The U Street Corridor is a collection of shops, restaurants, nightclubs, galleries and residences along a nine-block stretch of U Street in northwest Washington, D.C. It extends from 9th Street on the east to 18th Street and Florida Avenue on the west. Most of this area is part of the larger Shaw neighborhood with the western end entering the Dupont Circle neighborhood. It is served by the U Street Metro Station.

Music and culture

U Street has long been a center of Washington's music scene with the Lincoln Theatre, Howard Theatre, Bohemian Caverns, and other clubs and historic jazz venues. The 9:30 Club and the Black Cat musical venues are located nearby as well.

While always racially diverse, the area was predominately white and middle class until 1900. As Washington became progressively more segregated, the neighborhood emerged as a fashionable neighborhood for Washington's African-American residents. U Street became the city's most important concentration of businesses and entertainment facilities owned and operated by blacks, while the surrounding n

eighborhood became home to many of the city's most prominent African Americans.^[1] Until the 1920s, when it was overtaken by Harlem, the U Street area was home to the largest urban African American community in the United States.^[3] In its cultural heyday, it was known as "Black Broadway", a phrase coined by singer Pearl Bailey.^[4] Duke Ellington's childhood home was located on 13th street between T and S street. The Lincoln Theater opened in 1921, and Howard Theater in 1926.^[5]

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