Brookland/Northeast
Where: Northeast of the Capitol
What’s in a name: The neighborhood takes its name from a housing development built after the Civil War on land formerly owned by Colonel Jehiel Brooks. The neighborhood is also sometimes called “Little Rome,” thanks to its collection of more than 60 Catholic sites.
Thumbnail: Northeast is home to Civil War-era forts and landmarks, quiet residential streets and picturesque places like the 446-acre National Arboretum. The Roman Catholic Church bought up tracts of land here in the late 19th century to build the Catholic University of America, which attracted additional Catholic sites like the Franciscan Monastery and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Calling cards: Picnic in the peaceful gardens of the Franciscan Monastery or pause for quiet reflection in the largest Catholic Church in the U.S. Wander through the National Arboretum’s two-acre herb garden or the National Bonsai Museum, and don’t miss its thousands of brightly-colored azaleas in full bloom each May.
Getting there: Take Metro to the Brookland/ CUA station.
Explore the Neighborhood
Learn more about the history of Brookland through Cultural Tourism DC's neighborhood website.
Along with the neighborhood's well-known Catholic sites, it's also home to historic treasures like St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Rock Creek Cemetery and the newly-refurbished President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument, plus local performing arts mainstay Dance Place.
