Originally home to the Piscataway Indians, the neighborhood now known as NoMa was for many years after the city’s founding a rural suburb within the boundaries of the district. By the mid-1800s, the area was inhabited primarily by working-class immigrants and nicknamed “Swampoodle” due to the swampy land and frequently overflowing Tiber Creek.
Early government investment in the neighborhood included the creation of Gallaudet University in 1856 and the creation of the Government Publishing Office in 1860. The 1908 addition of Union Station drastically changed the composition of the residential neighborhood as homes were condemned to make way for track and terminal construction and the area north of the station was physically divided by the tracks. Over time, the area surrounding the station was populated with warehouses and coal yards.
In the mid-twentieth century, as rail transportation declined, the neighborhood deteriorated. Just blocks to the north of the US Capitol, the area was characterized by vacant lots and run-down warehouses. Economic redevelopment began in the 1980s and 1990s as the blocks directly adjacent to Union Station were rebuilt for mixed use retail and office space.
In the intervening decades, transformation has slowly spread north, responding to the need for additional housing and commercial development in Washington, DC. An exercise in twenty first century urban planning, the neighborhood is envisioned as a high-density development, mixing residential, office, and commercial properties to create a vibrant and resilient neighborhood.
U.S. General Services Administration