“Built around 1840” whispers the Brooks Mansion. It stands proudly a Greek Revival plantation house. Colonel Jehiel Brooks a War of 1812 veteran built it. He married Ann Margaret Queen daughter of a prominent landowner. They called their 246-acre estate Bellair.
Imagine Bellair bustling with life. Enslaved workers tended fields. The family lived in grand style. This wasn’t just a house it was a center of activity. A testament to wealth and power. The house and its surrounding acres changed hands multiple times.
In 1887 Ida U Marshall bought Bellair. She sold it to Benjamin F Leighton and Richard E Pairo. They subdivided the land. Brookland a new suburb emerged. Elizabeth Varney then owned the mansion. She ran a boarding house within its walls.
The Marist Brothers acquired the Brooks Mansion in 1891. Three years later they added a wing expanding the home’s footprint. They eventually sold it to the Benedictine Sisters.
The Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth New Jersey arrived in 1905. They established St Anthony’s Academy for young children. A shelter for women also operated within the mansion’s walls. In 1911 Catholic University of America began educating the sisters at the mansion.
Women gained admission to Catholic University in 1928. The mansion transformed into St Anthony’s High School educating young women. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority purchased the mansion in 1970. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It faced demolition in 1999. The DC government acquired the mansion in 1979.
Today the Public Access Corporation for the District of Columbia DCTV occupies the Brooks Mansion. It’s a vibrant hub for community media. Its history echoes through the halls. From plantation house to school to community center the Brooks Mansion has witnessed it all. It remains a significant landmark in Brookland a place where the past and present converge. A symbol of resilience and adaptability a story etched in brick and mortar.