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Faces & Places of Yesterday

How Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, DC Was Saved from Demolition

The story of how a construction worker discovered the true identity of Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, DC, saving it from demolition. Includes a C-SPAN video.

1 min readUpdated
Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office
Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office

We put out a call the other day for some story suggestions and GoDCer from Chicago, Rose, sent along the idea of digging into Clara Barton’s former office and boarding house on 7th St. NW.

This excellent video by C-SPAN tells the incredible story of the building and how it had been “lost” for over a century before a construction worker discovered the true identity of the building. The building had been slated for demolition and redevelopment, but a last minute discovery saved the building.

It’s a great story, so watch the entire clip.

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