History of Adams Morgan

Adams Morgan is situated just outside the original city of Washington as planned by Charles Pierre L’Enfant.The area developed as an urban district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the city expanded, a process greatly facilitated by the construction of two streetcar lines on Columbia Road and 18th Street.

The area was originally known as Lanier Heights and became a fashionable, middle-class neighborhood. Following a period of decline during and after the second World War, and racial tensions thereafter, the current name was adopted sometime between the 1950s and 1960s. The name was derived by combining the names of two area schools, the predominately white-attended John Quincy Adams and the black-attended Thomas P. Morgan schools.

Since the 1970s, Adams Morgan has experienced an ongoing renaissance. Population and businesses have continued to increase. In 1975, there were only eight restaurants in the neighborhood in 1975; today there are more than 100. This continued growth and prosperity have made Adams Morgan and its commercial area on 18th Street and Columbia Road a vibrant nightspot and a desirable place to live.