Neighborhood profile: Edgewood

The Edgewood neighborhood of northeast DC- bound on the south by Rhode Island Avenue, the north by Michigan Avenue, the east by the Metro tracks and the west primarily by Glenwood Cemetery- is a small neighborhood in the heart of DC's historic "Little Rome" (a nod to the many Catholic institutions in the neighborhood) and slated for large developments in the near future.

While the neighborhood today consists primarily of row homes and apartment buildings, Edgewood's current state belies it's historic existence as the large Edgewood Manor estate owned by Secretary of the Treasury (and later, Supreme Court Chief Justice) Mr. Salmon Chase, and his daughters- "The Belle of the North"- Miss Kate Chase and her younger sister, Nettie. Kate Chase used the Edgewood Manor estate to further her father's political career, welcoming in dignitaries, political operatives and the "who's who" of the District. Rumors abounded that Miss Chase was seeking to trump First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in her role as DC's premier hostess (and more rumors abounded that she succeeded) and Miss Chase's marriage to "the boy governor" William Sprague was the social event of the Civil War. Though she died in relative poverty following a nasty divorce, the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote of Kate: "No Queen has ever reigned under the Stars and Stripes, but this remarkable woman came closer to being a Queen than any American woman has."

While no traces of Edgewood Manor exist today, the Edgewood neighborhood claims significant commercial development, and is home to Monroe Street Market (home to a personal favorite, Brookland Pint), the Arts Walk and Dance Place, and has easy access to Metro's Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland-CUA metro stops. The Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT), which runs from The National Mall to Fort Totten Station, runs directly along the eastern border of the neighborhood and provides easy walking, running or biking access to the city. The neighborhood's Rhode Island Avenue Center (located on Salmon Chase's original property) is currently experiencing a major overhaul as well, and will deliver 45,000 square feet of retail space and 345 apartments when it's first phase is completed in the next year and a half. Kate Chase might not recognize the land around her former home, but Edgewood is a neighborhood well worth exploring.