Sacred Places
Crispus Attucks Park
A hidden acre in an alley, a block long.
WHERE
Washington, DC
SETTING
Neighborhood
PARTNER INSTITUTION
Crispus Attucks Development Corporation
Visit
Where it is
63 U Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
What happens here
The park is a hidden 1.06-acre oasis of flowers, trees, and grass stretching the length of a city block, tucked into the alley complex behind the unit blocks of U and V Streets NW and the 2000 blocks of First and North Capitol Streets NW.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Abandoned cars in the alley.
01
The Need
Twenty years ago a visitor walking down the alley would have found a burned-out building and concrete and asphalt surfaces littered with abandoned cars.
02
The Vision
Neighbourhood residents worked together to reclaim the space and transform it. The park is named for Crispus Attucks, an African American former slave and the first person to lose his life in the Boston Massacre, heralding the beginning of the American Revolution.
03
The Transformation
The alley is now flowers, trees, and grass across 1.06 acres, owned and managed by Crispus Attucks Development Corporation, a nonprofit community development organization.
WHO TENDS IT
John Corea
Firesoul, Crispus Attucks Park
Read more →
HEAR FROM THE VISITORS
From the Little Yellow Journal
I just got let go from my job. This is the first place I went to. This bench and this little path always make me feel so much better.
I think I just got an offer for a new job! The weather is warmer! Will update soon…
