Although Washington, D.C., was racially segregated for much of its history, black and white Washingtonians shared parts of this neighborhood. Across 15th Street stood Portner Flats, an 1897 apartment building occupied by white residents until the end of World War II, known for its grand public dining room and parlors, large high-ceilinged apartments, resident services, and elaborate drugstore entrance. In 1945, Portner Flats became the Dunbar Hotel, at one time the largest black hotel in the nation, named for poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, who once lived in nearby LeDroit Park. The hotel became a popular gathering place for famous sports and entertainment figures, Howard University faculty, and other black professionals. Nearby, St. Augustine Catholic Church, the city’s oldest predominantly black Catholic congregation, was founded in 1858 at 15th and L Streets. In 1961, it merged with the white congregation of St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church and moved into its 1883 Gothic Revival building at Fifteenth and V Street. For 20 years, until 1982, it was known as St. Paul and Augustine, and it continues to welcome members of all races and ethnic groups.