The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) provides public transportation services to and throughout Brookland, with two subway stations and several bus lines.

King Charles I of England in turn granted the land, which was to become the state of Maryland, to George Calvert, whose interest in the colony lay in "the sacred duty of finding a refuge for his Roman Catholic brethren.

"[3] It took until about 1675 for English settlers to reach what is now the DC area, after defeating the Powhatans that reduced the Native American numbers by roughly 90 percent.

It is the site of offices and production facilities for the Public Access Corporation of the District of Columbia, the city's Government-access television (GAVT) channel known as DCTV.

The population of the city itself increased with the expansion of the federal government, and the former Brooks family estate became a housing tract named "Brookland".

The transition from a country estate towards a residential development beginning in 1887 "marked the extension of suburban growth into the rather isolated reaches of the northeastern sector" of D.C.[6] In its early days, the Brookland community was marked by "spacious lots and single family homes", which appealed to middle-class families and provided a "small town atmosphere[6]".

Ordered by year of establishment, major Catholic organizations that are physically located in Brookland include: From 1984 until 2015, the Franciscans’ Holy Name College had served as the Howard University School of Divinity's East Campus.

In 2016, the Urban Land Institute studied the site and engaged community stakeholders to determine potential development that might take place at the location.

[citation needed] During the mid-twentieth century, Brookland could boast of such prominent residents as Ralph Bunche, Sterling Allen Brown, Edward Brooke, Ellis O. Knox, Rayford W. Logan, Pearl Bailey, John P. Davis, Marvin Gaye, Paul Tsongas, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Lois Mailou Jones, and Robert C. Weaver.

Justine Ward, the music educator and author, lived in Brookland and built the large residence now occupied by the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara [14] in the 1300 block of Quincy Street.