The Potter’s House: Beyond a Coffeehouse
The Potter’s House, 1960’s
By Kallie Brown
I live in Adams Morgan and frequently pass The Potter's House on Columbia Road. Admittedly, by outward appearance, it looked like a pottery shop. Upon further investigation, I discovered a charming café and a unique independent bookstore that’s been a fixture in the Adams Morgan community for decades. The Potter’s House exists as a nonprofit thanks to the Pay it Forward program that provides free breakfast to any community member in need. After finding this hidden gem, I wanted to share the lore of its past and present with my D.C. neighbors.
As an interested former history student, I decided to attend the DC Preservation League’s lecture "The Potter's House: Community Hub Since 1960.” Here, a panel of community members and The Potter's House employees discussed its unique history. The Potter’s House opened in 1960. The founder, Reverend Gordon Crosby, envisioned a café emulating a boisterous New England tavern. He wanted a place where a collective of people could gather and share ideas. The panelists remembered large communal tables where everyone from Howard University students to activists went to talk about social change, art, culture, and community. A news clipping from the 1960s reads, "Artists, sculptors, and photographers call it a gallery, and folk singers find it a place to audition and be heard.” Hearing these stories, I envisioned musicians strumming Bob Dylan as civil rights activists paint signs.
The Potter’s House: Today
The Potter's House's history wall in the hall behind the cash register is a glimpse to the past. There are photographs of the original menu, tales of social missions championed by patrons of The Potter's House, and articles including other recognizable Adams Morgan landmarks. The DC Preservation League states, "For the past 63 years, Potter's House has evolved with the community that it serves, offering what is needed based on the issues at hand. Despite all of the social, economic, and political change that has affected Adams Morgan over the past six decades, The Potter's House remains a space of service, outreach, and neighborly conversation.”
Moving into the present, The Potter's House stays true to its original mission, which began when it opened its doors. Today, in The Potter’s House, you’ll see warm lighting, wood-paneled bookshelves, and tables made of the building's original door. The place smells of new books and coffee. The patrons of the coffee house are from wildly different backgrounds. Anyone from college students, seniors, families, young professionals, and the local homeless community happily coexist inside the shop.
The Potter’s House: Today
I sat down with the Executive Director of The Potter's House, Andrea Lewis, to learn more about the place. We discussed The Potter's House's status as a nonprofit thanks to the Pay it Forward meal program. By grassroots fundraising, The Potter's House provides around 1,900 monthly breakfasts to the homeless community and folks experiencing food insecurity. They served vegetable soup, breakfast bread, and coffee on the morning I visited. The Potter's House is open everyday, and provides free breakfasts for anyone who needs it from 8 AM to 11 AM. The staff even knows many regular customers' names and vice versa. During our hour conversation, many people came to grab their breakfast, and some even dined together at one of the tables.
I was curious about how The Potter’s House sustains its free breakfast program. Andrea shared that it was extra challenging during COVID lockdowns, because many D.C. food banks closed their doors. Along with the monetary donations from the community, Food Rescue US helps with supplies. For example, if a community business has excess food, Food Rescue US will pick up the surplus and deliver it to The Potter's House. She informed me that Call Your Mother and The World Bank Cafeteria often donate. In 2022, 22,000 meals were provided through The Potter's House Pay It Forward program.
The Potter’s House
The book collection at The Potter's House might likely provoke strong disapproval from Ron Desantis. And, Andrea tells me you won't find books recommended on TikTok here either. Instead, they specialize in under-represented voices, local authors, books on activism, spirituality, and seasonal-focused collections. Interesting titles included Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth, and Our Shed. Their selection is impeccable, and you're guaranteed to find a unique read. But if you’re waiting to read the next Emily Henry novel that's gone viral on Book Tok, you can order it via The Potter's House on the site Bookshop. Bookshop is a website that aims to promote independent bookstores. So, instead of ordering your next must-read through Amazon Prime, select your favorite local bookstore (mine is obviously The Potter's House) from the search bar, and it'll ship right to your door. To close out our chat, I asked Andrea what drew her to her position as The Potter's House executive director, and she said: "I think one of the things that drew me here was this great space that has a really cool vibe is really dedicated to Adams Morgan."
I hope you stop by The Potter's House next time you're in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Grab a coffee, get a treat from their expansive café menu with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options (although I am partial to their BLT), find a new book, and check out the history wall. It truly is a special place that matters immensely to the community – past and present. Cheers to a place that’s far beyond a coffeehouse!
Follow them on Instagram @pottershousedc.
Kallie Brown has lived in Washington, D.C. for two years working in government affairs. In her free time, she enjoys writing opinion pieces and fiction. You can find her on Instagram @kalliekalbrown, or @kallie_writes.