1984
Year Established
Founded By
Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade
The Story
Two friends quit their government jobs to open a small bookshop. They built it into a nationally renowned literary institution that has hosted every major author from the past four decades. The store survived the rise of Amazon and big box stores by becoming a community gathering place.
What Was Here Before
This stretch of Connecticut Avenue was developed in the 1950s as suburban retail expanded north from downtown DC. The building previously housed various small retail shops.
Neighborhood Context
Politics and Prose anchors the Connecticut Avenue commercial corridor, drawing visitors from across the region and helping maintain Tenleytown's identity as a walkable, culturally vibrant neighborhood.