Mid-City at the Crossroads
Mount Vernon Square is a crossroads for major D.C. thoroughfares as well as a meeting point between what was once downtown’s federal offices and largely White-owned businesses and the African American-dominated Shaw neighborhood.
It’s also the site of the Carnegie Library building. Opened in 1903 to house the Washington Public Library, it served Black and White patrons during an era when most of D.C.’s public spaces were segregated. Today it is home to the DC History Center and an Apple store.
Mount Vernon Square Historic District
This walk through the Mount Vernon Square Historic District includes an interior tour of the impeccably restored Carnegie Library building as well as:
- The Pentecostal Holiness church that helped the neighborhood survive the urban renewal era
- A single rowhouse that nurtured three enduring faith communities
- How 19th-century commercial architecture has been repurposed for 21-century uses
How many Carnegie Libraries are left in the United States?
Thanks to grants provided by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, 1,689 public libraries were built in cities and towns throughout the U.S. Of those, about 750 are still functioning as libraries today.
“The walk I took around Mt. Vernon Historic Triangle was fascinating. We had the perfect amount of walking and looking ending up close to where we started and the Metro. The information given was interesting and left me feeling connected to the neighborhood.”
Google Reviews, October 2025
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