Marshall Heights (Washington, D.C.)

Marshall Heights
Neighborhood
Map of Washington, D.C., with the Marshall Heights neighborhood highlighted in red
Coordinates: 38°53′6.5538″N 076°55′40.9038″W / 38.885153833°N 76.928028833°W / 38.885153833; -76.928028833
Country	United States
District	Washington, D.C.
Ward	Ward 7
Constructed	1886
Named for	Colonial-era Marshall family
Government
• Councilmember	Vincent C. Gray

Marshall Heights is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is bounded by East Capitol Street, Central Avenue SE, Southern Avenue, Fitch Street SE, and Benning Road SE. It was an undeveloped rural area occupied by extensive African American shanty towns, but the neighborhood received nationwide attention after a visit by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1934, which led to extensive infrastructure improvements and development for the first time. In the 1950s, Marshall Heights residents defeated national legislation designed to raze and redevelop the neighborhood. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited the area in 1991, at a time when Marshall Heights was in the throes of a violent crack cocaine epidemic. Limited redevelopment has occurred in the neighborhood, which was the site of two notorious child murders in 1973.