Historic Alleyways Guided Walking Tour of Washington DC

Summer 2026 Schedule: Tour is held the 1st and 3rd Sundays at 10:00am. Check out one of DC's most unique features, less than a mile away from the National Mall, in the historic Shaw neighborhood, near the Convention Center. The Alleyways of DC served a distinct purpose as a city planning feature, but they also provided a hidden safe space where escaped enslaved people and the poor could find inexpensive housing and live their lives away from prying eyes. While city officials condemned life in the alleyways as dangerous, dirty and diseased, they were in fact a place where communities sustained each other and provided security. Tour is 1.5 hours with a halfway stop at La Colombe Coffee.