Rich in history and economic potential, the neighborhoods surrounding St. Elizabeths East form a vibrant tapestry of classic architecture, culture, community engagement, and public and private investment. Many of the neighborhoods surrounding St. Elizabeths East were once farmland and the rural character remains laced between the houses, apartment buildings, and institutions that have replaced the farm buildings and fields.

Nearest to St Elizabeths East, the neighborhood of Congress Heights can trace its history to a billboard placed by a hopeful developer, Colonel Arthur Emmett Randle in the 1890s and reading, “Watch for a Town—Congress Heights.” A Mississippi native who moved to the nation’s capital in 1885, Randle owned a parcel immediately south of the National Race Course and a small frame public schoolhouse that served all the children in this corner of the District.  Congress Heights residents (originally truck farmers, nurserymen, bulb growers, florists, and fruit dealers) coupled with travelers from Maryland created a demand for the basic services and eventually the commercial establishments that today populate an area intersected by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Avenues.

Ward 8 is also home to several large federal and local institutions, including Bolling Air Force Base and the St. Elizabeths West campus, being developed today as a future home for Department of Homeland Security offices, including those of the U.S. Coast Guard.