Photo by NCinDC.

Located at 9th and M Street NW, this house’s most famous resident was the pretty amazing Blanche K. Bruce. Bruce, a man born into slavery, was the first (and only) former slave to serve as a U.S. Senator.

The house, built in 1865, is a French Second Empire style dwelling (PDF), with a brick facade and arched Romanesque windows. The house is now a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a private home.

Bruce was born in Farmville, VA in 1841 – the son of a slave and her owner. During the Civil War, Bruce escaped to Kansas and tried to enlist in the Union Army. However, he wasn’t able to enlist so he settled to teach school (Bruce had been educated even as a slave). After the war he settled in Missouri and organized the first school for black children. He also attended Oberlin but never graduated, as he couldn’t afford the tuition.

He then got into local Missouri politics and in 1874 the state legislature nominated him to fill a vacant spot in the U.S. Senate. He served one term in the Senate, and then spent the spent most of his life in DC, ultimately joining the board of trustees at Howard University. He died in 1898 and is buried in the District at the Woodlawn Cemetery.