neighborhood is an important retail hub for the area, as home to DC USA mall and to numerous other restaurants and stores, primarily along the highly commercialized 14th Street.

The area began developing as a suburb of Washington soon after the American Civil War, when horse-drawn streetcars delivered residents of the neighborhood to downtown.

The northern portion of modern-day Columbia Heights (i.e., north of where Harvard Street currently lies) was, until the 1880s, a part of the village of Mount Pleasant.

The federal government purchased some of the college's former land and built Meridian Hill Park in the early 20th century.

Upscale development in Columbia Heights circa 1900 was designed to attract upper level managers of the Federal government, U.S. Supreme Court justices, and high-ranking military officers.

The popularity of the neighborhood resulted in the construction of several large apartment buildings during the beginning of the twentieth century that changed the suburban character of the area into a more urban and densely populated district.

As of mid-century, however, Columbia Heights retained much of its upscale residential appeal, supporting establishments such as the ornate Tivoli Theatre movie house (completed in 1924).

The neighborhood was featured in various clips, and as the home of protagonists Helen and Bobby Benson, in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still.

In 1999, the city announced a revitalization initiative for the neighborhood focused around the Columbia Heights Metro station, which opened in September of that year.

[13] Nearby, Giant Food supermarket opened, and Tivoli Square, a commercial and entertainment complex, dating from the 1920s was renovated.

[19] The Columbia Heights Farmers Market, across the street from DC USA, provides neighborhood shoppers with locally produced food.

[21] The neighborhood is also home to several organizations that serve minorities such as the Greater Washington Urban League, the local affiliate of the National Urban League, The Latin American Youth Center, CentroNia, Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN).

10, Meridian Manor, Olympia Apartments, Clifton Terrace, Hilltop Manor (The Cavalier Apartment Building), Trinity Towers, the Riggs–Tompkins Building, Park Road Courts, and Truck Company F. The Banneker Community Center, a unit of the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation, contains playing fields, Basketball courts, tennis courts, a swimming pool (Banneker pool), a computer lab and other indoor and outdoor facilities.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 because of its important role in the development of the black community in Washington, D.C.[24] Columbia Heights Green is a garden in a former wrecking yard.

When Clint Eastwood's character and other police officers arrive on the street, they spot Malkovich walking past the Old Columbia Heights Firehouse and a chase ensues.

Klaatu, the alien in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, played by Michael Rennie, boards in a house at 1412 Harvard Street for his stay in Washington.