project<\/a> led to a range of depictions of religious buildings, from churches with august columns and stained-glass windows to a synagogue with the Ten Commandments above its entrance to a Buddhist temple with distinctive red roofs.<\/p>\n Around 50 houses of worship line the 6 1\/2-mile road, meaning they make up about a tenth of religious sanctuaries in the nation’s capital, which a local historian estimates have some 500 churches.<\/p>\n
“Particularly in the upper part of the street, there are what were originally built as residences that have been transformed into houses of worship,” said John DeFerrari, co-author of a pending book on 16th Street and author of three other books on D.C. history. “The big push for lots of churches coming on the street started in the 1920s.”<\/p>\n
DeFerrari said there are several factors that led to 16th Street being known as “the avenue of churches,” including its central location, its mostly non-commercial properties and its prestige as a direct path north from the White House.<\/p>\n
“There have been a number (of instances) of one religion buying another religion’s property,” Hoffman said of buildings that have changed hands, names and faith affiliations.<\/p>\n
DeFerrari said some of those changes were due to white flight — with Black churches gaining buildings as white Washingtonians moved to the suburbs — as well as other forms of discrimination. In one instance, a building now owned by the Unification Church was first used by a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but only with the initiative of Mary Henderson, a wealthy heiress who once lived on and controlled much of the property on 16th Street.<\/p>\n
“She ignored advice that it would be bad to have Mormons on 16th Street, and she sold them the property anyway because she thought they should have it,” said DeFerrari.<\/p>\n
The photographers, for their part, found a welcoming spirit among several of the houses of worship whose members became aware of their outdoor camerawork.<\/p>\n
At Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church of Christ, on the street’s east side, they unexpectedly became part of their own photo shoot. More than a dozen people were gathered outside preparing to go on a retreat when the photographers arrived to make the church part of their project.<\/p>\n
“They actually required us to take a picture of them and then with them,” Hoffman said. “We had to be in the picture with them.”<\/p>\n
A group shot in front of the church’s arched doorways stands out among the many photos in the collection, which mostly includes houses and houses of worship but few humans.<\/p>\n
Sewall and Hoffman did face some challenges, such as having to explain to some why they wanted to take photos on what was often a sacred day for building occupants. It was also difficult to capture entire edifices, some with steeples.<\/p>\n
“They’re very tall buildings, and sometimes it’s hard to get the whole darned building into the picture,” said Sewall. “You have to shoot across the street, and when you do that, you got to wait for gaps in traffic or the bottom third of your picture is just going to be car roofs. So there was a lot of waiting it out.”<\/p>\n
The project, which began at one church, ended at another: St. John’s Episcopal Church, the oldest church on the street, dating to 1816. As with most of the other edifices in the collection, Sewall and Hoffman each have included at least one image of the yellow church with white columns that is located across Lafayette Square from the White House.<\/p>\n
Even after completing their last 2 1\/2-hour photo shoot, the men continued another ground rule of their project before their trek home.<\/p>\n
“Then we go get a bagel,” said Sewall, laughing with his photography partner. “Sesame with cream cheese, toasted.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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