Brookland Neighborhood

In 1887, the house and land were sold to an Ida U. Marshall, then to Benjamin F. Leighton and Richard E. Pairo, who subdivided Belair, and developed the suburb of Brookland. The mansion house itself, along with a 2 acre parcel surrounding the dwelling, were sold to Elizabeth Varney who operated a boarding house. In 1891, the Marist Brothers bought the Brooks mansion, added a wing, then sold to the Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1905. In 1906, they founded St. Anthony’s Academy for young children and operated a women’s shelter. In 1911, the Catholic University of America began educating the sisters at the mansion. In 1928, women were admitted to Catholic University of America, and the mansion became St. Anthony’s High School. During the 1870s, the B&O Railroad opened a Western Branch Line in Brookland. Neighboring Sherwood, University Heights and other tracts were also developing. The expansion of the city’s streetcars helped create a middle-class streetcar suburb, from which many Queen Anne style and other Victorian homes from this era still stand. Brookland, Edgewood and Michigan Park are sometimes referred to as “Little Rome” due to the many Catholic organizations and institutions surrounding The Catholic University of America. In 1887, the Roman Catholic Church purchased the Middletown estate, adjacent to Brookland, as the site for CUA. This attracted many other Catholic organizations and institutions to the area, including the Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery in 1905, St. Francis Hall in 1931, and the Franciscans’ Holy Name College, also in 1931. Since 1984, the College has served as the Howard University School of Divinity’s East Campus.