Stevens – 1861
The home and land belonging to Mrs. (Aunt Betty)
Thomas, a free Negro woman, was appropriated by the Union Government to
build an earthen work fort for the Civil War military defense of the
District of Columbia and its three turnpike systems.
Military Road School – 1864
This school, one of the oldest authorized schools for the education of Negro children began in a former Civil War barracks. In 1911 the original wood frame school was replaced with the current modern brick school building. The Military Road School is a designated D.C. historical landmark and is presently being nominated for the national historic registry.
When
the war clouds enveloped Washington and the Emancipation Proclamation
freed the bondman, Washington at once became he mecca for the liberated,
and in 1864 some thirty thousand ex-slaves were in the District with
perhaps only two thousand under educational guidance. The community of
slaves living in the area of Ft. Stevens before, during, and after the
Civil War were a proud people—American citizens who wanted to share in
the life of the nation to the fullest.
The Military Road School was born out of slavery.
The slaves had limited freedom, but their minds were sharp and eager to
pursue life’s treasures. Historical testimony revealed that land for a
school to educate black children was freely given by two sisters (The
Butler sisters). Descendants from generations, who grew up in Brightwood
and attended the Military Road School, learned much of the area’s
history that we today can only wish we could have experienced.
The
school was named after the road on which it was located. This road, in
close proximity to Fort Stevens, was used to transport soldiers and
military equipment to and from the Fort.
The school is listed on the D.C Registry of
Historic Sites and is soon to be nominated for national recognition by
the Historic Preservation Review Office.
Lightfoot Family House – 1890
This
100-plus year-old Victorian home, which is still occupied by the
descendants of Professor George Lightftoot, head of the Classics
Department of Howard University Circa 1920, was a gathering place during
that period for important writers and academics such as Carter G.
Woodson, W.E.B. Dubois, Dr. Kelly Miller, and Dr. Alain Locke.
Current resident Carol Lightfoot Walker attended the Military Road School
and is applying for historic designation for the home.
