Czech Row

After the 1948 communist coup of Czechoslovakia, a "Czech Row" or "Prague Road" enclave developed in the 2000 block of Park Road as European immigrants sought better lives in the United States. Its exiles included a four-star general and a former ambassador to Turkey, and American Sokol, an offshoot of a Czech fitness movement, offered activities for neighborhood children and held special meaning for Czech expatriates because it was banned in Czechoslovakia during both the Nazi and communist eras. Residents enjoyed the tall trees and lush park views, and other European newcomers also found a touch of home there, including families who made stuffed grape leaves from vines in the alley behind nearby Irving Street. In the 1940s, the neighborhood also included a number of Greek families who attended "Greek School" at Saint Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church; Ruby Pelecanos's father had immigrated to Washington in 1908 and operated small restaurants downtown and in Chevy Chase, and her son George later wrote thrillers set in Washington. During the 1960s, Mount Pleasant, like Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, offered affordable housing that attracted political activists, artists, and unconventional family groups, and in the early 1970s Blue Skies, a group house devoted to anti-war work and social justice, owned and occupied 1910 Park Road.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States