DC secrets: Blind Alleys
DC center is filled with blind alleys, so-called because they were hardly visible from the streets. These hidden backstage area is historically where the private functions of a house would take place: carriages are parked, coal is delivered, trash is removed, etc.
As the city developed, row-houses would be built around the edges of street blocks and this space on the inside would be seen as wasted. Owners then subdivided their property lots to develop commercial buildings, such as stables, barns, warehouses, tin shops and sheds.
Something else went up in the alleys, too: houses.
But alleys also became an option for people of lesser means, and some landlords developed housing in there. And despite being in poor condition, they were in high demand.
In 1912, DC accounted for 3,337 houses in 275 alleys. By 1944 no one could live in an alley house, following new regulations set by Congress. By the 1980s, most of Washington’s alleys had been greatly altered and some alleys were widened and turned into proper streets.
There are alleys in Georgetown, Foggy Bottom and Capitol Hill, but a pair of blocks in the Shaw neighborhood are the best preserved. Blagden Alley, and Naylor Court were named after men who owned lots there: Thomas Blagden, who ran a lumber yard, and grocer Dickerson Nailor. Their intact condition makes them beautiful relics of the past. Today, yoga studios, coffee shops and murals attract visitors where few would venture not so long ago.
Book a tour to discover the art and history of DC secret alleys.