The cul-de-sac neighborhood was bounded by Benning Road, NE; Anacostia Park; and the Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad rights-of-way (DC Route 295 and the East Capitol Street Bridge were not yet built).

In the 1880s, Civil War veteran Walter Shaw transplanted wild water lilies from his native Maine to a pond he created on his farmland and tidal wetlands located on the north end of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC.

[11] A 1937 newspaper advertisement boasted that River Terrace is a "community of modern homes specifically designed for the two- to five-member family of average means.

River Terrace row houses in 1937 had hip roofs, and the exterior finishes were designed to resemble those of a rustic English village.

[17] The following year, the United States entered World War II, and the influx of defense-related employees increased the demand for housing throughout the Washington, DC area.

However, in April 1949, River Terrace's first black residents endured name-calling and vandalism of their property: "Two hours after a Negro family moved into a row house in a Northeast Washington white neighborhood [River Terrace], the house was stoned twice and a trash fire of undetermined origin was discovered in the back yard.

"[19] A neighbor told the new River Terrace family that Ku Klux Klan activity in the neighborhood included cross burning.

[19] Two months later, the new family endured further hostilities: False classified advertisements were placed in three Washington newspapers, offering the home for sale and recruiting a cook-maid.

"[21] In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students are unconstitutional.

"[23] In other words, the RTCO wanted to represent all who live in the neighborhood; the previously formed Citizens Association of River Terrace did not.

[27] Subsequent issues of the newsletter included summaries of programs and activities of various committees, and articles and notes of general interest to residents.

The YMCA cited the RTCO for its "all-out community effort" to recruit "several hundred residents to clean up debris, seed or mow lawns, put up fences, paint houses, or [make] other improvements.