The development of Washington Highlands closely parallels that of the adjacent neighborhood of Congress Heights. In 1890, Colonel Arthur E. Randle, a successful newspaper publisher, decided to found a settlement east of the river which he called Congress Heights. The Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge (now the John Philip Sousa Bridge) began construction in November 1887, and by June 1890 was nearing completion. Randle understood that this new bridge would bring rapid development east of the Anacostia River, and he intended to take advantage of it.