In 1877, Frederick Douglass bought a hilltop estate in Anacostia, Washington, DC, for $6,700, acquiring a house and roughly over 9 acres of land despite a racial restriction in the property's original deed. Douglass named the estate Cedar Hill and made it his final home. Over the next 17 years, he expanded the house, enlarged the grounds and built a substantial library. Today, the preserved property forms the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, managed by the National Park Service. The estate also became a gathering place for political leaders, reformers and other visitors who came to meet Douglass during the later years of his public life.
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