dent house

The Dent House opened its doors on June 19, 2019, to commemorate the history of Juneteenth and the legacy of James C. Dent. The community center serves as a vibrant hub for the surrounding neighborhood, offering workforce development programs, such as Green Infrastructure, Hospitality, and Kingman Rangers (planned for next year), as well as education initiatives like Robotics and Tuesday Afterschool Music Program. It is also a community space available to local groups, providing opportunities for youth and community engagement activities following Living Classrooms’ “Learning by Doing” approach.

The James C. Dent House is a historic building near Pepco’s Waterfront substation in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of the District of Columbia. Pepco restored the house as part of its commitment to supporting local communities and partnered with Living Classrooms to create education programming for youth and adults in the surrounding area.

The Dent House is located in the rapidly developing Buzzard Point neighborhood, adjacent to three public housing developments owned by the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA): James Creek, Greenleaf Gardens, and Syphax Gardens. Programs at the Dent House were designed after assessing the needs and input of families living in the 600 nearby residential units.

The Dent House has a long and meaningful history in the Southwest neighborhood. Built in 1906 as the home and parsonage of Rev. James Clinton Dent, the house stands as a testament to his legacy. Born into slavery in 1855, Rev. Dent later became the second pastor of Mount Moriah Baptist Church and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of his community members. In 2010, the house was designated a Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, symbolizing both progress and the heroic contributions of Rev. Dent. The house even features an original wooden plank from the porch, signed by the builder in 1907.