Home | Newsletter | Advertise

The Community that Became Sursum Corda in DC

  • March 19th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

Last fall, UrbanTurf took a look at the interesting alley dwelling networks uncovered in a century-old survey conducted in the District. Now, we have a glimpse at what some of those communities looked like.

The Library of Congress has a repository of digitized photographs taken around DC in the 1930s, and a particular series by photographer Carl Mydans highlights a community straddling North Capitol Street, the west half of which was replaced by the Sursum Corda Cooperative in the late 1960s. The Sursum Corda community was recently razed and there are plans in the works to construct a mixed-income, mixed-use development on the site with over 1,100 housing units.

Check out a few of Mydans's images below. 

"View of alley in Northwest Washington, behind North Capitol Street. Blake School in background". Dated November 1935. Click to enlarge.
"Alley dwellings between Pierce Street, L Street, First Street and North Capitol Street". Dated November 1935. Click to enlarge.
"Houses in vicinity of First and L Street". Dated November 1935. Click to enlarge.
"Housing in the vicinity of Pierce Street, L Street, First Street and North Capitol". Dated November 1935. Click to enlarge.
"Alley near L Street, N.W. Blake School in background." Dated November 1935. Click to enlarge.

All photos courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection.

See other articles related to: alley dwellings, alleys, dc history, history, photography, sursum corda

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-community-that-became-sursum-corda/15123.

Pipeline: New Condos & Apartments Coming to the DC Area

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse