Until the 1930s, the area was virtually uninhabited with only one road, Bladensburg Road, passing by it. New York Avenue was extended to Bladensburg Road in 1931. In 1932,
Cafritz Construction began building the first homes in the neighborhood on Randolph Place NE, later renamed Rand Place NE. Prior to the passage of the
1968 Fair Housing Act,
racially restrictive covenants were used to exclude
African Americans and other
racial minorities from neighborhoods developed by Cafritz Construction. In 1935, Fox Brothers built some of the neighborhood's Colonial and English two-story brick detached homes. The development was marketed with the name The Village. In 1962, the 185-unit Parkway Plaza apartment complex was built. The developer of the apartment complex donated small parcels of land to the District, which are now the Arboretum Recreation Center and a
Metropolitan Police Department station. '', July 21, 1935. ==References==