Swampoodle was a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. on the border of Northwest and Northeast in the second half of 19th and early 20th century. This neighborhood is no longer known as Swampoodle and has been replaced in large part by NoMa. Geography A geographic approximation can only be evaluated as it was never clearly defined. Originally, the northeastern part of Washington DC above Judiciary Square was known as "English Hill" from E Street NE/NW on the South and 4th Street NW on the west all the way to Boundary Road. It was a rural area with almost no buildings and gravel sidewalks. This original settlement contracted to the area bordered by 4th Street NW, 1st NW, E Street NE/NW, H Street NE/NW. "Swampoodle" was the name of a smaller settlement along H Street between North Capitol Street and 1st NE but extended to take a big part of "English Hill". Later on, its borders contracted to K Street NE to the North, G Street NE to the South, 2nd Street NW to the West, and 2nd Street NE to the East. Through the center of it ran the principal branch of Tiber Creek running between North Capitol Street and 1st Street NE. The origin of the name "Swampoodle" is believed to come from a newspaper reporter covering the ground-breaking of the Roman Catholic St. Aloysius Church in 1857, who referred to the land at the site at the intersection of North Capitol and I Street as containing numerous swamps and puddles that often occurred when Tiber Creek overflowed its banks. History Swampoodle developed during the second half of the 19th century, providing a place of refuge for emigrants following the Great Famine of Ireland that devastated Ireland between 1845 and 1849. The area east of North Capitol remained undeveloped until the 1870s. The development of west of North Capitol started developing in the 1850s with two major construction projects. In 1856, the first Government Printing Office building was built on the southeastern corner of Square 624 and the following year, H Street was grated and graveled between New Jersey Avenue and North Capitol. In 1859, St. Aloysius Catholic Church is built at 19 I Street NE on square 622. It catered to the Roman Catholic Irish population of Swampoodle. Gonzaga College High School moved to the same square in 1871. By the early 20th Century, most of the Irish American