Neighborhood Trail Places Historical Markers on Georgia Ave

Minutes after Cultural Tourism DC unveiled the their newest and 12th neighborhood trail, "Lift Every Voice "Georgia Ave./ Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail, Reggie Kelley guided a group of residents on the "Growing Up On Georgia Avenue" tour.  

Starting from Sign 5 at the Howard University Hospital to Sign 12 "Beyond the Basics", Kelley shared his stories of his childhood in the neighborhood as he and four other people trailed up Georgia Avenue. He reminisced on what it was like to participate in the mandatory JROTC program, the streetcars, the drug epidemic, Banneker recreation center and the nightlife.

Just as he started on Sign 2 of the trail, he remembered being a small boy hanging outside the doors of Mike's New Breed on 7th street listening to the house bands wishing that he could go inside.

"There was always something going in the neighborhood at nighttime and I just loved watching all the older people walk around in their flashy clothing enjoying themselves," he said.

During the tour Kelley also explained how WUST Radio Hall, now the 9:30 Club, used to be the best radio station in the area as it played the best gospel, rhythm and blues music of that era.  

As he stopped in front of what is now the Howard University Student Health Center, a smiled spread across Kelley's face as he reminisced on what is was like for him and his friends to have paper route and make extra money off of metal scraps.

"When all the boys in the neighborhood turned 11 we all got paper routes. And we would get up everyday around 4:00 A.M, get in our wooden wagons and ride down Georgia Avenue, hit a corner at Florida and go to the Evening Star to pick up the papers," Kelley said. Eventually we had to stop riding in our wagons down the street but every boy was excited to have a paper route.

But growing up on Georgia Avenue didn't always mean fun times. The race riots after Dr. Martin King Jr. death will always be a memory in Kelley's head.

" The riots were a scary time.  People were burning down everything…I remember when one white man slowed down in his car and was attacked. So many people were upset," he said.

The Georgia Ave./ Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail tells the stories of the neighborhood, those like Reggie's Kelley's, which are apart of the neighborhood's history and legacy.

"Georgia Ave. may be changing, but the history of the natives will remain and I'm grateful for this new trail because when the buildings are torn down and the ‘chocolateness' of the neighborhood is gone, these signs we tell our stories," said 54 year-old, Juliana Brown of Washington.

Along the Lift Every Voice: Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail visitors and residents will be able to enjoy 19 streets signs combined with history, photography, and maps that tell the story of Georgia Avenue with its rich monuments and memories—from Howard University, Duke Ellington and Chuck Brown to the site of Griffith Stadium, Zora Neale Hurston's rooming house and much more.