Southwest Waterfront, Washington, D.C.

Southwest Waterfront is a residential neighborhood in Southwest Washington, D.C.. Southwest is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is Bellevue, which, being east of the Anacostia River, is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in Southeast. For that reason many residents of Southwest Waterfront will simply refer to themselves as living in "Southwest."

Southwest Waterfront is bounded by Interstate 395 to the north, Washington Channel to the west, the Anacostia River to the south, and South Capitol Street to the east. Politically, Southwest Waterfront lies in Ward 6.

Southwest Waterfront is part of Pierre L'Enfant's original city plans and includes some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the Wheat Row block of townhouses, built in 1793, and Fort McNair, which was established in 1791 as "the U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point."

After the Civil War, the Southwest Waterfront became a neighborhood for the poorer classes of Washingtonians. The neighborhood was divided in half by Fourth Street SW, then known as 4 ¹⁄₂ Street; Scottish, Irish, German, and eastern European immigrants lived west of 4 ¹⁄₂ Street, while freed blacks lived to the east. Each half was centered on religious establishments: St. Dominic's Catholic Church and Temple Beth Israel on the west, and Friendship Baptist Church on the east. (Also, each half of the neighborhood was the childhood residence of a future American musical star — Al Jolson lived on 4 ¹⁄₂ Street for a time, and Marvin Gaye was born in a tenement on First Street.)

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