DC’s Hidden Places: Gessford Court

• May 28, 2014

by Lark Turner

Gessford Court

In Hidden Places, UrbanTurf takes a look at some of the charming but lesser-known one- and two-block streets in the District. This week, we take a look at Gessford Court SE, a tucked-away alley on Capitol Hill.

Gessford Court, bounded by 11th and 12th Streets SE to the east and west and Independence and C Streets SE to the north and south (map), is a cross-shaped section of alley near Capitol Hill’s Lincoln Park and Eastern Market. The alley is home to a small number of petite, mostly two-bedroom rowhouses, all but two of which face east. On the opposite side of the brick-lined street are two rowhouses and a set of garages. Many of the backyards on Independence and C Streets have views onto the alley.

A 2010 article in The Washington Post describes Gessford Court as the type of enclave where neighbors hold on to keys and shovel snow for one another.

Gessford Court was once home to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., an influential Civil Rights Leader. Powell renovated the homes and turned a nice profit of about $5,000 on two of the homes after renovating them.

Needless to say, the quaint homes are worth a lot more now. The most recent sale on the street took place in 2013, when one of the semi-detached homes sold for $455,000.

A cactus peeks out of a window at 21 Gessford Court.

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• DC’s Hidden Places: Georgetown’s Orchard Lane
• DC’s Hidden Places: Wylie Street
• DC’s Hidden Places: Duncan Place
• The Hidden Block of Georgetown
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This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_hidden_places_gessford_court/8535