What is this?

The Truxton Circle Project provides residents and scholars with raw data about NW Truxton Circle in the form of US Census data and maps and other evidence.

Where is Truxton Circle?

For the purposes of this project Truxton Circle is a northwest Washington, DC neighborhood bounded by North Capitol St, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Florida Avenues NW. The  city roughly defines it as being bound by New York, New Jersey and Florida Avenues, which includes a northeast portion. There used to be a traffic circle called Truxton Circle where Florida and North Capitol meet, but due to many traffic accidents it was removed in the 1940s.

Isn't this area Shaw or some other neighborhood name?

Unlike Georgetown, which was a town before the District, or Bloomingdale, which was a 'suburban' development, the neighborhood had no defined boundaries in the beginning. It was part of the original Shaw School Urban Renewal area plan in the mid 20th century, and thus a part of Shaw. Shaw is a large neighborhood and includes within those original boundaries, Logan Circle, U Street and other sub-neighborhoods like Truxton Circle. Within the boundaries of Truxton Circle is a portion of the Mt. Vernon Square Historical District, the Hanover Street and the Bates Street area neighborhoods. There are some residents who refer to the area around Dunbar High School as Dunbar/Shaw. Lastly, the NE section of Truxton Circle, as defined by the city, is covered by the NoMa (a neighborhood east of Truxton Circle) BID.

Can I find my house's history?

Maybe, but it is a good starting point. The maps and the census data both can give you a sense if your house is older than 1900, which the city says, which tends to be incorrect.

What do I do if I find an error?

Please contact me so I can see what the problem is. Email me at mari at inshaw dot com .

I'd like to do something similar for my own neighborhood, how's I go about doing that?

Download the guide "A Neighborhood Genealogy of Your Own".

Who's behind this?

M Marie Maxwell. She began this project in the early 2000s as a self directed personal project using her knowledge of and academic background in archives and history (MA, History, UMASS-Amherst; MLS, Archives Track,UMD-CP) to discover the history of her own neighborhood. By 2011 she had collected census data about her neighborhood and used the information discovered to share at historical conferences.

From June to October 2012, resident and researcher M. Marie Maxwell, with North Capitol Main Streets, Inc, applied for a grant from the DC Humanities Council, which help paid for the indexing of the 1940 data. That same period she shared her data with the world at TruxtonCircle.org