If you have an iPhone, iPad or any other Apple product, chances are, you’ve set foot in an Apple Store … and if you live in Georgetown, it was likely the one at 1229 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

I long ago abandoned my iPhone in favor of an Android (shocking?) but I still love my Macbook, iPad, and Apple TV. (My first computer was also a 1983 Apple IIC.) Apple Stores have some terrific customer service. So, in honor of my Apple love, let’s do an “If Walls Could Talk” post about the shiny Apple Store on Wisconsin Avenue. And, this time, we’ll be doing it in reverse chronological order.

Apple paid $13 million for the property in 2007 and it took four attempts for them to have an architectural plan approved by the Old Georgetown Board. Their proposal was finally approved in March 2009 and the store opened the following year.

HMV Record Stores

HMV Record Stores ad (Washington Post)

Remember when you would go to a record store to buy CDs? Or cassettes? Maybe you even remember LPs.

Well, Here’s an ad from the Washington Post on September 15th, 1995, when the building housed HMV (which stands for His Master’s Voice … I did not know that).

Boogie’s Diner

Do you remember when this place held a diner? The Washington Post wrote a good article about seeking the best burgers in Washington on October 24th, 1991. Below is the write-up on Boogie’s.

While there’s nothing odd about eating a hamburger in a diner, there’s a lot that is unusual about Boogie’s Diner (1229 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 298-6060). This is a bright and cheery place with a corny sense of humor that supposedly is a throwback to the 1950s.

Boogie’s, whose slogan is “Eat Heavy, Dress Cool,” is most un-dinerlike in its location: one flight up from a clothing store that offers expensive takeoffs of 1950s items, French-label jeans, glittery bustiers and the like. Boogie’s also shamelessly hawks its name-brand souvenirs–such as sweatshirts and coffee mugs–from every corner.

The decor is a jumbled, post-modern mix with some nice nostalgic touches, including rich milkshakes made in old-fashioned stainless steel containers ($3.25). The fact is, Boogie’s is a good deal flashier than diners used to be–not to mention more expensive.

By the way, the clothing store below was called the French Connection.

ESPRIT

What happened to this company? They were everywhere in the 80s and now they’re gone. Apparently, in February of 2012, they shut down all retail operations in North America because they were completely irrelevant and losing tons of money. However, they still have 15,000 employees worldwide. I had no idea.

Well, back in 1987, they dominated and had a big retail presence in, what is now, the Apple Store. Below is their ad from December 26th in the Washington Post.

ESPRIT Superstore ad (Washington Post)

Doggett’s Parking

Doggett Lot

It might be hard to believe this, but the building that houses Apple isn’t that old. It was built in the early 1980s, and prior to that, it was a parking lot (Doggett’s Parking). Most advertisements for shopping in the area pointed out the availability of free parking.

Prior to Doggett, it was owned by David J. Wilkerson, who lived at 2323 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, and offered free parking in the 1950s.

Doggett Parking at 1229 Wisconsin Ave. NW (Washington Post – 1979)

A marriage announcement

Forest W. Hevener, 18 years old and resident of 479 F St. SW was to marry Virginia Lee Tucker, 17 years old of 1229 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The Rev. Francis Yarnell was to perform the service and the Washington Post published on June 19th, 1940 that their marriage license had been granted.

Hevener went on to serve in World War II and was with the 29th Division of the Army Air Forces when he was wounded in France. After Europe, Hevener went to the Pacific and fought on Tarawa and Saipan.

Tucker household in the 1940 U.S. Census

National chain of disposers of stolen property

Below is the article from the Washington Post on August 20th, 1918.

What is said by the police to be the Washington link in the national chain of disposers of stolen property was broken yesterday when detectives arrested Barnet Levy upon a warrant issued by Gov. McCall of Massachusetts. Levy was indicted by a grand jury in Boston on June 18, when a true bill was found against him and eleven others.

…

According to Joseph L. Farrari, a police officer of Massachusetts, who arrived here yesterday to take Levy back to Boston to face charges, a number of manufacturing lofts were broken into last May, and more than $50,000 worth of wearing apparel and dry goods stolen.

Detectives working on the case discovered that these goods were systematically disposed of through a chain of jobbers scattered throughout the country. The main offenders, however, were stationed in New York city, Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

A large shipment of goods was traced to New York city, where they were reshipped by express to Washington. Detectives F. M. Cornwell and J. C. Berman were placed upon the case early in June, and the goods were traced to the establishment of Levy at 1229 Wisconsin avenue, the detectives allege.

Levy does a general jobbing business, selling at wholesale to small retailers in the District and in the neighboring towns. Several days after being placed upon the case, detectives entered Levy’s store and took therefrom goods valued at $6,000 which they alleged were stolen in Boston and shipped them back to their rightful owners.

The warrant for Levy’s arrest was issued on August 12. both Levy and his sister have been residents of the District for more than 25 years. Levy, through his attorney, Joseph B. Stein, denies the charges of conspiracy. He asserts that he could not have committed the crime as charged, as he had not been in Massachusetts for the last ten years.

According to Detective Cornwell, Boston police authorities have affidavits to the effect that Levy had been a frequent visitor to that city.

Wisconsin Ave. 1919 (Baist)

In the above map, 1229 Wisconsin appears to be lot 819.

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I had the pleasure of speaking to a great class at AU last week. One of the students asked if we had ever done a piece about Mad Hatter on Connecticut Ave. We haven’t yet, so this one is for you, Blaire. (By the way, Blaire told me her parents named her after the Blair House … and added an ‘e’ at the end  of her name.)

Let’s dig into a little history for the building at 1319 Connecticut Ave. NW.

The Antiques Dealer

Mrs. Julia D’Wald Cordley was a dealer in rare antiques, having moved to Washington in the  1920s from New York with her husband Frank. She was originally from Ohio, born in 1873 as the child of a Polish immigrant father and German mother.

She ran a prominent antiques business, initially out of 812 17th St. NW, but then moved to the space currently occupied by Mad Hatter, for close to a decade. The old Washington Post newspapers were rife with ads for her period furniture, silver, and rugs.

Mad Hatter needs to create a speciality cocktails calls Mrs. Cordley. What do you think?

Mrs. Cordley’s antiques store – May 5th, 1930

Mrs. Cordley’s retirement advertisement – April 20th, 1937

Interestingly, we dug up a few more advertisements for Mrs. Cordley through 1939. Her retirement sale went on for about two years!

Curved Eloquence

A few years after World War II, the building was occupied by The Jenny Shoppe,  a ladies fashion store. Below is an advertisement from the Washington Post which ran on leap day, 1948.

The Jenny Shoppe – February 29th, 1948

The store wasn’t there much longer. By the following summer, it had been replaced by Davanne Millinery, a high-end hat shop for women.

Wash and Wear Wigs

Need a wig? If you did in 1970, you would have stopped by Wig Fair to pick the “The Juliette,” a wash and wear stretch wig. Sounds like a name for one more Mad Hatter cocktail.

Here’s an advertisement from the Washington Post, published on Friday, August 21st, 1970.

Wig Far – August, 21st, 1970

Jewelry Holdup

After serving time as the home of wigs, a new tenant moved in. Cornelius Zwennes moved his store from Georgetown to Dupont Circle and in 1973, his store was targeted in a holdup. Below is the Washington Post article from May 10th, 1973, detailing the crime.

Since teeny boppers and other street people had become a Georgetown fixture, jeweler Corenlis [sic] Zwennes decided after 20 years there that Connecticut Avenue was “a better place for high grade merchandise.”

Yesterday after his one-year-old shop at 1319 Connecticut Ave. NW was the target of an attempted robbery, Zwennes said he was “not so sure anymore.”

The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Zwennes captured the accused robber, identified by police as John Willie Adams, 25, of 3200 16th St. NW. Police said Adams was on parole from a 10-year sentence he received in July, 1968, for burglary and grand larceny.

Zwennes was prepared. He had a burglar alarm system, unused since the shop opened in April, 1972. He also had a pistol, acquired three weeks ago, after another jewelry store five doors away was robbed.

Zwennes was out of sight in his mezzanine workshop, setting a diamond in a pin. His wife, Christine, was downstairs waiting on a man who was carefully scrutinizing a ring.

“I like it a lot, I’m going to take it,” Zwennes said he heard the man say.

The man then allegedly put a hand in his pocket, shoved the pocket towards Mrs. Zwennes, as if he had a gun, and said, “Now don’t make a move because this is a holdup.”

Zwennes overheard the remark, pressed the alarm system and came down the steps, pistol in hand. “When he saw me coming down the stairs with my gun, he sneaked out the door and tried to mix with the (rush hour) crowd,” the jeweler said. “I followed him, crept up behind him, put the gun in the center of his back, and in about a minute the police arrived.”

As the man left the store, Mrs. Zwennes snatched the ring from his hand. Police who searched Adams said they found no gun. Adams was charged with robbery.

Hello Handsome!

By the 1980s, the spot was where Nickleby’s set up shop.

Nickleby’s – 1983 ad

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For a cool $6.5 mil, this beauty of a home can be yours. Seriously though, this is an amazing house with nine bedrooms and over 8,000 square feet. It dates back to 1928 and has been on the market for almost a year. A house like this comes on the market once in a generation, and there aren’t too many people who can drop that amount of money on a home. (When Google decides to buy Ghosts of DC, I will buy a similar house in Kalorama.)

2446 Belmont Road NW

So, let’s do our first real estate version of “If Walls Could Talk.” Also, no disclosure necessary, because this isn’t sponsored by the real estate agent (though I wouldn’t be opposed to that in the future, provided that the property was interesting). I’ve biked by this a number of times and Mrs. Ghost and I were exploring Kalorama to find a cool home to write about. But, if you are the agent (or know the agent), I would love a tour of the home. Somebody put the word out and email me.

Building permit for brick dwelling

The first mention in the newspaper of the property is on March 4th, 1928. The following was listed in the Washington Post that day.

F. B. Moran McConihe, to erect two-story and basement brick and hollow tile dwelling, 2446 Belmont road northwest; estimated cost, $50,000.

I’m pretty sure the powder room costs that amount today.

For sale

Want to be the first resident of 2446 Belmont Road? If you saw the following advertisement in the Washington Post on December 28th, 1928, you might have had that chance. I’m pretty sure the first resident did see this ad.

advertisement for 2446 Belmont Road – December 28th, 1928 (Washington Post)

It was still on the market in the late spring of the following year, when this ad ran on May 12th, 1929 in the Washington Post.

2446 Belmont Road advertisement – May 12th, 1929 (Washington Post)

Captain Charles Maddox, a military radio pioneer

Captain Charles H. Maddox

On September 24th, 1964, the Washington Post published an obituary for Charles Maddox, long-time resident (over three decades) of 2446 Belmont Rd. NW.

Capt. Charles Hamilton Maddox (USN-Ret.), who was a pioneer in the uses of radio on naval ships and aircraft and a veteran of both World Wars, died of pneumonia Tuesday at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was 78.

In 1912, Capt. Maddox designed and tested in flight the first successful radio equipment used in naval aircraft.

During World War I, he served on the staff of the Pacific Fleet commander as radio officer and was radio superintendent for the San Francisco district. He also served as a radio officer with naval forces operating in the Atlantic.

…

Capt. Maddox, a native of Hamilton, Ont., was a member of the 1909 class of the United States Naval Academy and later attended Harvard Graduate School of Applied Science and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a life member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

In the Washington area, he was a member of the Army and Navy Club, the Metropolitan Club and the Chevy Chase Country Club. He also was active in the New York Yacht Club.

It’s unclear to me how a military man could afford such a massive and opulent home.

Muriel Maddox

The other family member frequently mentioned in the newspaper was his young daughter, Muriel. Below is a drawing she did, published by the Washington Post on October 4th, 1931.

“A Windy Day” by Muriel Maddox (Washington Post)

Muriel Maddox – November 21st, 1949 (Washington Post)

Muriel ended up to be quite a beautiful woman, a young Washington debutante in 1940 (when those social events were still fashionable). Her social debut was in August of that year, up in Newport, Rhode Island, where the family had a second home (wow, how much money did this guy have?).

Muriel ended up making a film debut in “The Men” with Marlon Brando and went on to a few more roles in movies, but never the star. She did, however, find success as a writer of romance novels.

She passed away in 2010 at the age of 89.

Here are a couple other photos of the property.

2446 Belmont Rd. NW

2446 Belmont Rd. NW

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It’s highly likely you have been to the D.C. institution known as Madam’s Organ at 2461 18th St. NW. It anchors the Adams Morgan strip, and has done so since the current patrons were in diapers.

It’s been a while since our last “If Walls Could Talk” post, so let’s kick it off with the legendary Madam’s Organ.

Madam’s Organ mural

Square 2560, Lot 74

Here is a great map of the area in 1907. The intersection you’re looking at is 18th and Columbia. The building that would eventually become Madam’s Organ is lot number 74.

1907 map of 18th and Columbia

The Hertzberg twins celebrate their birthday

The Washington Post on January 24th, 1907, published the Hertzberg twins’ birthday celebration in the social column. Allan and Lewis lived at 2461 18th St. NW with their parents Julius and Carrie.

Julius had originally come to the United States from Germany in 1896 and worked as a dry goods buyer.

Below is the mention of the birthday celebration.

Masters Lewis and Allan Hertzberg, twin sons of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Hertzberg, were hosts at a very enjoyable birthday anniversary party last evening at their home, 2461 Eighteenth street, northwest. Those present were Mrs. and Miss Altman, of New York; Mr. and Mrs. H. Hollander, Mrs. L Heilbrun, Mrs. T. Salomon, Mrs. L Hertzberg, of Baltimore; Misses Blanche Hollander, Clara Price, Florence Price, Helen Sanger, Sophie Sanger, Lillian Heilbrun, Bertha Greenberg, Pauline Kuntz, Julia Salomon, and Theresa Karger, and Messrs. Irvin Harold Price, Louis Greenberg, and Del Reliance. A vocal and instrumental programme was given by Master Allen and Master Lewis.

The vocal programme seems rather odd, given that in the 1910 U.S. Census, the boys were listed as four years old, which would mean they were one at this party.

Hertzberg family in the 1910 U.S. Census

Dear Santa

This is a touching one from 1928. This was a Washington Post letter to Santa Claus competition held prior to Christmas of that year. First prize was $20, awarded to Charles Fugitt of 521 Shepherd St. NW. Fourth prize that year ($1) was given to Norman Rosenburg of 2461 18th St. NW.

Norman Rosenburg – November 25th, 1928 (Washington Post)

This is the letter he wrote, published in the newspaper on November 25th, 1928.

Editor of The Post:

“Why I Know There Is a Santa Claus.”

When Christmas comes, of course we always think of Christmas trees, presents, holidays, parties, but when you think hard the first thing that comes in your mind is Santa Claus. For the benefit of those who can not believe me, I will try to make them understand. When we turn on our radio around Christmas we always hear Santa. The radio, which is heard the world over, could never lie. Don’t we write letters and generally get what we ask for> Don’t we all know that Santa comes down the chimney late at night and surprises us? Many books have stories about Santa’s reindeer, his home, his ways, his adventures. Aren’t they written in black and white for everyone to see, by famous writers? Indeed, those who do not believe in Santa Claus, in my estimation, lose most of the joy that live gives.

The radio definitely doesn’t lie, and neither does the Internet.

Man nearly killed in mystery attack

This is a super sketchy story we dug up in the Washington Post from March 16th, 1930. The title says it all.

Severely injured when he apparently was “taken for a ride,” John Byroades, 42 years old, of 2461 Eighteenth street northwest, was dumped out unconscious at Emergency Hospital at 11:15 o’clock last night by an unidentified motorist, who gave an incoherent, mysterious story and ran out to disappear in his waiting automobile.

Byroades, identified only from personal effects in his clothes, was reported by hospital attendants in dying condition, with possible internal injuries and numerous injuries on the head. Belief was expressed that he would not regain consciousness.

The motorist lugged the injured man from his machine, dropped him to the flor [sic] of the emergency room at the hospital, and mumbled a few words to the effect that Byroades had been riding along Wilson boulevard near Clarendon, Va., with ostensible friends when an attack was made, and that Byroades was beaten and then slung out of the machine to the roadway. He was rushed out without making his own identity known.

The hurts received by Byroades indicated that he had been the victim in a terrific mauling. His clothes were badly torn.

Arlington County autorities [sic] early today had not received any reports of the crime, other than that Byroades was in the hospital, where Policeman Will Thompson was dispatched to investigate.

There wasn’t much else about the case in the newspaper. The only other fact reported in another article was that Byroades spent time that evening drinking in an I St. speakeasy. According to him, he was drinking with some friends when they decided to head to another notorious roadhouse in Silver Spring. He ended up being brutally beaten, breaking three ribs, fracturing his skull and was robbed of $200.

Toys for every child

Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys “R” Us started out with a small store at 2461 18th St. NW. He had returned from World War II, and in 1948, at the age of 25, saw an opportunity to capitalize on the growing baby boom with a store to capture this market, Children’s Bargain Town.

So, every time you order another round at Madams Organ, think about all the happy children who used to roam the building, looking for new toys.

Baby Supermart advertisement – November 4th, 1954 (Washington Post and Times Herald)

Today, 2461 18th St. NW is one of the more popular late-night destinations in the rowdy Adams Morgan neighborhood. Far from it’s days as a store where you could buy a crib.

Madam’s Organ

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Ghosts of DC has a new favorite coffee joint at 1201 S St. NW. I went down this past Saturday with Mrs. Ghost and ran into Ms. EatMore DrinkMore (aka, Jenna). Maybe an “If Walls Could Talk” partner post with EMDM on a D.C. restaurant?

It’s been quite some time since our last IWCT post, so, to get this category going again, there’s no better place than our own Brooklyn-like coffeehouse at 12th and S St. NW, The Coffee Bar (EMDM did a review on them a short while ago).

The Coffee Bar @ 1201 S St. NW

Old maps of 12th and S Street NW

First, take a look at the Baist Real Estate Atlas’ for the intersection at 12th and S St. starting in 1909 below. You’ll notice that 12th St. used to go through S St., where now, Garrison Elementary School sits. The school was much smaller back then, sitting on 12th St., south of S St. In this map, the building marked as #35 is where The Coffee Bar is today.

Also, for reference, pink buildings are brick structure and yellow are frame structures.

1909 Baist Real Estate Atlas of 12th and S

Now, take a look at the area in the 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. You’ll notice that most of the structures were there back then. One major difference is that W.E. Hodges Coal Yard occupied to lot where the Garrison School now stands.

1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 12th and S St. NW

The Harmon family grocery store (and full house)

Miss Willie M. Kelly (Washington Post)

In 1940, there was a young couple, Woodrow Young (24) and Margaret Harmon (16) who were getting married. Margaret was listed as living at 1201 S St. Pretty young to be getting married as a teenager. A few years earlier, in 1937, another announcement had her brother Robert Harmon (20) getting married to Viola F. Scruggs (19).

And, in 1939 Miss Willie M. Kelly of Raeford, NC, married John C. Harmon at the Lincoln Temple Church, 11th and R St. NW.

We did some more digging on the Harmon family, and we were able to find their household in the 1940 U.S. Census.

John Wesley and Lillie B. Harmon were an older, African-American couple, originally from Delaware. In 1940, they were both 59 years old and lived above their grocery store at 1201 S St. NW.

Also in the house that year was their 16-year-old daughter Margaret, and another daughter, 11-year-old Sacajawea.

His other daughter Ruth, 25, lived in the home with her husband, Herman Walker, 35 and an art instructor, originally from Texas. They had two young children, Evangeline, almost two, and Herman Jr., seven months.

Three additional non-family members were living with them (full house!). James Spaulding, a 60-year-old widower from North Carolina, who worked as a brick layer, Emmett Poindexter, 61, and his wife Helen, 55, both from Virginia. Emmett worked as an independent laborer and Helen worked as a domestic for a local family.

That’s eleven people in one home! I’m guessing it only had one bathroom too.

Harmon family in the 1940 U.S. Census

By the way, I was also able to dig up a little more on Margaret Harmon. According to her Social Security records, she was born on March 24th, 1924 and only passed away a couple years ago, the day before Christmas Eve, 2011.

I also found some more on Lillie Harmon. She passed away in New York on August 25th, 1954, having lived 34 years in D.C. The obituary also stated that she had another daughter, Pocahontas.

That’s not all. After even more digging, I was able to find a feature in the Afro-American from Saturday, July 1st, 1939 entitled “Meet Your Neighbor” by Harry B. Anderson. John Wesley Harmon was the feature that day. (The following week would be a huge one for history, with Teddy Roosevelt‘s head on Mount Rushmore being dedicated on Sunday, July 2nd and Lou Gehrig‘s famous speech at Yankee Stadium being on Tuesday, July 4th.)

How long does the average colored business operate in Washington, for example, a grocery store?

Well, not wishing to offend nor discourage businessmen already set up in business, the answer to the above question: not over a year.

But J. Wesley Harmon, a local grocery store operator, with a flourishing business at Twelfth and S Streets, Northwest, is an exception, because he has been established for the past twenty years.

Trading in a vicinity where all the residents are members of his own group, he attributes his being able to stick to the same location to the fact that he has been patient and optimistic, always desiring to deal directly with his own race.

“Considering the many businesses of our group in the city which have dissolved almost overnight, after a brief life span, I guess it is rather an exception for me to state that I have been doing a fair business here for many years with all my patronage colored,” Mr. Harmon said, last week.

…

J. Wesley Harmon in the Afro-American (1939)

All this Mr. Harmon has reflected in his many years of commercial enterprise since he first went into business at the age of twenty-three, selling flour as the operator of his own flour mill in Sussex County, Del.

He thinks that he might have still been there after doing business for seven years had his initial concern not been destroyed by fire. After this, he taught in the Delaware County schools for a while, then worked in several other positions until 1915, when he came to Washington and attended Howard University.

Today he has but one aim in reference to his business, “I feel I have done a good job with my store all these years, because I have been able to raise a family of six children successfully and now my future aim is to turn the operation of my business over to them,” he declared.

…

His philosophy on life is give all you have to the world — even if it hurts — as you will find the results return doubled.

Meet Your Neighbor by Harry B. Anderson (Afro-American)

Well Mr. Harmon, your successful grocery store is now a successful, and quite popular local coffee joint. Maybe you’ll get a drink named after you to pay homage to your years of serving the local community.

K & D Food Market

In the 1970s, the building was occupied by a neighborhood market, K and D Food Market. According to the Washington Post crime blotter, the store was robbed my two armed men on Friday, December 3rd, 1971 (a week after Christina Applegate was born). Again, on Tuesday, January 29th, 1974 (the same day Ed Helms was born), the store was robbed by two masked men.

The market lasted into the 1990s, because there was a report of another robbery, this time in 1991, by three armed and masked men. These were ambitious robbers too, as K & D was one of five stores they robbed within three hours.

1201 S St. NW

Sadly, there wasn’t much else available in the newspaper archives about 1201 S St., but it was great learning about the Harmon family.

The post If Walls Could Talk: The Coffee Bar appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

This is our first “If Walls Could Talk” guest post. Marty wrote a great bit on one of the incredible mansions on Mass Ave.

Walsh-McLean Mansion in 1970 (Library of Congress)

The stately mansion at 2020 Massachusetts Ave NW surely must be one of DC’s greatest real estate bargains ever. The Indonesian government bought it back in 1951 for $335,000, less than half of what it cost Thomas Walsh to build in 1907.

But the untold tales of what took place behind the walls of what now is the Indonesian Embassy would be pure gold. Literally and figuratively.
That’s because gold-mining magnate Walsh installed a gold bar in the archway over the front door. He also included gold-flecked marble in the mansion’s pillars and supposedly buried a gold nugget in the foundation.

The mansion, known as the Walsh-McLean house, was occupied by Thomas (who died in 1910) and his wife Carrie Bell Reed and their daughter, Evalyn Walsh McLean, up until 1932. Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Teddy, and Florence Harding, wife of the 29th President, were frequent visitors as were many other political and business luminaries of the time. The royal family of Belgium stayed there during a U.S. visit in 1919.

Thomas Walsh commissioned the house in 1903. Word around town at the time was that it was destined to be the most costly house ever constructed in the nation’s capital.

Walsh built it for his daughter, the flamboyant socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean. The estimated $853,000 cost of construction is 1907 translates to more than $20-million today.

Walsh told architect Henry Anderson that he wanted the staircase to resemble that of an ocean liner, according to a 1997 account on embassy.org. He created an open deck promenade through three floors of carved mahogany.

The fourth floor featured a large ballroom and a theater with guests brought up aboard early elevators.

Some major soirees were held there during the 1920s. The New York Times reported on a legendary New Year’s bash where the guests drank 288 fifths of Scotch, 480 quarts of champagne, 40 gallons of beer, 35 bottles of liquors and 48 quarts of assorted cocktails. (Talk about in-depth reporting.)

Indonesian embassy (Walsh-McLean Mansion)

Evalyn Walsh McLean inherited the mansion following her mother’s death in 1932. But the house was vacant for a time as she and husband Edward Beale McLean were living at their Friendship Estate at what now is McLean Gardens off Wisconsin Avenue in Upper Northwest.

During the New Deal, Evalyn rented her mansion first to the Rural Rehabilitation Settlement Administration and later to the U.S. Rural Electrification Commission. During World War II, she let the Red Cross use it rent free.

Red Cross women made surgical dressings there and set up classes to train nurse’s aides, all part of the war effort.

On Dec. 19, 1951, Ali Sastromidjojo, the Indonesian ambassador, bought it for the bargain basement price of $335,000. The new owners searched the place for the missing gold but never found anything.

Best guess is that the McLeans may have sold the gold bar over the front door to help pay the bills during the depths of the Depression. (After all, Ned McLean’s Washington Post had been forced into bankruptcy in 1933.)

In 1982, the Indonesian government built an addition to the mansion, set back further from Massachusetts Avenue, opening up many of the large rooms on the main floor for entertainment and reception purposes.

Tours are available by arrangement with the Embassy. If you go, you might want to carefully check out the foundation for that long-missing golden nugget.

Walsh-McLean Mansion drawing room in 1970

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GoDC buddy Wayne has kindly requested some digging into the story of the “hobbit homes” on V St. NW. We’re happy to oblige as we are quite curious of their origins. So, this will be a unique “If Walls Could Talk” for GoDCer Wayne.

The homes we are investigating are situated about two blocks from 18th and U St. NW. If you’ve ever walked by them, you know what we’re referring to. There are five homes on V St. NW (1730 to 1738), three on 17th St. NW (2100 to 2104) and three more on Florida Ave. NW (1700 to 1706).

The home at 1730 to 1738 V St. NW

Now, we have heard the theory that they are somehow connected to the old Boundary Castle (i.e., on top of Meridian Hill where Beekman Place stands today). But, after hours of exhaustive digging through material, we were unable to find a direct link between the two. The only thing currently tying them together is their location and the Seneca sandstone used to construct them. (If anyone can provide the documented evidence, please share it with us).

Also, we should add that, we found several of the servants who worked at the Henderson family’s massive home in the U.S. Census as well as the city directories of the time, some in homes that obviously no longer exist. Claudia Webb, maid, Edward Bennett, chef, William Carter, chauffeur, Pierre Bertheau, chef, George Fowler, coachman and Valerie Vidal, governess — are you feeling like this is Dowton Abbey? — all were listed as living either at 1601 Florida Ave. or 2200 16th St. NW (i.e., the castle).

It should also be added that odd numbers are on the north side of the block, so possible it was another building or just another address for the castle.

Boundary Castle servants in the 1910 U.S. Census

So, since they aren’t linked, what’s the story behind them?

First, let’s share with you a map of the area. Below is the 1903 Baist real estate map of Boundary St. (i.e., Florida Ave.), V St. and 17th St. to the right. The city squares are marked 149 and 150 (the larger one).

1903 Baist real estate map of lots 149 and 150

You will notice that a number of the homes in the area had already been built, including the ones we are looking into. They are marked as lots 240 to 244 on V St., and lots 1 to 7 in square 149 (lot 5 is still undeveloped today). It’s also neat to see all the homes on U St. (lots 245 to 273) are also built up by 1903. Any GoDCer happen to know someone who lives in one of the houses shown above?

decoration above window at 1702 Florida Ave.

Okay, back to the story …  the square and lot numbers appear to change hands a number of times in the late 19th century. Square 149 appears to have been subdivided by Jesse D. Gibbs and square 150 by two men, Boughton and Moore.

On September 20th, 1891, the Sunday Herald reported that lot 149, in its entirety, was sold by J. H. Gulick to Rebecca N. Burrhus for $7,443. Evidently her husband Fred was a Member of Congress.

On October 3rd, 1891, the Washington Post published the following report about new building permits.

E. D. Frazier, seven two-story brick dwellings, 1700 to 1706 Florida avenue and 2100 to 2104 Seventeenth street northwest, $14,000.

So, the homes in square 149 appear to have begun construction in 1891 and, what’s interesting, is that 1706 Florida Ave. (i.e., lot 5) doesn’t appear to be standing any more.

The Ghosts of D.C. theory is that he designed the homes with facades to mimic the Romanesque design of Boundary Castle (completed in 1888) in order to attract people to the developing far reaches of the city.

A little more on Ernest D. Frazier … he was a carpenter, builder and architect, originally from Frederick, Maryland. He and his family lived at 1621 15th St. NW (15th and Q).

Sunday Herald – October 4th, 1891

On November 1st, 1892, J.R. Taylor purchased lot 7 (2102 17th St.) from N.K. Earle for $6,000 with the newly built home, measured at 15 by 36 feet. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to dig anything up on these two.

the homes at 2100 to 2104 17th St. NW

However, we did track down a number of other real estate transactions involving these homes, as well as classified ads mentioning them.

Here is a notice in the Evening Star on March 7th, 1894 for an auction to be held for lot 4 of square 149 (1704 Florida Ave.).

trustee sale at 1704 Florida Ave. NW

A similar auction was held for 2100 17th St. NW. The following article was listed in the Washington Post on Saturday, May 5th, 1894.

trustee sale for 2100 17th St. NW

On May 19th, 1894, an advertisement ran in The Evening Star to rent part of 1704 Florida Ave.

1894 real estate advertisement for 1704 Florida Ave. NW

Now, this is where it gets interesting and Wayne will be blown away.

Helen Douglass

An article in the Washington Post on April 23rd, 1897 reported on the assignment of property to a widow.

Justice Hagner, in Equity Court No. 2, yesterday entered a decree assigning the dower of Helen Douglass, widow of the late Frederick Douglass, giving her all of lot 150 in Boughton and Moore’s subdivision of lots in square 150, and the improvements thereon. She also receives by the decree a parcel of land containing nine and one-quarter acres in Anacostia and other property in Chichester, the title to the property being vested in Mrs. Douglass during her lifetime. The widow instituted suit some time ago against Rosetta D. Sprague and others, heirs of the late Frederick Douglass, claiming dower, with the result that the decree of yesterday was ordered.

Go back up to the map above and you can see how large square 150 is. We were blown away when we read that article … not what you expect to uncover.

On Wednesday, April 24th, 1901, The Evening Times included a classified ad from the resident of 1704 Florida Ave., apparently occupied at the time by a tailor.

1901 advertisement

Here’s a transaction for the “hobbit house” on V St. This is from the Washington Post on January 8th, 1902.

Square 150–American Security and Trust Company to James M. Carroll, jr., $10, lot 240, Johnsons’s subdivision.

Really, $10? That’s ridiculous.

Another interesting real estate transaction for square 150 was for lot 153, not one of the homes we’re looking at but it was sold by Lewis Douglass, Frederick’s son. This was in the Washington Post on March 31st, 1908.

Square 150–Lewis H. Douglass et ux. to Richard E. Pairo and Herbert A. Gill, to secure John J. Brosnan, $3,000, 3 years, 6 per cent, semiannually, lot 153.

In 1913, the home at 1702 Florida Ave. was available for rent, unfurnished, by Paul V. Mitchell & Co. Take a look at the advertisement below. The going rate was $22.50 per month (that wouldn’t even pay your water bill today). The home was designated for African Americans.

Homes for rent by Paul V. Mitchell & Co.

The Washington Herald reported on October 22nd, 1920 that lot 6 (2104 17th St.) was purchased for $1,850 by George W. Jackson using a mortgage at 6% interest. It stated that there were “monthly payments,” so we assume the monthly payment of $1,850 was for a brief period of time until it was paid off. The home was likely valued somewhere in the range of $15,000 by then.

Hopefully, when you’re walking by these homes now, you’ll have a little different perspective on them.

1700 to 1704 Florida Ave. NW

the hobbit door for 1730 V St. NW

The post Hobbit Houses Near Boundary Castle and a Surprise Historical Connection appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Congratulations to the latest “If Walls Could Talk” poll winner, The Pig.

Congrats! @thepigdc with a huge late surge to 45%, you are indeed the winner over @rustikdc @darlingtonhouse @nelliesdc @18thamendment

— Ghosts of DC (@GhostsofDC) November 2, 2012

So, let’s look into the story behind 1320 14th St. NW.

The Pig at 1320 14th St. NW (foodnomad.net)

Auction sales today

The first mention of the address we could find was in the Washington Post on April 3rd, 1878.

B. H. Warner–4:30 P.M., improved property, No. 1320 Fourteenth street northwest.

Warner’s property was one of four auctions listed in the paper that day. Warner was just over 30 at the time and originally from Pennsylvania. He was listed in the 1880 U.S. Census as a real estate agent and lived with his wife, son and three daughters at 1321 11th St. NW.

Warner family in the 1880 U.S. Census

Baist real estate map in 1903

We love these maps, so here is the Baist map, centered on 1320 14th St. NW. The ping buildings are brick structures and yellow are wood. It looks like number 23 is the location of The Pig.

1300 block of 14th St. NW in 1903 (Baist real estate map)

Holbrook Motor Company to sell the Allen

1916 Allen Touring Car

At the end of 1919, the Holbrook Motor Company announced that it would open a showroom at 1320 14th St. NW to sell the Allen car and place a service station at 627 L St. NW.

H. Guy Grimmel was the head of the new operation in D.C., coming here from the Baltimore office.

Holbrook Auto Corporation advertisement in 1920

Yeggs, baffled, take safe away

Here’s a story from the Washington Post during the heart of the Great Depression, November 26th, 1934.

Thieves who couldn’t crack a safe in the Superior Motors Co., 1320 Fourteenth street northwest yesterday, hauled the safe off for a little homework, according to police.

Harold A. Simmons, of 2909 Thirteenth street northwest, president of the company reported to police that the unskilled cracksmen had entered the company’s offices through a glass skylight in the roof. They had slid down a rope and then begun work on the safe–work that was evidently fruitless from the disarray in the office.

Baffled in trying to force the steel door, but unwilling to give up, the yeggs pulled and tugged the safe through a door and hauled it away.

Now that’s some serious determination, but how the hell did nobody see and report this? I’m sure dragging a giant safe down a street would be a little conspicuous.

By the way, a yegg is a safe cracker (if you didn’t guess that from the context).

Rucker Electronics and Beat the Clock

Roxanne (aka Dolores Rosedale)

Rucker Electronic Products held the space in the 1950s and they opened their store in 1954 with an open house. The guest of honor that day was Roxanne, of “Beat the Clock” fame. Leslie C. Rucker had a number of stores in the area, including one at 608 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 1213 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington (want to know why it’s named Arlington?) and 8099 13th St. in Silver Spring (want to know why it’s named Silver Spring?).

Maybe The Pig will name one of their dishes “Roxanne” after reading this post.

Police seize betting cards

Here’s an article from February 4th, 1969 in the Washington Post.

Card showing betting odds

The owner of a printing shop was arrested yesterday in connection with the printing of thousands of cards showing how to figure the odds in the numbers game.

Police said Robert H. Brown, 44, owner of Brown Printing Shop at 1320 14th st. nw., was charged with advertising and promoting a lottery and possession of gambling cards and papers.

They said they believed it was the first time such a charge, which comes under local lottery laws, had been used here.

Lt. Robert Dollard, head of the gambling squad, said Brown was arrested in the shop at 10:30 a.m. on a search warrant. He said that thousands of cards, both printed and blank, were confiscated.

Residents protest Logan Circle sex shop

Oh, this is where is gets good … the dirty, seedy D.C. of the 1980s. Remember those days? Marion Barry does.

Here’s an article from the Washington Post, published March 27th, 1985.

Angry Logan Circle residents protesting the opening of a sexually oriented business in their neighborhood heard its operator say last night that he would operate it as “Hugh Hefner would run the playboy mansion.”

The shop, marked by a sign that reads “Met Personals–Models Wanted,” opened last week in a commercial area a block from Logan Circle and featured women dressed in bikini outfits posing in the front window.

The business was closed by D.C. police yesterday because it lacked a commercial certificate of occupancy. However, operator Dennis Sobin said he intends to reopen as soon as he secures the required permit.

Last night, as about 100 people filled the sidewalk in front of the small shop at 1320 14th St. NW, Sobin made his way into the crowd and told them : “Anyone is invited in my house to have sex or anything else they want to do.”

…

Sobin, who later described the crowd as “a crazy mob,” said he has applied for a certificate of occupancy for a sporting goods store and a publishing company and that he expects to receive certificates soon.

Now this story surely would generate a good name for either a menu item or a special cocktail. Post a few ideas below in the comments.

Logan Circle residents protest a sex shop at 1320 14th St. NW (Washington Post)

The post If Walls Could Talk: The Pig appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Our last embassy version of “If Walls Could Talk” was quite popular, so here’s another one from the same part of town, Sheridan Circle.

Embassy of Kenya at 2249 R St. NW (Wikipedia)

California’s new senator buys Washington residence

In December 1915, California’s freshman senator, James Phelan — former mayor of San Francisco — was about six months into his first, and only, term in Congress when he purchased the stately home at 2249 R St. NW.

Phelan was a wealthy businessman in California, having acquired much of his wealth as a result of the California Gold Rush, before taking on politics. The senator and his wife had been living with their family at the Shoreham Hotel and, with the purchase of this grand home, were expected to take a central role in Washington society.

Senator John [sic] Phelan, of California, who succeeds Senator George Clement Perkins, has purchased the spacious modern white stone building at 2249 T street northwest for a price said to exceed $125,000. The home was owned by Peyton Russell, from whom it was purchased. The sale is understood to be practically a cash transaction.

…

The new senator from California is a man of large means, and in all probably will entertain extensively, making the new home one of the centers of social activity during his official life in the National Capital.

The house faces fashionable Sheridan circle. It is of the English basement type, four stories, containing 30 rooms, 7 baths, hardwood floors, and stained glass windows. The grounds surrounding the home are extensive and give the building an attractive setting.

Apparently, when the Washington Post published this on December 2nd, 1915, they didn’t proof it, because John Phelan is the name of James’ father. The new senator’s time in the city was short-lived, as he was voted out of office after only one term.

Embassy of Sweden

Swedish legation in 1921 (Washington Post)

Beginning in the early 1920s, the home was the location of the Swedish Embassy. In 1921, the legation was headed by Axel F. Wallenberg of the prominent Swedish banking family.

In May 1926, the mansion and the city of Washington played host to the Swedish royal family, when they visited to help unveil the memorial to John Ericsson (inventor of the Civil War gunboat Monitor). The royals were to be in the city for three days, staying at the embassy during their visit. Below is a short Washington Post article from March 21st, 1926,  mentioning the visit.

Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden will be the guests of Wollmar F. Bostrom, Swedish Minister to the United States, and Mme. Bostrom when they come to Washington in May, it was announced last night. The royal visitors will stay at the Swedish legation, 2249 R street northwest, during their brief sojourn in this city.

A dinner in honor of the crown prince and princess will be given by Col. Robert M. Thompson, at his residence, 1700 Eighteenth street northwest, it was stated. Other festivities in honor of the distinguished guests are being planned, together with official receptions for the three days during which they will remain in the Capital, but the schedule has not yet been definitely agreed upon. Col. Thompson is at present in Florida. He is expected to return from Key West the latter part of the month.

Any visit by a royal in D.C. is a big deal. This was certainly no exception.

Crown Prince Gustavus Adolphus and Crown Princess Louise Alexandra of Sweden (1926)

The visit to our city was quite successful, as reported by the Post on May 28th, 1926. Not only that, but it seemed that the Prince was a big fan of Washington (or being very polite).

Captivated by the charm of Washington, Crown Prince Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, declared last evening that the city was the “most beautiful” he had ever seen.

The Swedish heir paid his compliment to the Capital at a conference with the press shortly after his arrival. Crown Princess Louise nodded her head to show that she agreed with her husband.

Just before the press conference, the royal pair made a formal call at the White House, and, as they afterward put it, were accorded a “perfectly charming” reception by President and Mrs. Coolidge.

The crown prince and his entourage were given a vociferous welcome at Union station. The Army band of 90 pieces played the Swedish national anthem and a squadron of cavalrymen sat rigidly at attention with drawn sabers. Meanwhile two-score cameramen turned their lenses on the royal pair and a crowd of 3,000 persons began to cheer.

…

The ride of the royal pair from the depot to the legation at 2249 R street was a triumphal one. The streets were lined by men and women, the former doffing their hats, and the latter waving handkerchiefs. Near the legation, an urchin propelling a “pushmobile,” sped alongside the royal visitor’s limousine and yelled a lusty greeting.

…

“I have never seen a town quite so beautiful,” he replied warmly. “There are so many trees and so many open spaces. Every street seems to be shaded with trees. There is not a city in the world like it.”

It’s always nice to have the royal stamp of approval, isn’t it? Flattery will get you everywhere Sweden. We love your Volvos, Saabs, Ikea, ABBA, Ace of Base, Greta Garbo, Alfred Nobel, your settlement of Minnesota and, of course, the democratization of your Twitter account (@Sweden).

Come back and visit us anytime King Carl and Queen Silvia.

Vandals accidentally target Swedish Embassy

Sometimes a building can be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That happened on November 17th, 1969, when vandals targeted the Embassy of South Vietnam, next door. Below is the Post’s report of what happened.

Bricks were thrown through windows in the South Vietnamese Embassy and the next door Swedish chancery last night, Washington police reported.

No one was injured in the incidents, which occurred about 6:55 p.m.

Police said the brick in the Swedish chancery landed in a restroom and the one in the South Vietnamese Embassy in a first-floor reception area.

Police speculated that both bricks were intended for the South Vietnamese Embassy, at 2251 R St. NW. The Swedish chancery, next door at 2249 R St. appears to be part of the same structure.

Embassy of Kenya moves in

The nation of Kenya had received its independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 and formally was declared the Republic of Kenya in 1964. By 1971, the Swedish Embassy had moved out into their new space at the top of the Watergate and Kenya had taken over the building for their embassy.

“Harambee” A Kenyan Tradition (source: Flickr user dbking)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Embassy of Kenya appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

It has been over two months since our last “If Walls Could Talk” post (Shaw’s Tavern), so it’s high time we crank out another one.

We’re going to head down to Barrack’s Row on Capitol Hill to do a little research on one of Bryce Harper’s favorite haunts and a place where the President popped in for lunch with some volunteers. Ted’s Bulletin at 505 8th St. SE is a favorite of many, so it’s a good subject for our next post.

Ted’s Bulletin front (source: tedsbulletin.com)

One-story brick store

A building permit was listed for 505 8th St. SE in the July 8th, 1928 edition of the Washington Post. Joseph Shapiro Co. was to erect a one-story brick store with an approximate cost of $10,000.

Joseph Shapiro started his real estate company on October 24th, 1919 and seven years later, the Post wrote an article marking the anniversary.

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the Joseph Shapiro Co.’s entry into the real estate field. Starting in 1919 with a small office at 914 New York avenue northwest, this company opened general real estate offices, and two years later opened tehir [sic] building department, their first operation being a group of houses on Crittenden street, between Eighth and Ninth streets northwest.

Today the company occupies the first and second floors of the Edmunds building, 919 Fifteenth street northwest, and have to their record the erection of hundreds of homes in the northeast and northwest sections of the city and a large number of apartment buildings.

Shapiro was originally from Russia and, as a Jew, likely was treated harshly by the Czarist Russia, leading him to emigrate with his family to America in 1914.

By 1930, he is listed in the U.S. Census living in a home (that he owned at 4411 16th ST. NW) valued at $50,000. By the age of 60, married for 25 years to his wife Mary, he very much realized the American Dream of wealth, freedom and success.

Joseph Shapiro household in the 1930 U.S. Census

His son Jacob, at the time the president of Joseph Shapiro Co., was not quite as lucky. He was indicted on six charges of false pretenses and fraud in real estate transactions. He was charged with selling property in the city in which “hidden trusts” were discovered after the fact, and it was claimed that he was aware of the trusts. Not only that, but he was under investigation by Congress in the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia.

Fortunately for Shapiro, the case was poorly prosecuted and he was eventually acquitted by the jury in late 1930.

He continued his successful real estate practice with his brother and partner Maurice, and his last residence was listed in 1940 (with his brother) at 1748 Hobart St. NW.

District Lock & Hardware

Some of you long time Capitol Hill residents might remember when 505 8th St. housed a local hardware store, one that claimed to have the largest supply of locks, keys and security devices in the D.C. metro area. I find that hard to believe, but it’s probably tough (and too time consuming) to disprove.

District Lock & Hardware Company advertisement – February 23rd, 1981 (Washington Post)

The store was a fixture on Barracks Row since it was opened in 1946 by Harry J. Kroll. He operated it for 48 years until he sold it to Michael Horwat in 1994, who ran the store with Steven Harrell. The Post had a nice article about hardware stores in the District on May 13th, 2003, in which they mentioned the store.

District Lock and Hardware, on Eighth Street SE, is chockablock [sic] with inventory, including windshield snow brushes, signs saying “I’m Proud to be an American,” and $40 snowmobile gloves beloved by policemen for their warmth.

Realtor Stan Bissey, waiting to have a key made, recently moved to Potomac after living on Capitol Hill since 1969. “I still do all my business here,” he said. “They have everything you need. And, they actually wait on you.”

District Lock was started in 1946 by Harry Kroll, who sold it to Horwat in 1994. “This is an old-fashioned hardware store,” said Horwat, 58, who now owns the store with Steven Harrell. “We do a lot of key-cutting, a lot of custom-made things, opening bike locks.” But the store also specializes in security systems and makes house calls to fix problems. “You’d be surprised at the number of old women that are helpless out there,” Horwat said. “They’re living alone in a house and in their eighties. We get a lot of that.”

Harry Kroll (legacy.com)

Harry Kroll lived out his final years in Falls Church and passed away in May of this year at the age of 92.

Ted’s Bulletin is great, but it makes me a little sad to realize that something so central to the neighborhood is no longer. Hopefully Old School Hardware in Mt. Pleasant, Frager’s Hardware on Capitol Hill since 1920 and Browns’ Hardware in Falls Church since 1883 (!) can survive the assault on neighborhoods by Home Depot and Walmart.

But, given that Ted’s Bulletin is such a popular place to gather, let’s hope that it has the staying power to last over fifty years. Maybe Bryce Harper will be having his favorite meals there for the next twenty of those.

Ted’s Bulletin interior (source: tedsbulletin.com)

Go get some breakfast at Ted’s Bulletin this weekend. Maybe you’ll run into Bryce Harper … wait, they’re on the road. Never mind.

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: Shaw’s Tavern and 520 Florida Avenue NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Embassy of Ireland (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Ted’s Bulletin appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Shaw's Tavern sign in the rain

Congratulations to the latest “If Walls Could Talk” poll winner: Shaw’s Tavern. Also, congratulations on landing that liquor license. It’s been a long road, but the neighborhood and city is thrilled to have this latest addition to the dining and entertainment scene.

The place to enjoy your meals in Washington

The first thing I found for 520 Florida Ave. NW was the advertisement below from the Baltimore Afro-American in the summer of 1928. At the location, there was a restaurant called the Blue Bird Cafe and Tea Room.

Blue Bird Cafe and Tea Room (Washington Post)

Benny Lerner and the Rainbow Market

Benny Lerner was born in Russia and settled in Washington in the mid 1920s. In 1938, he purchased the Rainbow Market at 520 Florida Avenue NW and operated it with his first wife, Pauline until her death in 1963.

The Washington Post wrote a story in 1942 about Benny which highlighted some illegal business practices he was carrying out. Lerner was fined $100 in Municipal Court for improperly altering the weights on his scale to shortchange his customers. He was caught in an operation by the District Department of Weights, Measures, and Markets. Five undercover purchases were made leading to charges on five counts of fraud.

Shaw's Tavern looking down Florida Avenue

In July 1955, he was the victim of a frightening robbery. The Washington Post reported on July 24th that a gunman had fired a shot and him in a daylight holdup, fleeing with $120 in cash. The robber entered the store, demanded that Benny go to the back of the store near a meat locker while the cash was being taken from the register. Lerner turned to look at the assailant as he exited the store and, at that moment, the gun was pointed at him and the man fired. The bullet barely missed, lodging in a box just above Benny’s head.

The store was robbed quite frequently, with another report in 1959 of a man armed with a gun and his partner armed with a knife robbing Benny and Pauline of $140. Another report in December 1947 noted $119 stolen from the cash register.

An odd criminal dubbed the “Baloney Bandit” struck the market in 1949. Private Edward Henderson, a soldier stationed at Ft. Myer. Private Henderson had received orders to deploy overseas to Germany, which was good news, because his fiancee was German and living over there. The bad news was that the Army was not going to send him off without having him settle a $77 debt that he owed at the post.

Henderson was in a hurry to get back and thought he could expedite his deployment by robbing stores and at first, he was quite successful, because he netted $135 in his first robbery. To make a bad idea even worse, he became paranoid that he couldn’t pay his debts with this stolen money in one lump sum because it would arouse suspicions, so he concocted the brilliant idea to pay a tiny portion of the debt, spend the rest of whiskey and woman while continuing to hold up additional stores in the area. Well, one of those stores was the Rainbow Market and Benny Lerner .

Why was he dubbed the “Baloney Bandit” … his modus operandi was to enter the store, order slices of baloney, and upon deliver, he would hold up the store.

And another bizarre story I came across was this one from December 2nd, 1960 involving an assault using a hammer.

A grocery store proprietor was in serious condition with a fractured skull last night after a “customer,” for no apparent reason, hit him on the head, possibly with a hammer, police reported.

Nothing was found missing in the Rainbow Market at 520 Florida ave. nw., where Benny Lerner, 50, of 727 Emerson st. nw., was struck. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center.

Benny died of a heart attack on July 6th, 1984 and, at the time, was a salesman at the Jewish Book Store of Greater Washington in Wheaton, MD.

Shaw's Tavern beer menu

Sadly, I wasn’t able to dig up much else on the building in the newspaper archives. The only other mention of the address I found was that Long’s Liquors was located there in the mid 1980s.

Do you have any stories about the building? Share your comments below because I’m sure this place is full of them. I can also guarantee that it has plenty of stories to come with the new Shaw’s Tavern. I did find this post on Left for LeDroit.

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: Big Bear Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: 54 Rhode Island Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Looking Glass Lounge – 3634 Georgia Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Plain Old Pearson’s in Glover Park (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Shaw’s Tavern and 520 Florida Avenue NW appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Tivoli Theater at night

You can’t walk past the Tivoli Theater in Columbia Heights and not admire it, imagining what the surrounding streets were like in the late 1920s. The arrival of Harry Crandall’s new theater was a big deal for the area and let’s not forget that just a couple of years earlier, his Knickerbocker Theatre was the site of the catastrophic roof collapse that killed 98 people.

Here’s an article from the Washington Post on February 17th, 1924, before the opening.

Crandall’s New Tivoli theater at Fourteenth street and Park road northwest has been heralded ever since construction was started as the largest theater in Washington. This is an easy claim to make for any structure of this kind prior to the time when it takes definite shape and its actual dimensions both exterior and interest can be appraised.

Crandall’s Tivoli has now reached the stage of completion which makes it very clear indeed that it will be not theoretically, but actually the largest monumental edifice in the National Capital devoted exclusively to theatrical purposes. It has a frontage on Fourteenth street of almost an entire city square and more than half that frontage on Park road. This affords so tremendous a ground area that it is entirely feasible to deduct space on the Fourteenth street side for a series of smart shops and an even greater depth on Park road for lobby and promenade lounge purposes. The auditorium proper still remains a huge and magnificently beautified concourse with a comfortable seating capacity of 2,500 people.

The progress in decorating the Tivoli has been so rapid that it is already possible to gain a distinct impression of those qualities of beauty which will place the Tivoli at the top of the list of the most magnificent theaters on the continent. Every expert who has viewed the Tivoli so far, and there have been many, have reiterated belief that here is a house of which not only Washington, but the nation, may be proud. It is definitely schedule to open on April 1.

Tivoli Theater (Wikipedia)

The picture this article paints is that of an incredibly impressive and opulent theater, the likes of which we won’t see again, which is sad. On the one hand, I’m thrilled that Anthony Williams’ administration pushed to save the building, but I’m bummed that it couldn’t be made a theater again.

I know it wouldn’t be able to survive as a movie theater these days, but how cool would that have been? Nevertheless, the city has done an excellent job at preserving an important piece of city history.

The opening was cause for major celebration and the city was greatly anticipating the new 2,500-seat picture house. When opened, tickets were advertised at 25 cents for matinées, plus a 2 cent war tax for any seat in the orchestra, loge or balcony (war tax in 1924? maybe to pay off World War I bonds). Children could attend a matinée for 20 cents plus a 2 cent tax for any seat.

Evening shows were twice the price at 50 cents with a 5 cent war tax for orchestra, 77 cents plus 8 cent tax in the loge and the balcony was 26 cents with a cent tax. Children could attend for 33 cent in the orchestra and 22 cents for the balcony.

Columbia Heights held a grand parade, the day before opening, to celebrate the arrival of the theater. The Washington Post reported that the parade was to be held on April 4th, 1924.

A parade will open the celebration of the opening of Tivoli theater, it was decided last night at a meeting of the community committee which has charge of the celebration. It is planned to stage the parade the night of April 4. The theater will be opened the following day amid a carnival of dancing, fireworks, music and other features.hist

A nominal charge will be made against firms entering floats, it was decided to cover the expense of decorations and music, etc. The executive committee will meet shortly to decide the route and time of starting. It is expected that it will traverse all of the principal downtown streets.

Several business firms have already notified Dr. J. V. MacKenzie, chairman of the parade committee, with office es in the Riggs national Bank building, Fourteenth street and Park road, that they would enter floats, it was said, and Commissioner E. L. Mattice, of the Boy Scouts promised that a sufficient number of scouts would be on hand to do their bit. It is likely that the scouts, strung out along the line of march, will be given sparklers to set off as the procession approaches to give it added color.

The route was selected shortly thereafter and reported in the Post on March 30th.

Tivoli Theater (photo by Flickr user NCinDC)

The route of the vehicle parade, which is to be the main faeture [sic] of the community Tivoli opening celebration Friday evening, was mapped out at a meeting of the executive committee of the community organization, held yesterday at the Arcade. Owners of several hundred delivery wagons, auto trucks, floats and pleasure cars have requested places in line. The People’s Drug Stores, the Arcade company and several other concerns with large business intrests [sic] in the Columbia Heights and neighboring sections, are arranging for floats. The Chestnut Farms Dairy hopes to have some of its horse-drawn vehicles in line, as well as a large number of its delivery autos. The laundries are planning to get some worthwhile attention from observers.

…

While the plan for assembling the participants has not been worked out, the parade will start at Seventeenth street and Pennsylvania avenue. It will move east to Fifteenth street, south to the Avenue again and along to Ninth street. There it will turn north to F street and west on F street to Fourteenth street, encircling the theater district. The parade will go up Fourteenth street to Shepherd street and then turn on Georgia avenue, to park road, to Mt. Pleasant street and disband at Columbia road.

Thanks to Google Maps, I’ve plotted this route for you.

1924 Tivoli Theater celebation parade route (click for more)

Seats for the Saturday opening were put on sale Thursday morning starting at 10 a.m. and within three hours, all 2,500 seats were sold. Locals were abuzz with the notion that Washington had a grand theater to rival those in New York. The Washington Post wrote a glowing review of the new palace of motion pictures — built at a cost of $10 million — in the heart of Columbia Heights the following Monday.

Even the most extravagant expectation of commodiousness, comfort and beauty was more than fulfilled last night when the formal dedication of Crandall’s new Tivoli theater at Fourteenth street and Park road northwest marked on of the most brilliant events in Washington’s theatrical history.

The structure which represents an investment of $10,000,000, is architecturally imposing with exterior of highly ornamental polycrome terra cotta. The Fourteenth street frontage, extending almost the entire block from Park road to Monroe street, houses ten charming 2-story French shops with office suites on the third floor and studio apartments on the fourth, where also are located several of the dressing rooms utilized by those appearing on the Tivoli stage. The shops are unique in that each has a little open well, visible immediately upon entering the door, which permits simultaneous display of first and second floor stock. The entrance to the Tivoli offices is in the middle of the Fourteenth street block and is distinct from the theater entrance.

Studio apartments? I need to dig up some stories on old residents. That sounds fascinating. It reminds me of that recent documentary about New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham and his studio apartment in Carnegie Hall.

Tivoli Theater opening headlines in the Washington Post (April 6th, 1924)

The article, which is quite long, continues to praise the extraordinary finishes of the interior, which will give you a nice sense of what it was like over 80 years ago.

Upon entering the theater one finds himself in a handsomely decorated domed foyer of exquisite design and extremely artistic finish. From the left side of this foyer a stairway descends to the smoking and lounging room for gentlemen that extends under the Park road lobby. Here is a great fireplace, comfortable divans and other practical appurtenances. Proceeding through the foyer the main lobby is reached, with its magnificent marble trimmings, wonderful lighting fixtures and mural oil paintings obviously executed by an artist of the highest rank. This lobby extends the length of the Park road side of the theater and has exit doors at the far end toward Thirteenth street. Then entrance to the auditorium proper is directly in the middle of the north side of the lobby and from each end of the lobby grand staircases, completely done in marble lead to the mezzanine and balcony.

On the mezzanine floor is the principal lounge paneled in mahogany and beautifully carpeted and furnished. From this delightful vantage point an impressive view of the lobby is permitted and direct entrance afforded to the mezzanine loge boxes which flank the projection booth which is so placed as to throw the picture straight at right angles upon the screen. Another novelty in the construction and placing of the booth is found in its location on the mezzanine tier.

This innovation made possible the installation of glass, wire-screened, fireproof doors opening directly into the promenade lounge from which patrons of the theater can view every process necessary to throw the pictured image upon the screen. It is expected that this peek behind the scenes, so to speak, will prove of great interest to the laity unfamiliar with the mechanical processes essential to the successful purveyance of their amusement.

Okay, no disrespect to Z-Burger (when are you opening?) or the old sushi place (which I liked) or Mayorga Coffee, but it’s too bad we can’t have what was just described above. Can you imagine how amazing that would be?

It was so impressive at the time that just about every company involved in the construction placed advertisements in the Washington Post to associate themselves with the theater.

Edward Stevens advertisement in the Washington Post, April 6th, 1924

This next bit is some serious technical wizardry, especially for the 1920s.

As a radical departure from usual theater custom as the Tivoli’s revelation of the working projection booth, is found in the type of orchestra pit with which the house has been supplied. The floor on which the orchestra sits is in reality an elevator. The orchestra can be lowered to the basement level, or raised to stage level without disturbing a member or occasioning the discontinuance of a seletion. The same is true of the organ console, which likewise is on an elevator of its own, and can be raised and lowered simultaneously with or independently of the organ.

…

It is futile to attempt to convey by the printed word any adequate notion of the size, the completeness or the atmosphere of artistic achievement with which the Tivoli impresses the spectator upon his first visit. On every hand there is evidence of tremendous expenditure of thought and creative genius in attaining the final effect, and it is obvious that the house as dedicated last night must easily have cost the $1,000,000 its completion is said to represent.

…

The Tivoli is not in the usual sense a “neighborhood house.” It is, on the contrary, an institution of which the entire city of Washington ought to be proud and ought to be anxious to support. It is quite deserving of the description of “The Temple of the Arts” which has already been bestowed upon it.

…

In the Tivoli theater the Capital has a monumental edifice of which Mr. Crandall and the nation may both well be proud.

Are you impressed? I am … thoroughly. Also, the article mentioned $10 million first, then the $1 million figure. I think the former is a typo. That was a ton of money in 1924, and I’m guessing an additional zero was added.

It’s sad that we’ll probably never have places like this in the city today, but it’s great to dig into the past and imagine what it was like. I’m sure many of you agree and hopefully when you’re hanging out at the Columbia Heights Farmer’s Market (we really have to wait until May for this?) with your friends this summer, you can share some of these stories and descriptions with them.

Oh, and one last thing. The manager of the theater when it opened was Harry E. Lohmeyer, an employee of Crandall’s for many years who had been promoted to the most prestigious position at the Tivoli. He was 35 years old when the theater opened. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, he lived at 6215 4th St. NW … a little bit of a hike, almost in Takoma. He owned his home, valued at $12,000, living with his wife of 16 years, Mary, and two sons, Theodore, 15, and Harry Jr., 5.

To be the manager of this epicenter of entertainment was undoubtedly a major achievement and both Mary and his little boy Theodore were both likely quite proud witnessing the parade through Washington’s streets and opening of the theater the following night.

Hey, maybe Officer Sprinkle was in attendance on opening night.

Harry Crandalls' Tivoli Theater advertisement day before opening (Washington Post)

Tivoli Theater (photo by Flickr user dbking)

This was a fun post to look into, partly because I walk by this theater almost daily. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, why not follow us on Twitter of Facebook to get updates?

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• Before Ovechkin: Columbia Heights Roller Hockey (ghostsofdc.org)
• Lights! Camera! A Famous Comedy Special??? (ghostsofdc.org)
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The post If Walls Could Talk: Tivoli Theater Was “The Temple of the Arts” appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, but that is only the climax of the love affair between our country and The Emerald Isle.

Everyone has, or claims to have, some link back to Ireland. My wife firmly places her heritage on that island, but alas, I trace my roots back to Ayrshire and the Scottish Lowlands — I don’t think the Irish will hold this against me.

Everyone’s favorite country is a great one to kick off a twist on our favorite series “If Walls Could Talk” … the embassies version. Given the grandeur of the homes along Mass Ave. and scattered throughout the city, these are sure to uncover some great stories. I’m sure the Embassy of Ireland at 2234 Massachusetts Ave. NW holds many fascinating tales.

Irish countryside

Palatial residence to be built on Sheridan Circle

One of the earliest references to the home at 2234 Mass Ave. was an article in the June 7th, 1908 Washington Post. It details plans for a massive residence to be built for Henrietta M. Halliday.

Work will be started this week on the construction of a palatial Indian limestone residence to be erected for Mrs. E. C. Halliday at the southeast corner of Massachusetts avenue and Sheridan Circle. The building will be of the French style, Louis XVI period, and the entire front, extending fifty feet on Massachusetts avenue and twenty-two feet on Sheridan Circle, will be of stone work, with the exception of the iron grill of the top story and the slate roof. Much carved stone work will adorn the front of the building.

Plans for the house have been prepared by W. P. Cresson, architect. It will be one of the few houses in the city built entirely of Indiana limestone …

…

Mr. Cresson will go abroad to select the carved woodwork and much of the material to be used in the interior decoration. In the principal rooms there will be decorative plaster cornices and wall panels set in pilasters. The vestibule will be of Caen stone, with marble floor. This will lead into a handsome circular stairway. Beautifully carved iron rails will be used on the stairs. A large part of the basement and ground floors will be used as servants’ rooms. On the main floor the salon will extend along the entire Sheridan Circle front of the house, and the dining room along the Massachusetts avenue front.

Mrs. Halliday was the widow of Edward C. Halliday, a well-known business man in Washington, who died at the age of 89 in 1905. Edward was the son of a wealthy stockholder in the steel works in Sheffield, England, and started his business career in New York. He arrived in Washington in his early 80s, building a fine block of homes on N St. NW, near the old British Embassy.

By 1920, the U.S. Census listed her as living alone in an apartment at 4000 Cathedral Ave. NW. She was 68 years old.

Residence sold for $85,000

Here’s a photograph from the Washington Post on January 22nd, 1911. The home was the residence of Mrs. Halliday, up until that January, when it was sold to an unnamed buyer.

Photo of 2234 Massachusetts Ave. NW in 1911 (Washington Post)

Lost dog

Have you seen a little Pomeranian dog wandering the streets around Kalorama? This is likely what the police would ask residents back in the spring of 1915.

H. Campbell Graef, 2234 Massachusetts avenue northwest, has asked the police to find a Pomeranian dog, which either strayed or was stolen yesterday.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Graef spent most of their time in New York and London, and had arrived in Washington to spend the winter of 1915 in the home.

Lot 41, block 5, Kalorama Heights

Another early mention I came across was a real estate transfer from October 25th, 1916 in the Post.

2234 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE NORTHWEST–Bernhard Meuser et ux. to Charlotte Jane Isabelle McDonald, lot 41, block 5, Kalorama Heights. $10 (subject to trust for $50,000).

By the way, if you’re curious and not a latin speaker, “et ux.” is the abbreviation of “et uxor,” which means “and wife.” This has obviously fallen our of favor due to chauvinistic undertones, but is still found in some legal documents.

What’s interesting is that the home was purchased just a month earlier. The Post reported the following on September 10th, 1916.

Bernhard Meuser purchased from Howard Schladt the large stone residence at 2234 Massachusetts avenue northwest, facing Sheridan circle. The consideration is said to have been $77,000.

I’m going to make this even more confusing by going back to August of that year with another transaction.

For a consideration of $71,000, Howard A. Schladt purchased the handsome residence at 2234 Massachusetts avenue, in the exclusive Sheridan circle district, the sellers of the property being James D. Hobbs and Hubbert D. Quinter, trustees. There is an incumbrance of $50,000 on the premises. This was the largest transaction of the week.

It’s wild to think that this monstrous and expensive property was deeded to four different parties in a time span of three months. Also, it’s interesting to note that Meuser and Schladt are both German names and 1916 was right in the middle of World War I. It would not be far fetched to think that this might be a contributing factor. I should also add that the surname Graef is also German and the Pomeranian breed originated in eastern Germany and northern Poland.

The McDonald’s drunk chauffeur

In March 1918, the Washington Post reported on an incident involving A. C. Ellis, the chauffeur serving the residence at 2234 Mass Ave … and this incident involved the slight over consumption of unnamed intoxicating spirits.

While driving an automobile on the Bladensburg road yesterday, A. C. Ellis, a chauffeur in the employ of Mrs. James McDonald, 2234 Massachusetts avenue, this city, struck a wagon in which J. Frank Rush, his son, Noble F. Rush, and his 7-year-old daughter, Ester, were returning from Riverdale to their home in Hyattsville.

Four occupants of the car were taken before Justice of the Peace A. H. Dahler, of Bladensburg, who find Ellis $100 on a charge of operating a machine under the influence of liquor, $100 for driving in excess of 25 miles an hour and $25 for using the machine without the owner’s

permission. Three of Ellis’ companions were discharged, and the other , who gave his name as T. F. Burroughs, was fined $25. At a late hour last night they were still in jail unable to pay the fine.

Drunk, speeding with buddies in the car AND taking the vehicle without the McDonald’s permissions? I’m guessing that Ellis did not maintain his employment much past the following day.

By the way, when I think of chauffeurs in 1918, I envision Branson, the Irish Socialist, from Downton Abbey.

A year earlier, in March 1917, the Post reported on an inaugural social event at the McDonald’s new home.

The Brazilian Ambassador and Mme. da Gama and the Spanish Ambassador and Mme. de Riano were the guests of honor at dinner last evening of Mrs. James McDonald. The dinner was in the nature of a house warming, as this is the first formal affair Mrs. McDonald has given in her new home, 2234 Massachusetts avenue, purchased this winter. Mrs. McDonald has planned a series of important entertainments this spring.

A little more digging reveals that James McDonald was born in 1840 in Scotland. He arrived in the U.S. at the age of 15 and was a prominent oil magnate. He formed an oil company in Cincinnati with his brother Alexander and sold for a handsome sum of money to John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company.

In 1895, Standard Oil sent him to open up their European branch. By the time he retired in 1907, he was in charge of all company operations in Europe and Asia. Needless to say, he was a rich and influential man.

Portrait of James McDonald

The very wealthy Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews Dick

You have to have a lot of money to live the way these two did. This bit in the October 28th, 1930 Washington Post hints at their substantial wealth.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Matthews [sic] Dick, who are in New York after passing the summer in Newport, will come to Washington next week, and will go into their new home at 2234 Massachusetts avenue, which they purchased recently from Mr. and Mrs. Harry Wardman. Mr. and Mrs. Dick sold their former home on Woodland drive to Senator and Mrs. James Couzens.

Harry Wardman, if you aren’t familiar, was one of the most (if not the most) prominent developers in Washington during the early 20th century.  If you own a Wardman row house today, it automatically will add about 5% to the value of your home. Oh, and James Couzens was an exceedingly wealth man in his own right. He was an early investor in the Ford Motor Company, former mayor of Detroit and Senator from Michigan.

Below is an advertisement for the home, prior to its sale. The photo appears to be the same as the advertisement above, but this has a better description. Also, this ad was from 1926, so it took Wardman quite some time to unload this property.

Advertisement for 2234 Massachusetts Ave. NW in 1926 -- notice the typo (Washington Post)

Seven years later, there’s a mention of the Mr. and Mrs. Dick planning an extravagant vacation.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews Dick, who originally planned to take a trip around the world, have decided instead to sail for a stay in Paris. They will leave in October an [sic] return to Washington the first part of December.

Mr. and Mrs. Dick have been spending the summer in the Newport villa which they purchased from Ogden Mills, former Secretary of the Treasury. In Washington they live at 2234 Massachusetts avenue.

You really don’t see wealth like this anymore in Washington. It’s sometimes over-romanticized, but that lifestyle seems so fascinating. Newport, Washington, New York … clearly the Dick family had a serious amount of money.

Charles Mathews Dick was the son of Albert Blake Dick of Chicago. A.B. Dick created the term “mimeograph” and received the trademark on it in the late 19th century. In 1887, the A.B. Dick Company licensed “Autographic Printing” technology from Thomas Edison and began selling them in large quantities to companies in the U.S. His company grew to be one of the largest in the American copier and office supply industry.

Looks good, I’ll take it

You’re not going to come across open houses like this very often. If I’m lucky, maybe Ambassador Collins is reading this and will invite my wife an I over for a quick tour and a pint of Guinness? Did I mention my wife’s family history goes back to Ireland?

Open house at 2234 Massachusetts Ave. NW in 1948 (Washington Post)

By the way, after this open house, and about a year later, the building was acquired by the Republic of Ireland to become their embassy.

Welcome to the neighborhood: the new Irish Embassy

In 1949, the Republic of Ireland was the new owner of 2234 Mass Ave and in the fall of that year, they were preparing to move into the building.

In another month the Irish Legation will have a new address, 2234 Massachusetts ave.

Hugh McCann, Eamonn Kennedy and Sean Hayden, all of the Irish Legation, who live together on Chesterfield place, entertained at luncheon Thursday in honor of Raymond Paul Ludden of the State Department. Mr. Ludden is leaving shortly for Dublin, Ireland, to take up the post of Counselor at the American Legation. Among those attending were the Irish Minister, Sean Nunan, and Livinstone Satterthwaite and Frederic Ranney of the State Department.

Chesterfield Place is in a great neighborhood just off of Rock Creek Park, but the three men living in the same home reminds me of an older version of college living, not unlike Carolyn Maloney’s home or the notable Capitol Hill row house, humorously featured in the New York Times in 2007 (i.e., Schumer, Durbin, Miller and Delahunt).

Here are some great old photos I found from the Library of Congress.

Irish Chancery in 1972 (Library of Congress)

Drawing room, Ambassador's office in 1970 (Library of Congress)

Upper stair or living hall in 1970 (Library of Congress)

Second floor dining room in 1970 (Library of Congress)

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Embassy of Ireland appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Sonoma interior

Last week’s winner of the “If Walls Could Talk” poll was Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar. They altered the look and feel of the tavern-heavy block of Pennsylvania between 2nd and 3rd St. SE and have been satisfying discerning palates with sophisticated wine and charcuterie since the fall of 2005.

I’m excited to branch out to a different neighborhood for this next IWCT and judging by the popularity of this place, I’m hoping this will be a well-liked post.

Need the Baltimore Sun?

In February of 1870, 223 Pennsylvania Ave. SE was the location of a bookstore owned by A. R. Williams. If you wanted to have the paper delivered to your home by reliable carriers daily, you would leave your name with Williams and set it up. Back then, the Baltimore Sun was a very reputable, if not more reputable paper than those in Washington.

The Baltimore Sun

Fire! … again!

The first and oldest thing that I came across looking into the building’s history is a bit about an arson. This was from the October 30th, 1886 Washington  Post.

Frederick Selby, the tinner charged with having set fire to the stove and tin store of Mr. William B. Marche, No. 223 Pennsylvania avenue southeast, last Monday night, was held for the action of the grand jury. The evidence was to the effect that Selby, having been discharged by Mr. Marche, had made incendiary threats and was seen at the store just after the first started. The defence [sic] claims an alibi.

Going back a few months, I found another article about a fire at Marche’s location. It seems they were out of town in August when a fire broke out in his store, causing $100 worth of damage (a lot of money back then).

Stop that horse!

On March 29th, 1897, a short article made mention of a local doctor and some acquaintances being injured in a horse and carriage accident. This is not unlike the story about the runaway horse I posted a few weeks ago — the one about Big Bear Cafe.

Dr. Joseph Mudd, of 125 Third street northeast, and Joseph Waltemeyer, of 223 Pennsylvania avenue southeast, while driving on G street southeast yesterday had their horse to run away and both received painful injuries. The cause of the runaway was the breaking of a shaft bolt. The horse became frightened and unmanageable. After running several squares the carriage was upset and Mr. Waltemeyer, the doctor, and the two boys who were riding with them were thrown to the pavement. Dr. Mudd was injured about the should and legs, but it is thought no bones were broken. Mr. Waltemeyer was hurt, but not seriously. A boy named Kirby had one arm injured.

Wait a minute! A Dr. Mudd? There was another famous Dr. Mudd (i.e., Dr. Samuel Mudd) that was convicted in the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. I did a little digging, and sadly, these two were not related.

Dude, this is not your house

Here’s an odd story of breaking and entering. This is from August 22nd, 1900.

Joseph Tinsey, a negro, twenty-two years of age, said to live near First and D streets northwest, was arrested by Policeman Payne and locked up in the Sixth Precinct station about 11 o’clock last night on a charge of housebreaking. He was taken into custody at 223 Pennsylvania avenue, occupied on the first floor by Max Schawkowiz, a shoemaker. Schawkowiz was asleep in a rear room shortly before 11 o’clock, when he heard some one in his room. In the darkness he caught the outline of a man crawling about on his hands and knees. He sprang suddenly from his bed and grappled with the intruder, who proved to be Tinsey.

Policeman Payne was attracted to the house by an alarm set up by the shoemaker, and took charge of Tinsey. The negro said he made a mistake entering the house. He would not have thought he was a burglar. He simply got into the wrong house, he claimed, while looking for his wife. He was unable to explain why he forced a rear window.

I usually entered through my rear kitchen window too, so I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Also, let me add that Payne is no where near as cool as Officer Sprinkle.

Woman struck by automobile dies of injuries

On occasion, we still have pedestrians and bikers being hit by vehicles. But, 70 to 80 years ago, it almost seemed like an epidemic. I’ve had probably no less than three posts which talk about people being struck and killed by cars, trucks or streetcars. This one is one of those from January 10th, 1938.

Mary Clement, 59, of 223 Pennsylvania avenue southeast, died in Providence Hospital yesterday of injuries received when struck by an automobile. She was the second traffic victim this year.

Miss Clement was knocked down at Thirteenth and D streets northeast Saturday morning. She was taken to Gallinger hospital by George H. Hughes, 21, 622 Morton place northeast, driver of the car that struck her.

After receiving treatment for a fractured hip and shock, Miss Clement was transferred to Providence Hospital, where she once was employed.

The second death in 10 days? … and how crazy is it that the man that hit her with his car takes her to the hospital. Then, she’s taken to the former hospital where she worked, and dies. Both crazy and sad.

Doorman struck by streetcar and killed

Streamlined street car passing Washington Monument (1938)

I told you, it was an epidemic. Washington was a dangerous place (and still is sometimes) to be a pedestrian. Here is yet another tragic death listed in the paper. This one is from October 5th, 1948.

A coroner’s inquest will be held at 11;30 a. m. today in the traffic death of Edward S. Walls, 76, of 223 Pennsylvania ave. nw. [sic]

Walls, a House of Representatives doorman, was killed Sunday night, when he was struck at 12th st. and Pennsylvania ave. nw., by a streetcar operated by Leon D. Richeson, 27, of 2123 I st. nw. His was the District’s 52d traffic fatality this year.

The address is a misprint placing it in the northwest quadrant, because the one listed is in the middle of a parking lot, unless there were homes there in the late 1940s. Subsequent articles about this accident properly place the address in southeast.

Poor Mr. Walls had been working in the Capitol for seven years and prior to that was a traveling salesman on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for a rubber company. He was struck by the car and violently pinned under the front of the car, dying instantly. He left behind a wife and grown son.

Leon Richeson was exonerated after a coroner’s inquest, ruling the death accidental.

Anyone remember the 70s?

I doubt there are a lot of folks out there that remember the Hill in the 70s, but back in 1978 this place was a nice place to grab a drink. Yolanda’s of Campidoglio served both lunch and dinner daily with prices ranging from $2.50 to $7.50 for a dinner entrée (cheaper than Chipotle!).

Apparently it had tall arched windows, exposed brick walls, reflecting chrome chairs and an open kitchen to see how your meal was being prepared.

The spot was simultaneously occupied by Jenkins Hill Saloon (Yolanda’s was above Jenkins Hill), a bar with nine beers on tap. That’s kind of a big deal for the 70s, unless that consisted of four types of Miller, four Budweiser and one Coors (or maybe PBR). From the descriptions and reviews in the paper, it sounded like a regular bar where you’d grab a burger and beer. Occasionally, you could catch some live music here as well.

Anybody remember these places?

The rooftop burglars

Back in February of 1985, D.C. had a rash of restaurant burglaries. All of these had forced entries through roofs, with the burglars cutting telephone wires and alarms to get into buildings.

These burglars would enter the restaurants, and seemed to be quite familiar with the layouts. Cash would be taken from registers and safes, but everything else would be left untouched. Police theorized that this was the modus operandi of a team of professionals rather than a gang of youths. The building at 223 Pennsylvania was targeted multiple times but on two of the three break-ins, nothing was taken.

Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar. Photo credit: Jennifer Kolansky

Well, that’s all the history I could dig up for the building. I really had high hopes for the Dr. Mudd connection, but alas … no luck.

If you enjoyed this post, why not check out Sonoma on Facebook or Twitter, and while you’re poking around on social networks, follow @GhostsofDC. Are you psyched that it’s Monday … or do you have a case of the Mondays?

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I’ve always been fascinated by this building on Rhode Island Ave. It looks like something that belongs in New Orleans with the two-tiered porch.

54 Rhode Island Ave. NW

Life begins as an apartment building

The building originally was called “the Bloomingdale,” assuming the neighborhood’s name. Here’s a note of the building’s sale and transfer on January 23rd, 1916.

The two-story apartment, known as the Bloomingdale, 54 Rhode Island avenue northwest, Moore & Barbour’s Addition, was sold to Frank R. Bavis by Benjamin E. Talbott, trustee. It is two stories high and contains eight apartments. The exterior is of pebble dash. Stamps affixed to the deed of transfer amounted to $21.50.

A confident basketball coach

W. H. Smith was a resident of 54 Rhode Island Ave. NW in 1925, and apparently he was the basketball coach of the Quincy Athletic club. They had a little rivalry with the Argyle Athletic club according to a bit in the Post on January 29th, 1925.

The Quincy Athletic club takes exception to the Argyle Athletic club’s claim for senior basketball honors. The Quacs claim that they have already beaten the Argyles twice this season and have yet to be beaten by them.

But, in order to relieve any doubts in any one’s mind about the relative ability of the two teams, the Quincys are willing to meet the Argyles again on any floor at any time. They may telephone Manager W. H. Smith at North 4177-W, or write him at 54 Rhode Island avenue northwest, about arranging another game.

A number of things are amusing (or quaint) about this. First … the Quincy Quacs? That’s not exactly a mascot that strikes fear into the hearts of opponents.

Second, the phone number 4177-W is interesting. Evidently, phone numbers were not fully numeric until the 1960s. Urban centers had “exchanges” representing their city, typically the first letter the area (e.g., W for Washington). Read more about this on Wikipedia.

Last, write him a letter to arrange a game? Life clearly was slower back then if that was the preferred communication method. Sadly, I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter.

W. H. Smith makes another appearance in the November 5th, 1926 Post, again related to basketball, titled “St. Martin’s Tossers Ready to Open Season”. Now that is an unfortunate team name.

The St. Martin’s basketball team is ready to start the court season. Practice has been held during the past three weeks, with Dan Pyne and McFarland, newcomers, showing up well. The team numbers Devlin, Zinerli, Harrington, Lawton, P. Pyne, Smith and Tew of last year, and besides D. Pyne and McFarland, Sency and Krum, who have recently joined.

The Saints will meet Sacred Heart, of Baltimore, in their first scheduled game on November 17 in St. Martin’s hall, North Capitol and T streets. Arrangement for games may be made through W. H. Smith, of 54 Rhode Island avenue northwest.

Coworker cracks another over the head with a bottle

From the Washington Post on June 3rd, 1958 — “Man Sentenced For Skull Blow”:

William James Cole, 36, of no fixed address, was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail for fracturing the skull of a fellow Roosevelt Hotel employe [sic] with a soft drink bottle Sunday night.

Det. Otho J. Thomas said the blow shattered both the heavy glass bottle and the skull of John Gary, 20, of 54 Rhode Island ave., nw. Thomas said the men were arguing over a girl.

Municipal Court Judge John Lewis Smith Jr. imposed the maximum sentence on the assault charge, calling the case “one of the most vicious assaults I have ever heard of.”

Wow, that’s a brutal assault. The Roosevelt Hotel, by the way, is the current Camden Roosevelt apartment building at 2101 16th St. NW.

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The post If Walls Could Talk: 54 Rhode Island Ave. NW appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Smith Commons

I’m a little tardy with delivering this next “If Walls Could Talk” … sorry.

The winner of our second IWCT poll is the H Street hot spot, Smith Commons (I don’t think I like that acronym).

I came across some interesting stories related to the spot at 1245 H St. NE, not to mention my favorite D.C. police officer. The next time you hit up happy hour at Smith Commons, you’ll have plenty to talk about with you friendly bartender.

Smith Commons street side

Four riders in a heap

I’m not sure if this was drunk biking, but this is a weird story. Also, I don’t know how this warrants an article in the Washington Post, but it did. I guess news was slow in 1896. This was from May 28th.

A bicycle accident which might have been more serious happened in the White Lot oval about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Mr. George ball, of 1245 H street northeast, and Mr. Harry Gier, of 1413 Eighth street northeast, procured a tandem and went into the White Lot road for a spin. Mr. Willard Lenicker, of Twenty-second and P streets northwest, happened to be in the same place at the same time, and on the same business, and the trio began racing. Mr. Lenieker, in some unaccountable way, ran into the other pair, throwing them to one side, and straight at Mr. Fred Moore, of 325 P street northwest, who was passing on his wheel.

For the space of five minutes it was difficult to tell which was who and where the wheels began and ended. Then the crowd interfered and got the quartet disentangled, after which an Emergency ambulance made its appearance and the riders were taken to the hospital. There it was found that all but Mr. Ball had got off with bruises and scratches. He had not been so fortunate, having received a long, jagged cut on the head. The wounds of all were dressed, and after a short rest they returned to their homes. The bicycles will have their wounds attended to later.

At least it’s nice to see that the author had a sense of humor at the absurdity of this story.

Erecting a garage

A small mention of a building permit led me down quite an interesting path. I came across a permit approval in the Washington Post from August 12th, 1917.

L. Birkle, owner; to erect brick garage, 1245 H street northeast; cost, $1,000.

On an aggressive night (with a large group) you could probably rack up a bar bill more than the cost of that garage. The good thing for me is after this post, I will drink for free at Smith Commons. Okay, well maybe my wife and I will get a DC Brau on the house … and maybe some Cheetos to snack on.

Leopold Birkle was German immigrant and his children were first generation Americans, born in Washington. Even cooler is the fact that he was a brewer (of course, he’s from Germany).

In the 1900 U.S. Census, he was living at 1400 E St. NE with his wife Katie, brother Baltias (also a brewer), young daughter Katie, son Baltias and infant daughter Josephine. They also took in a 25-year-old male boarder from Germany, Jacob Ensel (also a brewer).

Leopold Birkle family in 1900 U.S. Census

The Birkle’s had a little scare in May of that same year. The following was reported in the Washington Post.

Mrs. Katherine Birkle, 1245 H street northwest, found unconscious in her room from gas yesterday, is recovering at Casualty Hospital.

Mrs. Birkle in that article was the young daughter, born in 1894. Sounds like the lights in her home sprung a leak, spewing gas throughout her bedroom. Katherine, or Katie, lived through this incident and didn’t die until 1967 at the age of 72.

“Padlock” injunctions for Prohibition violators

Here’s an interesting one from April of 1924, right in the middle of Prohibition.

Assistant District Attorney Frank J. Kelly applied to the District Supreme court yesterday for three “padlock” injunctions, to prevent further alleged violations of the prohibition laws. The persons named are Leopold Birkle, proprietor of a near-beer saloon 1245 H street northeast; Verling Harris, 525 T street northwest; James W. Hunter, malt and hops dealer, and his clerk, Sarah G. Hunter, 919 D street northwest.

Lieut. Joshua L. Sprinkle, of the Eleventh precinct, was arrested in the Hunter establishment and later indicted with James W. Hunter and others on a charge of conspiracy.

OMG … our favorite D.C. police officer! Officer Sprinkle was a badass.

Our friend, Leopold Birkle was the proprietor of this near-beer saloon. Given his German heritage, he must have thought Prohibition and the temperance movement was utterly ridiculous.

The Redskins marching band

It’s almost like college football. In 1941, the Washington Redskins were the first team to have a band support them on the field (also the first team to have a fight song — Hail to the Redskins). Evidently, after a game against the Giants, a freak window accident injured one of the band members.

Bernie Eisenberg, a member of the Washington Redskin band, suffered slight facial cuts in a freak accident on the return trip from the New York Giant game last night.

Six car windows were broken when a northbound train passed the Redskin special and Eisenberg, of 1245 H Street Northeast, was seated next to one of the broken windows.

Train officials could not explain the incident but a track crew was dispatched to the scene immediately.

First, I love that the train is called the Redskin Special. Second, that glass should be tempered. Oh, and to make matters worse, we lost to the Giants 20-13.

Need some paint?

Here’s an advertisement from 1948. At that time, 1245 H St. NE was the location for Norman’s Pure Paints.

Norman's Pure Paints advertisement (1948)

Off-duty policeman steps out for a bite

Pvt. William Rosenthal (1952)

Here’s one from crazy town in 1952. These kleptomaniac women seem a little nuts.

Police Pvt. William Rosenthal had his own alertness and the strong teeth of two women to blame for spoiling his day off yesterday.

According to the 32-year-old Sixth Precinct policeman’s account, all began when he left his home at 1311 E st. ne. about 11 a. m. to do a little shopping in the 1200 block of H st. ne.

There, he relates, he saw two women come out of a store. One pulled a mass of garments from beneath her skirt and hastily stuffed them into a shopping bag. Then they both calmly entered another store in the block.

Rosenthall asked Joseph Kipperman, who runs Kip’s Kiddie Shop at 1245 H st. ne., which the women had left, whether anything was missing. Kipperman discovered some children’s trousers were gone.

As the women came out of the second store, Lord’s Department Store, 1221 H st. ne., Rosenthal attempted to take them into custody. But he reports, they screamed, bit and beat him so furiously he finally had to let one go and concentrate on the other.

She was identified by police as Estelle Mitchell, 20 of 1608 New Jersey ave. nw., a former known narcotics addict who is currently under bond on shop lifting charges.

It’s never a good day off when you’re bitten by a former narcotics addict. At least he looks reasonably chill in the photo from the Washington Post. Even though he had permanent bite marks, he’s still not as cool as Officer Sprinkle.

Police charge D.C. painter with entering

By the mid 1950s, the address was a residence again. And here’s a strange article from June 27th, 1954 (also, the world’s first nuclear power plant that day).

A painter, who told police he carried a tire iron under his shirt to open windows when they stuck, was charged with housebreaking Friday.

Lieut. James Sartain of the Fourth Detective District said Nevin O. Barber, 43, of 1245 H st. ne., broke into the apartment of Margaret DeHart, 7414 Georgia ave. nw.

Police said she told them she heard someone trying the door to her apartment about 11 a. m. Thursday. As she looked out the front window, the door opened and Barber walked in, they said He [sic] apologized, said he had the wrong apartment and left.

Barber was arrested Friday when she again saw him walking in front of her apartment and called police.

Sartain, said police, found a hack saw, tire iron and cotton gloves on him. They were tools of his painting trade, he told police.

Not sketchy at all.

Only $1.00 per inch

That’s a super awkward line for an advertisement. Well, you could buy a TV at 1245 H St. in 1960 according to the advertisement I found in the Post.

Muntz TV advertisement (1960)

Furniture for sale

In 1966, the building held Sweet’s Discount Sales. Just two years before the riots, this was the place where you could get your home furniture for the reasonable price of $277. I’m guessing this wasn’t high-end stuff.

Sweet's Discount Sales (1966)

So, now that you know all you could ever want to know about 1245 H St. NE, you will have plenty of talking points to cover while waiting for your next pint. Saddle up to the bar and have a little chat about Leopold Birkle or everyone’s favorite, Officer Sprinkle. Hmmm … Sprinkle and Birkle. I like the sound of that.

If you’re a fan of these posts, why don’t you follow us on Twitter or Facebook?

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Smith Commons appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

LivingSocial logo

I came across a great idea while reading Prince of Petworth’s post on LivingSocial yesterday. The DC-based company just opened up their “live events center” in a building at 918 F St. NW, which was the former National Union Building. It’s a magnificently beautiful Romanesque building, six stories tall. This one certainly has a colorful history, so it’s going to make for a great “If Walls Could Talk.”

The building was originally built in 1890, designed by architect Glenn Brown (1854 – 1932). He was a Virginian and educated at Washington and Lee College in Lexington. His father Dr. Bedford Brown was a planter and politician from North Carolina, serving in the United States Senate from 1828 to 1841.

Glenn Brown in 1900 (National Park Service)

The younger Brown worked a few years as an apprentice in Washington before entering Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study architecture. He returned to Washington in 1879 and kicked off a successful fifty-year career designing countless buildings and structures, many of which you are familiar with.

Other than the new LivingSocial building (i.e., the National Union Building),  he designed the Beale House at 2301 Massachusetts Ave. NW (now the Egyptian ambassador’s residence), 1732 Massachusetts Ave. NW (now the Embassy of Chile), Dumbarton Bridge and Boulder Bridge.

The building’s original owner and occupant was the National Union Fire Insurance Company. They completed their office move from 643 Louisiana Ave. NW in 1891 and maintained ownership of the building until 1946, when it was sold to Arlene M. Andrick. The building passed through a number of owners until it finally ended up with one of DC’s biggest tech start-up, LivingSocial, as the new tenant in 2011.

National Union Building (Wikipedia)

Irrigation directors meet at 918 F street

Charles H. Dow (Wikipedia)

The Colorado River Irrigation Company had the audacious goal of irrigating land surrounding San Diego County, California, down through Baja California, Mexico. In 1892, they claimed a canal would be completed within two years and that the Colorado River was an inexhaustible source of water.

The economic depression of 1893 severely impacted the company’s finances and by the fall of 1894, the company ran out of money and failed. The company’s director, John C. Beatty of Boston was subsequently accused of fraud.

The Washington Post reported on their director’s meeting of August 4th, 1894.

A meeting of the directors of the Colorado River Irrigation Company was held at the Washington office of the company, 918 F street, yesterday. Gen. L. A. Grant, ex-Assistant Secretary of War, presided. James H. Beatty, president N. W. Transportation Company, Larnia, Canada., C. H. Dow and T. J. O’Donnell, of Denver, Colo.; P. J. McLean, of New York, and John C. Beatty, of Boston, were also present. James Linton, Providence, R. I., and T. H. Taylor, secretary and treasurer Riordon Paper Mills, Merilton, Canada, were elected directors, and Col. Henry A. Pierce, Pawtucket, R. I., was elected treasurer. It was reported that the capital stock of the company was being taken up very rapidly, and that arrangements had been made to begin the construction of the canal early next month.

Those are some serious names. That is Lewis Addison Grant, the Civil War general, oh and C.H. Dow is Charles Henry Dow, the founder of the Wall Street Journal, co-founder of the Dow Jones Company and inventor of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (I think you’re familiar with that).

Real estate dealer runs away War Department clerk’s only daughter

Fulton R. Gordon

Fulton R. Gordon (yep, the same on from the Columbia Heights post) eloped with a 20-year-old, Cora A. Hart. Okay, the age thing really isn’t a big deal because Fulton was 28, but both families were quite upset. At the time, Mr. Gordon was early in his real estate career (six years later, he’ll be killin’ it in the new Columbia Heights), working out of his office at 918 F St. NW. This story’s pretty good, because Fulton was kind of married at the time. The Washington Post wrote about this on July 8th, 1895.

On Saturday evening she accompanied a married lady, a friend of the family, to the concert at the White House. As she did not return at the usual hour her parents sent to the house of this friend, only to learn that Miss Hart had left there some time before. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hart sat up the greater part of the night hoping that their daughter would come home, and it was only after her absence had extended into the morning that they concluded she had gone away with Gordon.

Miss Hart has been acquainted with Gordon for about two years, her parents say. About that long ago Gordon’s brother-in-law kept a grocery store in the neighborhood and it is presumed that Miss Hart, who was then a school girl, first met the man. Since the Gordon has persistently tried to force his attentions on Miss Hart, even going to the extent of asking her to marry him. He is said to have proposed to her before he had been divorced from his wife. After his wife had secured a divorce Gordon became more and more attentive to Miss Hart, and being denied the privilege of calling on her at her home, he kept up a steady correspondence with her through some unknown channel. All this has been discovered since the couple fled. So far as is known Miss Hart was not in the habit of having interviews with her lover, but if she did, the secret was extremely well kept.

…

Mr. Hart stated to a Post reporter last evening that he knew Gordon only through the newspapers. On account of the bad character given him in the courts Mr. Hart had notified him that his visits would not be considered welcome, and Gordon never made any attempt to call. He feels very bitter toward the man who has robbed him of his daughter, and it is probably well for Gordon that miles separate him from the irate parent.

Well, they didn’t run very far, because they ended up in Ellicott City, Maryland. They held a midnight wedding ceremony at the Howard House and headed back to Gordon’s country home in Laurel.

Man crushed between cars

This was an unfortunate incident. Accidents like this were not terribly uncommon as it was hazardous to walk on the streets of Washington. On April 29th, 1912 — a couple week after the Titanic disaster — poor Mr. Slyder was crushed between two streetcars. Lucky for him, he was just injured, albeit, severely.

Isadore Slyder, of 1915 H Street, senior member of the firm of Slyder & Clough, 918 F street, was caught last night between two street cars at Thirty-sixth and M streets northwest. His collarbone and a rib were broken.

Mr. Slyder alighted from a car and attempted to cross the tracks behind it, when another car backed in on the switch, pinning him between the two ends, the police report [sic]. He was taken to Georgetown University Hospital in the Seventh precinct patrol wagon. Physicians at the hospital said last night that he was not dangerously hurt.

Fischer’s: jewelers and opticians

In the 1920s, the building housed a jewelry business. Fischer’s was a purveyor of fine jewelry, diamonds, gold high-end watches. Below is an advertisement from the December 14th, 1922 Washington Post.

Fischer's advertisement (1922)

The following year, on December 9th, the Post reported on a major theft that happened in the store.

Diamonds worth between $25,000 and $30,000 have been stolen from his store at 918 F street northwest, Harry Fischer reported yesterday. Jewels worth $150,000 were overlooked by the thief, Fischer told police. Included in the theft were 141 large diamonds, some three karats [sic] in weight, a dozen emeralds and seven packets of the smaller white stones.

Earlier in the day Joseph Fischer, employed by Fischer and his relative, took the jewels from a safe and placed them in a wallet in a steel drawer in the diamond room. Close to the drawers which contained the missing gems is a glass cabinet in which are jewels worth probably $150,000, Headquarters Detectives Kelly and Scrivener said. The jewels were Christmas stock and are covered by insurance, Fischer said. On books at the detective bureau the gems are reported as “lost or mislaid.”

Largest illegal gambling operation in Washington

Atlantic City? Nope … gambling wasn’t legalized there until 1976. I’m going to the sixth floor of 918 F St. tonight.

The March 12th, 1958 Washington Post reported on a raid that happened the night prior. District police raided an illegal gambling operation that was the largest downtown, and likely the largest in D.C.

Inspector John B. Layton, head of the Gambling Squad, led a raid yesterday on what he described as “the largest known gambling operation in downtown Washington,” at a sixth-floor suite of the National Union Building, 918 F st. nw.

Layton said a $1500–a-day business was conducted from the suite.

The raiding party waited outside until one of the men arrested opened the door to leave, then walked in, Layton reported. He said police had a search warrant obtained after a month’s observation and telephone calls to the premises. Arrested were:

Salvatore J. Mancuso, 39, listed at Bel Pre rd., Silver Spring; Owen N. Grinder, 55, of 2514 15th st. nw., and Alfred W. Stanley, 51, listed at 1612 18th st. se. They were charged with operating a lottery and released under $1000 bond for appearance before the United States Commissioner today.

D.C. painter plunges six stories to his death

Here’s a somber tale. The September 24th, 1976 Washington Post reported a gruesome accident that occurred in the building. A young man, occupied as a painter, fell to his death from the sixth floor window.

A 28-year-old painter died yesterday after he plunged from a sixth-floor window at 918 F St. NW about 3:15 p.m., D.C. homicide detectives reported.

Police said the man, Eugene Duke, of 4520 Fort Totten Dr. NW, apparently was at the building to examine an office he was to paint. Police said the building’s manager told them the man broke a window with his hand before going upstairs.

Duke landed in an alley beside the building, police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene. An autopsy was scheduled for today although no foul play is suspected, police said.

Snow White music boxes

The storefront of 918 F St. housed the Music Box Center in the 1980s. Below is an advertisement in the July 20th, 1987 Post.

Snow White music boxes (1987)

Office space available

I came across this old advertisement in the Post classifieds. Office space available for $12 per square foot! You won’t get a deal anywhere near that these days (even if you’re adjusting for inflation). Call Meda now … evenings and weekends.

Office space available (1988)

UPDATE: Ben over at DCist just reminded me of one of the most important historical anecdotes related to 918 F St. The alley next to the building is the one that John Wilkes Booth hobbled down after shooting President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre.

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The post If Walls Could Talk: The New LivingSocial Live Events Center appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I thought it would be a good to branch out and do a on Eastern High School (check them out on Facebook) near RFK Stadium. It’s a beautiful building at 1700 East Capitol St. NE, originally built in 1923. The original Eastern High School building was building in the 1890s at 7th and C St. SE.

This past fall, they started a unique program of enrolling a new ninth grade class, growing the school by one class each year until this incoming class of 300 freshman graduates in 2015.

So, the next “If Walls Could Talk” will be Eastern High School: The Pride of Capitol Hill. Also, I know the poll we’re running is for the next “If Walls Could Talk,” but I thought I could slide this one in before since it’s a school and not a restaurant. I’m sure you won’t mind … and plus, Capitol Hill is underrepresented on Ghosts of DC.

Eastern High School, 1700 E St. NE (Wikipedia)

The Rev. Curtis Lee delivers commencement address

In the evening of June 24th, 1897, sixty young women were graduating from Eastern High School, receiving their diplomas from Washington’s Mayor Hooper. This was the 45th annual commencement at Ford’s Opera House (the current building was constructed in 1890). The Rev. Curtis Lee, pastor of the First Baptist Church, was the keynote speaker — his wife was a graduate of the school.

Below is an excerpt from his speech:

“This municipality spent a million and a quarter dollars last year for education and I should like you young ladies to say to yourselves, What do I owe this community for what has been spent upon me? You have enjoyed is privileges for twelve years and there are duties you owe in return.”

…

“Personally, I pray that the day be not far distant when women’s wages will be measured only by the standard of women’s accomplishments and not by the weakness of their sex.”

…

“Not all men get married, either. There’s one here tonight who has been the admirer and the friend of thousands of pretty girl graduates and has been interested in hundreds of those women who are teaching in these public schools of Baltimore. Yet he has never surrendered to one woman. While there is life there is hope, though. The young lady who delivered the salutatory tonight mentioned his name in the same sentence with that of Queen Victoria. She is a widow, and would not surprise me some day to read that Mr. Morris had taken steamer to Europe to lay his hand and heart at her feet. Why not?”

In the ninth inning

I came across a short notice in the July 9th, 1899 Washington Post about an exciting baseball game at the old National Park. Eastern High School was facing off against Congress heights in a thrilling match up.

The Eastern High School nine, by a great batting rally in the last inning, won the game from the Congress heights team at National Park yesterday afternoon. It was one of the prettiest contests seen on the amateur diamond this year, and was full of star plays. Wahler, the husky pitcher of the Heights team, seemed to have the youngsters at his mercy, but they pounded him for four hits, and aided by a wild pitch and an error, scored four runs.

Stuart, the second baseman, made a number of good plays and also did well at the bat, leading his team in the streak which won the tame.

Eastern ended up winning the contest 7-4 after scoring those four runs in the top of the ninth inning. Amazingly, the game only took one hour and forty minutes.

Proper dress required

Seems like adults have always complained about the appearance of teenagers.

Editor Post: Principal M. F. F. Swartzell, of the Eastern High School, cannot be too highly commended for his prompt and vigorous suppression of insubordination and its immediate cause. No more convincing proof is required that laxity in dress is closely associated with laxity in manliness, self-respect, courtesy to superiors, and personal dignity than was afforded by the recent shirt-waist episode.

Clothes are a great factor in this material world. A man in evening dress will conform to the manners of a gentleman so far as he is capable, and would scorn an act that he would practice in an obnoxious “shirt waist“–a poor term to be applied to a man’s clothing. The latter garment is most unbecoming to most men, bringing natural defects into undue prominence. It is no more sanitary or cool than a light coat worn without a waistcoat, and the fashion is deteriorating and an incentive to rowdyism, as is too apparent.

Fathers and mothers ought to feel indebted to teachers who combine with a knowledge of classics and a higher education will and power to teach the deportment of a manly man and help their sons acquire the manners of a gentleman with respect and courtesy to all whom he may meet. The boys who have graduated from the high schools and have made and are making such honorable progress in the world would never be guilty of such dishonorable conduct as this intended disrespect to their preceptor, Mr. Swartzell. Silly women–and they are increasing–delude themselves wi the idea that approving of laxity of dress of men in their presence is a sure passport to their favor. instead, it lessens respect for them, for men are grateful to women for the self-restraint so necessary to the highest type of manhood. Thomas Carlyle, in his “Sartur Resartus,” gives his readers an idea of the value of cloths and how judiciously we should use them.

Congratulations to Mr. Swartzell, for liberty soon degenerates into license.

FRANCES F. COUGLE.

Change a little bit of the language and this could possibly be a letter to the editor today. I really applaud the beginning of the third paragraph and think it is so applicable today.

On a side note, Principal Swartzell was a seriously controversial figure in the neighborhood, as many in the community disliked him extensively and called for his removal.

The french teacher committed to St. Elizabeths

St. Elizabeths Center Building (Wikipedia)

Poor Miss Mathilde Mellee, a 35-year-old french teacher at Eastern High School. She was committed to the House of Detention and was being transferred to St. Elizabeths in August of 1900.

…She is a woman of intelligence, with an attractive presence, and speaks English fluently with a French accent, which gives an added charm to her words. She has traveled extensively in this country and filled positions in private families and schools as French tutor. She is without relatives in Washington, though she has numerous acquaintances and friends here.

…

Her case was diagnosed as hallucinations of the ear, and it is thought proper treatment and rest for Miss Mellee at the asylum will soon result in cure. Her condition is not regarded as dangerous, but if she were permitted to retain her liberty in her present state of mind and without relatives or near friends to care for her it is feared her mental condition would grow worse and develop into melancholia.

…

“One thing I cannot understand. Recently I have been hearing voices, strange words urging me to do certain things, teasing me. They were like spirit voices. I heard them, though I do not believe in spiritualism. I have no relatives in this country. I am a native of Paris.

The article goes on to state that she was crossing the street during a thunderstorm, stepped on the streetcar tracks and was electrocuted. She claims that as a result of being “electrified,” her mental condition had been altered.

Victory for Eastern

Eastern High School had a powerhouse football team in the early 20th century. Here is an article from the Washington Post on September 30th,, 1905.

Eastern High School defeated the Gallaudet Reserves on Kendall Green yesterday afternoon by a score of 16 to 0. Capt. Mikesell, of the varsity, refused to allow his substitutes to play on the reserve team because of the Georgetown game to-day. This, with only two of last year’s Reserves remaining, and only a week’s practice, left the Reserves with a patched-up team. Eastern appears to be heavier than last year, giving its average weight as 150 pounds per man. The high school boys played a faster game than the Reserves, and their teamwork was better.

Fields, for Eastern, until he was injured and forced to retire toward the close of the game, was by far the best ground gainer of his team, and carried the ball nearly half the time. Bender and Perry also did fine work for Eastern, while Preston, Eider, Stover, and Leitch did the best work for the Reserves.

Slowness and fumbling were the chief faults of the Reserves. Four times they lost the ball on fumbles, and their interference was ragged.

Eastern has been at work for three weeks, and seems to be stronger than last year.

Ha! An average weight of 150 pounds. AVERAGE! They couldn’t beat a junior high school team today. Take a look at the team photo from 1905 below. Looks like a bunch of dapper, weeny athletes (sorry, no offense guys).

Eastern High School football team (1905)

Eastern meets Central on the gridiron

Eastern High School versus Central High School — Cardozo High School after 1949 — was a large football rivalry in the city. Thousands would attend their games. This was Washington’s gridiron battle royale of 1923. It was scheduled for October 19th at Central Stadium at 11th St. and Florida Ave. NW.

EASTERN and Central High school football teams face each other this afternoon on the gridiron at Central stadium, signaling the opening of the interscholastic titular series of 1923. Play will start at 3:15.

A week ago the teams were acknowledged to be of about the same strength, and the chances of each for a victory was a toss-up. The outcome of today’s game depends upon the relative improvement of each team during the past week. Central seems to have the edge.

Well, the game was postponed due to rain and rescheduled to October 23rd … but, yet again, that was rained out as well. It finally took place on November 3rd, 1923.

CENTRAL HIGH yesterday set a pace entirely too fast for Coach Guyon’s Eastern team at Central stadium, easily winning its second start in the scholastic series 22 to 0.

Central presented a line that was the best shown so far in scholastic football this season. Eastern could make little or no impression on the Mount Pleasant forwards, while the Central backs–Johnson, Harper and Kauffman–found little difficulty in plunging through for substantial gains.

Mike Gordon was again the star of the game. This Central flash was entirely too fast for Eastern’s ends and secondary defense, getting away for several long runs. One went as a touchdown after a 52-yard dash. The ability of Quarterback Harper to make the distance needed for a first down was a prominent factor of Central’s offense. Harper crashed through seven times for first downs.

Too bad for Eastern, but below are two photos from that game. I think you’ll agree that these photos are amazing. Maybe the first one is of Mike Gordon being brought down by an Eastern defender.

Eastern High School vs. Central High School football - November 3rd, 1923

Eastern High School vs. Central High School (1923)

Two teenage girls drink poison in church

Here’s a bizarre story I came across from March of 1926, not unlike the suicide by acid story I posted weeks ago. There seemed to be an epidemic of suicide by poison in the 1920s.

Standing in the vestibule of Holy Comforter Catholic church at Fourteenth and East Capitol street, two 15-year-old pupils of Eastern High school, Margaret Carragher, 1307 F street northeast, and Lillian Miller, 700 Sixteenth street northeast, drank poison, dropped the bottle in the church vestibule, walked to the corner and collapsed.

Hurried to the hospital, they later were taken to the Fifth precinct police station and then sent to the house of detention where they went to bed. Their condition is not serious.

Self-administered poison sent another young woman to the hospital and caused the death of a woman patient of Freedmen’s hospital yesterday, bringing the total of poison cases involving women to thirteen in the last three weeks, with two deaths resulting.

When the two High [sic] school girls were taken to the police station, after hospital treatment, they declared, police said, that they were dissatisfied with conditions at school and wanted to discontinue attendance. Their parents had refused to permit them to do so, they said and they agreed to end their lives.

This is crazy, and there seemed to be an epidemic of depressed women in D.C. attempting to end their lives by consuming poison.

Eastern basketball team disappears during snowstorm

This is something that probably would never happen these days with Facebook, Twitter and foursquare. In early March, 1932, The Eastern High School basketball team was on a bus near Lexington, Virginia, when a snowstorm cut all communications and rendered roads impassable. They were stranded 12 miles outside of Lexington, unable to move, and for 24 hours, the community had no idea where they were.

After a 24-hour silence as to their whereabouts, members of the Easter High School’s basket ball [sic] team returned home by train yesterday, to the relief of parents and school officials, who were about to send a Ludington Line plane in quest of the young athletes when news of their safety was received.

…

General concern for the safety of the boys was felt, as the last message from the party, before the storm broke communications between Washington and Lexington, was received Saturday night, announcing their intention to leave Lexington by bus. The storm shattered communications and made roads impassable, blocking their return.

Okay, not exactly the Capitol Hill version of the Donner Party or the Andes flight disaster, but plenty frightening to experience I’m sure.

Eastern’s yearbook rated ‘All-American’

Eastern High School, “The Punch and Judy,” apparently had a nationally recognized yearbook.

Eastern High School’s yearbook “The Punch and Judy,” has been awarded All-American honor rating, the National Scholastic Press Association of the University of Minnesota announced yesterday.

The award is the highest given in the national competition by the association. The yearbook was entered among schools with an enrollment from 1400 to 2000. Judges termed the annual a “fine, able yearbook, well conceived and well sustained.”

Editors were Joan Ruth, 17, editor in chief, of 1329 North Carolina ave. ne.; William Atchison, 18, managing editor, of 1741 A st. se.; Maria Forbea, 18, of 1021 15th st. se., and Barbara Horn, 17, of 1608 G st. se., art editors.

Congratulations Eastern … that sounds impressive.

Pupils say integration is winning

D.C. school integration in Anacostia in 1955 (Library of Congress)

A short article in the December 7th, 1954 Post talked of the recent high school integration in Washington after the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Five District high school students agreed last night that integration in classrooms and sports was “on the way to success” by were divided on the question of whether their classmates were ready for social integration.

“We have to do it sooner or later,” said George Miller, of 620 H st. sw., a student at Eastern High School, when the question of social integration came up at a panel discussion at a meeting of the Southwest Citizens Association. “This delaying could go on for the next 20 or 30 years.”

…

Student at Roosevelt did not take part in the demonstrations against integration this fall, but several hundred at Eastern stayed away from their classrooms.

Another Eastern student, Hannah Lipsitz, of 727 6th st. sw., pointed out that curtailment of school social activities may force pupils to seek less wholesome recreation elsewhere.

Wailey Wing, of 928 New York ave. nw., told how students of both races now go to classes together, play in the gym, and dress in the same locker room at Eastern.

D.C. marine dies fighting at Danang

This is a sad story from April 3rd, 1969 in the Washington Post.

Marine Pvt. Ronald Jones, 19, a 1968 graduate of Eastern High School, was killed in action in Vietnam March 27.

Pvt. Jones, who lived at 4953 F st. se., was serving with H Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, when killed in action about three miles south of Danang. He had arrived in Vietnam in January.

Pvt. Jones enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after his June graduation from Eastern. While attending Eastern he belonged to the Washington High School Cadet Corps.

A native Washingtonian, Pvt. Jones attended Young Elementary School and Browne Junior High School. He helped pay his high school expenses by working part-time as a maintenance worker at George Washington University Hospital and the Langston Terrace housing project.

He is survived by his mother Virdie M. Jones, four brothers and four sisters, all of the home address, and his father, Cecil Jones.

Young Ronald Jones had only been in Vietnam for three months … and out of high school less than a year.

Filling in the gaps with some photos

Here are some great old photos I dug up on Shorpy.

Eastern High School in 1910 (Shorpy)

And zooming in on one of the girls in the photo, you’ll notice the sassy one below. What do you imagine this girl was like? In an age of being quite prim and proper, check out the way she’s posing for the camera with that hat and hand propped on her neighbors shoulder.

a sassy young woman

Eastern High School, High School Cadet Corps, Company F (1915)

Eastern High School typing class (1920)

Eastern High School (1935)

Eastern High School newspaper club (1941)

UPDATE: The principal of the school was kind enough to share their brochure. Check it out here.

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• If Walls Could Talk: Corte Salon and Arzo Boutique – 1019 U St. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (ghostsofdc.org)
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The post If Walls Could Talk: Eastern High School appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I was walking through Glover Park the other day with my wife and she made a great suggestion to do an “If Walls Could Talk” on the neighborhood favorite Pearson’s on Wisconsin. This place has been around for a really long time (since 1933). Your grandfather (or great-grandfather) probably would have purchased some booze from them (if he lived in D.C. back then). Given the natural history of this place, I’m going to agree with my wife and do some research on this local business. A place that used to supply President Truman with some booze for his weekly poker game is definitely worth out time.

So, let’s give some love to a different ‘hood and dig into some Glover Park history.

Plain Old Pearson's

The skylight bandit

Here’s an interesting story I came across from January of 1934:

Yeggman dropped through a skylight early yesterday to break open a drug store vault and escape with a quantity of drugs, whisky, perfumes and cash. Samuel Eisenberg, proprietor of the store, at 2448 Wisconsin avenue northwest, estimated his loss at $388.

Loot included $210 in cash, $10 in stamps, heroin and morphine tablets valued at $150, perfumes valued at $10, and a quantity of whisky.

Damn, that’s a loot worthy of a scene in Trainspotting. Heroin and morphine tablets? And who or what is yeggman? Well, I did not know this, but yeggman is a variant of the word yegg and slang for a safecracker or burglar. I learned something today.

Pearson's Pharmacy advertisement (1934)

Coroner’s jury to hear driver on traffic death

There were  a few traffic deaths in the District in 1941. According to the Washington Post, there were 60 deaths by the middle of September. Harry Zender, 57, of 804 17th St. NW was one of the unlucky 60 and was killed while standing in a streetcar loading zone at Wisconsin Av. and Davis St. in Glover Park. Below is an excerpt from the Post’s article on September 18th, 1941.

Louis Bryant, 24, Negro, of 11 Virginia Avenue Southwest, driver of a delivery car owned by Pearson’s Pharmacy, 2436 Wisconsin Avenue, will appear at the hearing.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ida Shenk, 44, of 1305 Fairlawn Avenue Southeast, who also was struck by Bryant’s machine, which later crashed into a tree, was reported improved at Mount Alto Hospital yesterday. She suffered a fractured right leg and skull.

The driver told police yesterday he lost control of the automobile when the brakes failed to hold.

Sounds like tragic and freak accident.

Liquor dealer tells FTC of price fixing

In March of 1949, the Post reported on allegations of liquor price fixing. The Federal Trade Commission was holding hearings on charges against Middle Atlantic Distributors, Inc., claiming that they unlawfully used their agreements and understandings of the local market to fix minimum resale prices for liquor. One of the witnesses to testify was Samuel Eisenberg, the owner of Pearson’s Liquor Annex at 2436 Wisconsin ave. Below is an excerpt from the article.

He testified he had raised prices on three Hiram Walker products after receiving a letter from Middle Atlantc [sic] in February, 1948, ordering the new price policy.

Eisenberg said he believed he had asked a Middle Atlantic salesman at one time “in case some competitor would sell it (Hiram Walker products) for less than I do, what protection would I get, and I believe I was told to call him up and let him know.”

Ultimately, the FTC examiner, William L. Pack, concluded that “a seller has the right to select his own customers” and “may legally establish the prices at which he wishes his goods resold.” There was not enough evidence against Middle Atlantic, so the charges were dismissed.

Yule nippee ends badly for Shippee

This was an amusing one I found from December 23rd, 1949. A man by the name of Leonard C. Shippee had broken into the liquor store and helped himself to some whiskey. I’ll let you read the rest.

Police Pvts, H. E. Harmon and J. A. Payne, in Scout Car 72, found a front show window smashed, about 5:30 a. m., at Pearson’s Liquor Annex, 2436 Wisconsin ave. nw. Later, store officials said 43 fifths of whisky were taken.

43 bottles of whiskey? Good God, that’s a lot of booze for one dude.

Harmon and Payne launched a search of the neighborhood. First place they looked was a vacant lot across the street. It is in use for sale of Christmas trees and wreaths.

Prowling among the trees, they said, they found Shippee.

Also, they said, the found:

An almost empty fifth of whisky beside Shippee.
Four more, full, in his pockets.
That he was less than coherent.
That there were other fifths snugly hidden around the lot, under the spruces and balsams and holly.
That Shippee had fragments of broken glass on his clothing.

Adding these findings up, they arrested Shippee.

Plain Old Pearson's advertisement (1947)

Pearson’s staff donates blood

On December of 1951, there’s an article that talks about the liquor store’s staff closing for three hours in the middle of the holiday season rush to give blood for the Korean War effort. The interesting part about it is that Pearson’s took out a big ad in the Washington Post, talking about this, and made no mention of liquor sales.

You see, the entire staff had urgent business elsewhere. They were going down to donate blood for the GIs in Korea. As the ad put it: “If we hurry, perhaps our gift will reach someone near Heartbreak Ridge in time for Christmas. Maybe it’ll fulfill his greatest wish-just being alive this Christmas and many more to come. Why don’t you join us?”

Evidently, the ad was a smashing success as letters, phone calls, and telegrams (yes, telegrams) poured in. They came from all parts of Washington, but also from all over the country.

Pharmacy manager accused of embezzling $1,018

Well that’s not a good headline to read. It was in the July 3rd, 1952 Washington Post.

The manager of Pearson’s Pharmacy, 2448 Wisconsin ave. nw., was held for grand jury action yesterday on a charge of embezzling $1018.49 from the firm during a six-month period.

Bernard A. Lowry, 40, of 7701 Eastern ave., Takoma Park, Md., voluntarily came to Police Headquarters for arraignment before Municipal Judge Andrew J. Howard, jr. Lowry pleaded not guilty, waived a preliminary hearing and was released in $1000 bond.

That was a fair bit of money back in 1952. Second, Bernard commuted all the way from Takoma Park to Glover Park for work? Man, that’s a hell of a commute.

Price fixing again … and a $6 million anti-trust suit

In November of 1955, Pearson’s again was part of a group of liquor stores crying foul against big liquor distributors for price fixing. The stores were asking the United States District Court for an injunction barring Seagram from establishing minimum retail prices and refusing to sell to retailers who don’t abide by their rules.

The worst luck

Here are some smaller anecdotes I dug up on Pearson’s.

On January 10th, 1958, D.C. police tracked down a burglar by using the serial number on a $1 bill. Pearson’s clerk, Bennie Lee had randomly noted a few serial numbers from bills in the store on the chance one of them might win a prize offered by a local radio program. Burnice Jackson had a bill in his pocket with serial number N-94985346-I, one of the numbers written  down by Bennie. The night before, someone had broken into the store and stolen $25 in small change, and unfortunately for Mr. Jackson, he took one of the bills which had been recorded by Bennie. Tough luck, Burnice.

Sarah R. Eisenberg, 75 years old

I came across an obituary for Mrs. Eisenberg from July 7th, 1989.

… Mrs. Eisenberg was a native of Poland and moved to the Washington area as a young girl.

In 1933, she and her husband, pharmacist Samuel Eisenberg, bought Pearson’s Pharmacy on Wisconsin Avenue. With the end of Prohibition, its small liquor department soon eclipsed the pharmacy operation. In the 1940s, the couple sold the pharmacy and opened today’s liquor store several doors away at 2436 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

“Mrs. E.” was a fixture behind the store’s counter and cash register through the years, not retiring until about 1980. Her husband of 55 years and other family members continue in the store.

I’m sure a number of readers, who are long-time residents in Glover Park, remember Mrs. E. and her impact on the neighborhood.

Related articles

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• Mountain Lion Spotted Near Glover Park? (princeofpetworth.com)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Seaton at 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Plain Old Pearson’s in Glover Park appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I’m missing tonight’s slow braised pork shank, but a deal’s a deal (if you’re reading this on Friday, I wrote this Thursday night and ordered take out from Pho 14 … yum).

Winner of the inaugural “If Walls Could Talk” reader poll is Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (@PearlDiveDC), taking 33% of the vote. Cleveland Park’s representative, Dino (@dinodc), took second place with 27% of the vote, staying alive for the second poll (starting Monday). It was a tense and hard-fought battle between these two, but ultimately, Pearl Dive pulled out the victory.

Let’s dig into the history of the new hot spot at 1612 14th St. NW.

The human diamond mine

What the hell is a human diamond mine? Get ready … this is an odd story.

In 1906, T. L. Combs & Co. sold jewelry out of 1612 14th St. NW. Mae Thomas was a customer in the store when she “accidentally” swallowed a diamond. She was arrested and taken to trial for stealing the diamond.

“Judge, I never stole that diamond,” the woman said. “I swallowed it accidentally. I was looking at it, and put it between my teeth to see if I could bite it. That is the way I thought a diamond should be tested. When the detective came along he ‘rattled’ me so that I swallowed the diamond. If that detective had not interfered the diamond would still be on the tray. I ask for mercy, not only for myself, but for my baby.”

Judge Sutton said that he felt convinced that the woman belonged to a gang of diamond thieves which should be broken up. He pointed out that she had been under suspicion for a long time, and that detectives trailed her from store to store. It was due to the watchfulness of the detectives that she was seen to hide the diamond in her mouth.

“The swallowing of the gem may have been an accident,” the judge said, “but you certainly put it in your mouth with intent to steal. This robbing of diamond merchants must stop, and I intend to make an example of you.”

The sentence of five years’ imprisonment pronounced was only two years less than the maximum penalty provided for the crime. The woman almost collapsed when she heard the sentence, for she expected to get off lightly in view of the jury’s recommendation of mercy.

If the surgeon had been able to get the diamond out of her body the woman would not have gone to jail. Before she agreed to submit to an operation her lawyer obtained a promise of immunity from the prosecuting attorney, provided the diamond was restored. The gem had lodged near the woman’s vermiform appendix and because the operation would be a novel and interesting one, surgeons urged the district attorney to promise immunity, not only because the stolen article would be returned, but because the woman, by submitting to the operation, would contribute to scientific knowledge.

After exploring the insides of the prisoner the surgeons decided it would be too dangerous to cut out the gem, and they permitted it to remain where it was. The prosecuting attorney then put the gem swallower on trial and she was convicted.

That sucks. Go under the knife and then go to jail for five years.

T. L. Combs & Company are listed at 1612 14th St. with advertisement and notices in the Washington Post going all the way back to the spring of 1896 (the year William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in the presidential election).

High-end automobiles from Dayton

Guess what? Much like another favorite establishment, this place once held an automobile dealership … Shocker.

I came across an ad from 1910 (can you see the error in it?) pitching Stoddard-Dayton motor cars, being sold by the Barnard Motor Car Company at 1612 14th St. NW. A price tag of $4,200 was quite steep back then, especially when you could build a house for $3,000.

Stoddard-Dayton was a high quality automobile, founded in 1905 and manufactured in Dayton, Ohio. They didn’t last long, being absorbed into the Maxwell Company in 1913. Unfortunately, Maxwell only lasted until 1920, when they were crushed by the post World War I recession.

Shortly after, a man by the name of Walter Chrysler took a controlling interest in the company. Maxwell did not fair well in the subsequent years, and was out of business completely by 1923. In 1925, Walter founded the eponymous, and still existing, Chrysler Corporation and took ownership of all Maxwell Company assets.

The Chrysler Corporation ended up working out (generally speaking), save for a major rough patch in the 1970s (help us Lee Iacocca!) and a bumpy merger/de-merger with Daimler-Benz.

Stoddard-Dayton & the Barnard Motor Company (1910)

Barnard out; Crescent in

In true early auto industry fashion, Barnard disappeared and was replaced by a new tenant, Crescent Motor Company. In 1914, they were the local dealer for the Mitchell Motor Car Company of Racine, Wisconsin. They lasted a little longer than Stoddard-Dayton, but were out of business completely by 1923.

Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company and Crescent Motor Company advertisement

Crescent out; Edelen in

Another short-lived company, Edelen Brothers Motor Company moved into the space and in 1916 was selling the Grant Six. These Brass Era automobile companies would come and go so frequently, it looked like Silicon Valley in 1999.

Grant Six and Edelen Brothers Motor Company

Cars out; tires in

President Wilson had thrown the United States full force into Europe and the Great War and instituted the Selective Service Act, drafting 2.8 million young men into the military. By the summer of 1918, we were sending 10,000 soldiers to France each day.

Also that summer, 1612 14th St. was serving as yet another automobile-related commercial operation. Hartig Tire and Rubber Company was selling ajax tires out of the building.

Hartig Tire & Rubber Company (1918)

…And another tire company

I’m beginning to feel like turnover was the rule, rather than the exception at 1612 14th — don’t worry @PearlDiveDC, stick to oysters (like old Crowley’s on Pennsylvania Ave.) and you’ll be fine. By 1920, McLaren Tire and Rubber Company was in business selling their tires in the building.

McLaren Tire and Rubber Company advertisement

Screw tires … we sell cars now

This is getting ridiculous. Out with the tires, in with Rine Motor Sales Company, the Washington dealership for George W. Davis Motor Company out of Richmond, Indiana.

Davis “Built of the Best” & Rine Motor Sales advertisement

A product of General Motors

We’re only up to 1925 and this is the seventh company I’ve come across. I feel like I’ll never get to the 1940s. Anyway … by the mid 20s, the Adams Motor Company was selling the Oakland Six, a General Motors automobile, out of 1612 14th.

Oakland Six and Adams Motor Company

Finally … no more cars

The first non-automobile dealer I came across was in 1955. The uniquely named Refrigeration Supply Company Inc., Washington’s oldest and largest supplier of refrigeration equipment.

Refrigeration Supply Company, Inc.

Fix the damn TV

An amusing, and time-appropriate, advertisement from the 1972 Washington Post tipped me off to the TV repair shop, City & State TV Company at 1612 14th St.

When the television goes on the blink on Superbowl Sunday it is somewhat mollifying to know that the possibility of having it repaired by halftime does exist. Two of the repair services operating in the District on Sunday are City & State TV Co., 1612 14th St. NW, 462-3442; and Associated Television Repairing, 1825 Connecticut Ave. NW, 462-3222. City & State charges the same price for its services on Sunday as during the week; Associated has a basic charge o $7.50 for black and white or $12.50 for color plus parts and labor. They have only one repairman on duty Sunday.

Funny … I remember when we had a black and white television. Our extra TV in 1987 was still black and white with a turn dial. I prefer HD.

Renewable relics

This is an interesting article I came across in the February 17th, 1980 Washington Post. Logan Circle was beginning to show early signs of gentrification and one Georgetown company took notice and opened a store in the current Pearl Dive location.

Being the building boom town that it is, Washington always welcomes new sources of ideas and materials. One business that hopes to bring inspiration to the city’s burgeoning army of renovators and decorators is an extension of Georgetown’s Canal Company set in the renovation-crazed Logan Circle area. The new Canal Company is a gallery of architectural relics–old wooden and marble mantels, doors, solid brass hardware and lighting fixtures, fretwork, pedestal sinks and stubs. Whether the shopkeepers recover a piece from a flea market or a house marked for demolition, they insist on quality. “We make sure that it’s solid and that we can repair it,” says manager Douglas Christensen. “If it was pegged, it’ll get pegged back together and glued and clamped.” Their collection also includes furniture, quilts, rugs and linens. Wooden mantels, stripped, begin at $100. Other services offered by the store include reupholstering chairs, refinishing wood and keeping an eye out for items that customers request.

Canal Company, 1612 14th St. NW. 234 6637

This place sounds a little like the Brass Knob (bought our door knob here) with a pinch of Good Wood (awesome store; bought a chair here … please kill the music on your site). I found their name in the papers at this address all the way until 1988.

I scanned 1,039 old Washington Post articles and that’s all she wrote … scanned titles, not read.

Below is the current establishment at 1612 14th St. NW: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace. The photos below are from their website (and they’re awesome … who took these?).

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace interior

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace kitchen

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I received an email from a reader saying she learned of Ghosts of DC through this post on Big Bear Cafe. She kindly asked if I would look into the history of her Bloomingdale condo building in, as she knew very little about it (other than old stories from local cabbies).

I’m starting to see an increase in email requests like this, and I wish I could get to all of them, but for this one, I’m happy to oblige. I’ll see what I can dig up for her (and her neighbors) to bring to life the history of 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW, The Seaton. Plus, she asked very nicely and said please. So here’s our next “Reader’s Choice” and “If Walls Could Talk.”

150 Rhode Island Ave. NW

The Seaton is born

The first thing I came across is the “birth certificate” for the building — a notice of a building permit being issued. Thomas H. Melton was granted a permit on August 17th, 1909, to build a four-story brick dwelling at 150 Rhode Islan Ave. The architect of the building was to be A. P. Clark, Jr. and the total estimated cost was … take a deep breath Seaton condo owners … listed at $20,000.

Thomas H. Melton was born April 4th, 1864 in Culpeper, Virginia and died April 20th, 1920 in Washington. Just before his death, the 1920 U.S. Census listed him living in at 2802 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Glover Park with his wife Martha Belle.

Thomas as Martha Belle Melton (1920 U.S. Census)

Melton was the president of the eponymous Melton Construction Company, which was involved in a number of projects throughout the area, including a large contract with the War Department to expand Fort Myer in Arlington and improve the officer’s quarters. The total value of the contract was somewhere near $200,000, a princely sum at the time. They also built the North Branch of Home Savings Building (the current Bank of America branch) sitting at 722 H St. NE in 1912.

A brother’s tragic suicide

Here’s a sad story. I came across an article in the Washington Post from February 14th, 1915 (Valentine’s Day).

Norman Boyer, 36 years old, a magazine writer and at one time editor of a periodical in New York city, was found asphyxiated Thursday morning in his room in the apartment of his brother, Stuart Boyer, in the Seaton apartments, 150 Rhode Island avenue northwest, the gas in the room being turned on. A note left by the young man, in which he said that he had realized too late that he had made a mistake that had wreck his life, indicated that is was a case of suicide. Boyer, who had been ill, was a guest of his brother. Coroner Nevitt issued a certificate of death by suicide.

This isn’t as gruesome as the story of the girl that ended her life by consuming acid, but nevertheless, it’s a sad one.

Norman was the former editor of a magazine called “The Smart Set” in New York, between 1909 and 1913.

The Smart Set (September 1911)

A flaunted love affair

Here’s some juicy gossip for the current residents to discuss.

Back in September of 1940, the Baltimore Afro-American reported on an alleged affair and resulting marriage implosion of a Seaton apartments resident and his wife.

Charging her husband with openly flaunting his love affairs before her, Mrs. Helen S. Tolliver, 2032 Flagler Place, Northwest, on Monday filed suit in the District Court for an absolute divorce from Leroy Tolliver, a mail carrier, 150 Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest.

Shortly after their marriage, her mate found the society of other women more pleasing than her own, Mrs. Tolliver states. The situation grew progressively worse, she says, until five years ago, when he adopted a course of cruelty towards her.

She charges he has beaten her and caused her to flee from him and seek the protection of the police on several occasions.

Mrs. Tolliver asserts that he has openly flaunted his affairs with other women before her and on one occasion had the temerity to bring her a note from one of his lady friends. She says he has charged to his account apparel purchased for other women.

Tolliver’s salary is said to be $2,100 a year. His wife says she is unemployed and is forced to eke out an existence on $20 a month.

The couple married on December 22, 1923.

So this dude’s a giant ass. I gather that there were several occasions where building residents were uncomfortably forced to overhear some heated exchanges.

Another D.C. traffic death

Traffic deaths seemed to be quite common about 70 years ago. The paper often had articles about tragic accidents that claimed the lives of District residents. This is one of those articles from April of 1942.

The latest victim of Washington traffic was Emmett Bryan, Negro, 15, of 150 Rhode Island Avenue Northwest, who was killed instantly when he rode his bicycle into the side of a District trash truck in the first block of R Street Northwest at 2 p. m. yesterday.

Emmett, according to police, rode from an alley without stopping and was knocked under the wheels of the heavy refuse conveyor. The truck was driven by Roy Fewell, Negro, 33, of 1135 Sixth Street Northwest, and was westbound on R Street.

Poor kid … only 15 years old. And poor family that had to deal with this tragic accident. What a sad story.

…And another traffic fatality

There seems to be an epidemic of these.

As a result of the inquest into the killing of Mrs. Annie S. Litz, 50, of 112 Southern ave. se., who died at Casualty Hospital Monday, the operator of the car which struck her last Saturday will face grand jury action. He is LeRoy E. F. Toliver, Negro, 45, of 150 Rhode Island ave. nw., whose driving license had been suspended in November, 1941, because he was subject to fainting spells. The accident occurred at North Capitol st. and Florida ave. nw.

Oh crap … Leroy again! You screw around on your wife, you drive on a suspended license AND you kill a woman by hitting her with your car? You’re an awful person.

Also, the hospital is seriously named Casualty Hospital? That’s not where I want the ambulance to take me if I’m in an accident.

Below is a photo from the Library of Congress, which I found on The Hill is Home (a good Capitol Hill blog).

Casualty Hospital (1936)

The creepy prowler

Here’s a story about a sketchy Seaton resident. This one is from April 5th, 1948.

A coroner’s jury today will investigate the fatal shooting Saturday night of a 22-year-old prowler by Fifth Precinct Pvt. Francis M. Moran.

The victim, Joseph Andrews Barnes, 150 Rhode island ave. nw., died at Casualty Hospital about an hour after he was shot.

Barnes Moran said, was attempting to break into a drugstore at 1444 B st. se. about 10:30 p. m.

Moran had answered a call for police from residents living next door to the store, who said they saw Barnes at a skylight on the roof of the one-story drugstore. They were John B. Douglass, brother of Herbert Douglass, who operates the store, and Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Webb, all of 1442 B. st.

From street level, Moran said he called to Barnes to surrender. Barnes was halfway down through the skylight at the time, witnesses said. When Barnes climbed out and started to flee, Moran shouted another warning, then fired three times.

The first two shots missed. The third struck Barnes in the head above the right ear.

Police said Barnes had no previous criminal record. At his bedside when he died were two brothers. Alfred Barnes, 1533 B st. se., and Roland Barnes, 207 16th st. se. The victim’s mother, Mrs. Jane Barnes, lives at 1700 2nd st. nw.

Moran was released in custody of his precinct commander for appearance at the inquest at 11:30 a. m.

No previous criminal record? And it seems as though the officer was a little trigger happy. I highly doubt this would happen today. I can’t even imagine the lawsuit this would trigger.

Three-alarm blaze rips through building

Here’s a Washington Post article from New Year’s Eve, 1960. Apparently, there was a nasty fire that broke out in the building, forcing 25 people to flee for safety during the afternoon on December 30th.

Four out of the twelve apartments in the building were extensively damaged by the time the fire was tamed. One of the families was left homeless as a result of the blaze, but with the help of James B. Montfort, the general manager of the National Press Club, temporary quarters were located for them at the Salvation Army, 5th and E St. NW. The family of six was that of Alphonso Horton, a 59-year-old dining room captain at the Press Club.

This fire wasn’t nearly as bad as the one that killed a group of elderly folks in Woodley Park. This one started when a workman attempted to clean the chimney by lighting a rag to burn off soot. Needless to say, this was a horrible idea, as the fire quickly spread to the woodwork and overwhelmed the building.

By the end, the blaze caused more than $15,000 of damage to the apartment units (I’m sure some of those that purchased condos in the building are choking at that pre-inflation amount).

Washington Post headline (January 1961)

The Post reported several weeks later that the firm responsible, Combustioneer Corp. at 1655 N. Ft. Myer Dr., Arlington, and the employee, Noonan A. Wilson, both were required to post $50 collateral each, due to negligence charges stemming from the blaze. That’s right, only fifty bucks in an effort to determine ultimate responsibility for the fire. I’m guessing that this was just to help pay for the investigation.

Filling in the gaps

Here are some smaller stories I came across in my research.

Let me start with another … you guessed it … a pedestrian accident. Woodrow Hickson (of no fixed address) was hit by a car in August of 1966. At the wheel was a Bennie W. Thorpe, Seaton apartments resident. Woodrow was taken to … yep … Casualty Hospital, and you know what happened there. No charges were filed against Thorpe.

The police blotter from April 20th, 1916 mentions that a bicycle owned by Ulysses Barton was stolen in front of 1116 17th St. NW (across the street from where National Geographic is today). He lived in the apartment building and was unfortunately without his $10 bike (I wonder if it was fixed gear – it is Bloomingdale after all).

Another, slightly more recent, police report from August 1st, 1969, has a Jasper Reed, 44, of 150 Rhode island Ave. NW being arrested during a narcotics bust at 215 P St. NW. He was part of a group of individuals charged with possession of marijuana cigarettes, heroin capsules and other narcotics paraphernalia. Some historical context … Woodstock begins two weeks later on August 14th. I don’t think Jasper was in attendance. Marijuana cigarettes were in attendance.

The Washington Post obituaries on November 19th, 1919 noted that an Emily L. Garrard passed away on Friday, November 14th. She was the wife of Samuel C. Garrard and they resided in the building. She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where her husband was eventually buried. He was a veteran of the Civil War as a member of the 86th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

A short article on March 10th, 1928 titled “Wife Charges Cruelty” mentions that a building resident, John H. Donnelly, was being sued for divorce by Virginia Donnelly (then living at 82 V St. NW) on the charges of cruelty and neglect. They were married only five years earlier and had one child. With the Tolliver’s and the Donnelly’s, it sounds like the building had a string of bad luck marriages.

Another accident involving a young boy was listed in the Post in February of 1926. Wilbur Shaw, 12 years old, was scooting around in his Radio Flyer wagon at 15th and S St. NW when he was hit by a car driven by building resident, William Patrick. Luckily for Wilbur, he escaped with lacerations and body bruises.

Nathaniel Johnson (Washington Post)

Nathaniel “Doc” Johnson, a Howard University graduate, was a resident of 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW and managed a grocery and drugstore at 600 3rd St. SW. In December of 1948, the store was held up by trigger man Lawrence Goodall and Edward Jackson, Jr. The robbery went badly and Goodall unloaded his .45-caliber revolver at point-blank range into Johnson’s body. The two suspects were tried and pleaded guilty to murder. Mr. Johnson had a daughter who was a D.C. public school teacher and his son was a District fireman.

Finally, an humorous one to cap off the short stories.

There’s a report of a great bridge game that took place at the residence of Mrs. Jeanette Edwards in the spring of 1954. I have to quote this article because I find it amusing that this made the newspaper. The one sentence paragraph in the middle is my favorite.

The Nineuves club met at the residence of Mrs. Jeanette Edwards, 150 Rhode Island ave., nw, Wednesday.

Bridge was played.

First prize was won by Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, second by Mrs. Felicia Brown, and third by Mrs. Juanita Jackson.

Other members present were Evelyn Johnson and Nettie Herbin.

First, it’s embarrassing that you’re reported as coming in third in your own bridge tournament. Second, it’s even more embarrassing to be listed as “present.”

If the residents of The Seaton are having a bridge tournament in the future, please make sure to share that information on our wall so other readers may be “present.”

Well, that’s all she wrote. Hope you enjoyed this one (directed at the young woman from The Seaton). I had fun looking into the building’s history.

For all others out there, feel free to post on our wall, tweet @GhostsofDC or email us ideas or requests. We’ll do our best to hook you up with some good stories.

150 Rhode Island Ave. NW

If you know someone who lives in this building, send them this post. I’m sure they would find it interesting … and send them to our Facebook page so they can follow along with our future posts.

Have a great weekend.

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The post If Walls Could Talk: The Seaton at 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I’m really excited about doing this one and I’m sure there are a few of you out there that are really going to enjoy learning about our favorite spot, Kramerbooks.

Since 1976, this place has been a favorite place to find a book, grab a bite, some beer, or have some coffee and chat over dessert. Some of you may even remember when it hit the national spotlight in the late 90s when they refused to disclose Monica Lewinksy’s book purchases after being subpoenaed by Ken Starr.

Dupont would not be what it is today without this establishment and it’s clear that our President and his daughters agree. So, let’s get started with the next “If Walls Could Talk,” Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe at 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW.

Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe

By the way, let me prepare you for some serious turnover at this address. You’ll see what I’m talking about.

I should preface the first few stories by clarifying that the auto industry in the early part of the 20th century was very much a volatile industry, akin to the Dot-com world of the 1990s (or even now). It was a start-up world where companies would come and go, so it was not rare to see a company thrive for a few years, only to implode because they were unable to adapt to market conditions. Some of the companies you’ll read about are kind of like the Friendster’s, Lycos’ and Pets.com’s of the 1920s.

Walker Motor Company

I stumbled across an advertisement for Lafayette Motor Cars from March of 1920. They were a short-lived automobile manufacturer in the 1920s and the Walker Motor Company was bringing their vehicles to the Washington market.

Lafayette Motor Cars (1920)

Jordan Motor Car Company, Inc.

Lafayette Motor Cars did not last long at the address because in 1921 there was an advertisement in the Washington Post for Jordan cars. They were based out of Cleveland and built cars from 1916 to 1931.

Jordan Motor Car Company, Inc. (1921)

Packard Motor Company

In November of 1922, the Washington Post reported that the Packard Motor Car Company was now being represented in Washington by P. W. Motors, Inc. They were building out their permanent sales building at Connecticut Ave. and S St. NW, but while that was in progress, they had a temporary salesroom at 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW.

Mr. Oscar Coolican was the president of the P. W. Motors, Inc., and he came from the Detroit branch of the company. While the sales store was to be located up Connecticut Ave., the Packard service facility had a location at 1707 Kalorama Rd. NW (currently occupied by Hinkley Pottery).

1922 photo of a Packard

Oscar was originally from Canada and by the 1930 U.S. Census, was living with his wife at 2101 Connecticut Ave., apartment 18. You’ve seen this building before. It’s quite nice.

2101 Connecticut Ave. NW

George C. Rice Auto Company

Weird … another automobile company. By 1923 the Packard dealership was gone and it was now run by George C. Rice as a Chevrolet showroom.

Chevrolet-Stearns (1923)

George was originally from Illinois, but moved to Washington and owned a home at 1322 Shepherd St. NW. He lived there with his wife Beatrice, two sons, a daughter and his sister-in-law.

George Rice 1920 U.S. Census

Franklin Motor Company

Are you sensing a pattern?

In 1928, the space at 1517 Connecticut Ave. was occupied by the Franklin Motor Car Company, which used it as their showroom. A small advertisement in October of that year mentions that they were having an aeronautical exhibit, which included the original engine taken from the airplane flown by Commander Richard E. Byrd over the North Pole in 1926.

Remember that back in the late 20s, pilots were seen as rock stars and Charles Lindbergh was pretty much the most popular man in America.

1928 Franklin Sport Sedan

New Ford trucks shown by dealers

Given our proximity to this weekend’s Washington Auto Show, it’s only appropriate to head into the 1930s with another auto dealership at 1517 Connecticut Ave.

Ford Motor Company was holding a “Truck Week” in the District in June of 1931 and this is an excerpt from what the Post reported:

The Ford Motor Co.’s “Truck Week” opened yesterday with displays at 1517 Connecticut avenue and the salesrooms of all Ford dealers. The exhibits will continue throughout the week.

A new line of trucks and commercial cars designed to meet the transportation requirements of merchants, manufacturers, contractors, farmers and others is on display.

Hudson Air Conditioning Corp.

Finally, something other than cars. There seems to be an unbelievable amount of turnover in this space, and it’s now quite impressive to me that Kramerbooks has been in the same spot since 1976.

In 1936, Hudson Air Conditioning Corporation is selling oil furnaces out of the building. This is the advertisement that I came across from September of that year.

Hudson Air Conditioning Corp. advertisement (1936)

Looking for a dress?

By 1938, another non-automobile dealer is occupying 1517 Connecticut Ave. This time its dresses, gowns and coats. Here’s what I found in the Washington Post.

Looby, Inc. advertisement (1938)

Peck & Peck

Peck and Peck advertisement (1949)

By 1948, there are advertisements for Peck and Peck at the address. The advertisement to the right is from the spring of 1949.

The Post wrote a short article about the opening of their store in September of 1948.

Peck & Peck, one of America’s oldest specialty shops will open a Washington store today at 1517 Connecticut ave. nw.

Miss Barbara Russell, 8003 Eastern ave., Silver Spring, will manage the store, which will specialize in women’s fashions. At today’s opening, college and country life clothes, a specialty of Peck & Peck, will be stressed.

The store has about 2500 square feet of space, with six dressing rooms. There are two entrances, one of Connecticut avenue and another on 19th st. The decor is canary yellow, spruce green and gray, with white oak show cased.

Peck & Peck is one of the few retail establishments in the country which has remained a family company since it was founded about 70 years ago. Its officers are A. Wells Peck, president, Frederic Carleton Peck, vice president, and Edgar Wallace Peck, vice president.

Peck and Peck has a good run at this location and, by the mid 1950s, ends up expanding to 4481 Connecticut Ave. NW as well as Seven Corners out in Falls Church.

They keep their success going into the late 1960s and expand to a fourth location in the metropolitan area, up in Wheaton Plaza.

Bill Kramer and the birth of Kramerbooks

Finally, here’s a nice bit of Dupont and District history that I came across, and it’s probably a good way to close this out.

In the Washington Post, on June 27th, 1976, there’s an article about the abundance of new book stores in the area.

A BOOK WAR seems to be brewing in Washington, with at least seven new stores opening in the next few months; At 1517 Connecticut above DuPont Circle, Bill Kramer will offer a restaurant along with the reading matter. He plans to make autograph parties a regular feature of “Kramerbooks and Afterwords, a Cafe” (his third retail store) and keep both parts open every day of the week from 10 a.m. to midnight …

Well, Mr. Kramer, your store has been a resounding success and has been an anchor in the neighborhood for over 35 years. I would say that you’ve done an excellent job and we hope you stick around for another 35 years.

In closing, here is one of their first advertisements from back in 1976.

Kramerbooks & Afterwords, a Cafe (1976)

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• Bookstores in the Digital Age (bookswithoutanypictures.wordpress.com)
• If Walls Could Talk: Au Pied De Cochon and 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW – Part 2 (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Big Bear Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

This is the second part of our research into 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW … formerly known as Au Pied de Cochon. If you haven’t read the first part, you should. And by the way, reader Nick is really getting his money’s worth with a two for one.

View of 1335 Wisconsin Ave. & Dumbarton St. (Google Street View)

So let’s get started …

A store and dwelling

The first thing I came across was a building permit from November 24th, 1912 to repair the store and dwelling at 1335 Wisconsin Ave. J. W. Bogley was the applicant and the total cost was $175. The prices still make me laugh. Inflation’s a bitch.

The local butcher’s market

Here’s an advertisement from June of 1921. Frank Kidwell was a very prominent butcher in Washington at the time with 16 locations throughout the city, including one of today’s favorites, Eastern Market.

Frank Kidwell's busy market advertisement (1921)

I found an interesting Department of Agriculture document from October of 1920. It charged Kidwell with “adulteration of lard,” an offense that came with a court imposed fine of $25.

On October 6, 1920, the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, file in the Police Court of the District aforesaid an information against Frank Kidwell, Washington, D. C., alleging that on September 22, 1920, the said defendant did offer for sale and sell in the District of Columbia, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act, a quantity of lard which was adulterated.

Adulteration of the article was alleged in the information for the reason that it contained certain other substances, to wit, beef fat and stearin, which had been substituted in whole or in part for the said article.

On October 6, 1920, the defendant entered a plea of guilty to the information and the court imposed a fine of $25.

C. W. PUGSLEY, Acting Secretary of Agriculture

Clearly this wasn’t a business impacting offense, because the above advertisement hints at a continued thriving butcher business.

Below is a photo of one of his markets that I found on Shorpy.

Frank Kidwell's Market Pennsylvania Ave. (1920)

A short illness … and then death

This was a sad one I came across in the paper … a woman with less than good luck.

Lillian Payne, originally from Maryland, had opened a successful millinery shop at 1335 Wisconsin Ave. This was back in the heyday of hats, so there was likely no dearth of business. She also resided in upper Georgetown at 3214 Volta place, just a few blocks away. Unfortunately for her, she died relatively prematurely after a brief, undisclosed, illness.

Poor Mrs. Payne had some bad luck in 1921. The Post reported the following in August of that year.

Miss Lillian Payne, 1323 Wisconsin avenue northwest, reported to the police yesterday that while visiting Atlantic City in July she made the acquaintance of a man claiming to be James E. Lee and was fleeced of $5,000.

Miss Payne, the police quote her as saying, issued a draft for $4,000 in payment for oil stock that Lee claimed to own, and that she says an additional $1,000 was forwarded to Lee. Lee according to Miss Payne, told her that he owned and controlled oil wells in Henderson, Ky. On investigation, the police say, the property in Lee’s name in Kentucky was found to be barren.

Lee was arrested by the Atlantic City authorities on request of inspector Grant, Detective Sergeant Edward Kelly accompanied by Miss Payne, left for Atlantic City yesterday.

Come on … why would you fall for that? $5,000 was an unbelievable amount of money in those days, enough to buy an entire house.

Truck hits doctor getting off streetcar

It appears that getting on and off streetcars was often a dangerous thing back in the day. I’ve come across dozens of articles just like this, scanning through old newspapers. Here’s one from July 19th, 1933.

Dr. Walter B. Guy, 64, of St. Augustine, Fla., well-known in medical circles for his research and experimental work, suffered a fractured jaw and a possible fracture of the skull yesterday when struck by a truck as he alighted from a street car in the 1500 block of Wisconsin avenue …

…

Police said the truck was driven by James B. Gilbert, 1335 Wisconsin avenue.

Maybe James was running late for a delivery and was zooming down the last two blocks of Wisconsin when he plowed right into the doctor. Or maybe, Walter should have looked both ways. He was a tourist after all (insert comment about tourists blocking metro turnstiles and standing on the left).

Mommy, can I get that hamster?

I found an ad in the Post with the title “Wanted: 100 Cats.” Naturally, I was curious why someone would need an army of cats. Well, it wasn’t some weird cat lady as I had suspected.  Columbian Cat Fanciers, Inc. was holding a cat show at 2301 on July 20th, 1940 and they were announcing an additional 100 entry openings. Entries could be submitted at many local pet stores, including the one at 1335 Wisconsin Ave, Atherton Pet Shop.

The local grill

Not long after that advertisement ran, the building became a local bar and grill called Connors Grill. A great ad in the Post promoted the fact that they served Old Georgetown Premium Draft Beer, “the best glass of beer you ever tasted!”, brewed by Washington’s local Heurich Brewing Company (the brewery was knocked down to build the Kennedy Center).

They even had their own bowling team in the Independent League at Georgetown. They had a rough go of it on November 25th, 1941, as documented by the Washington Post:

Shaffer Flowers rolled high team set of 1738 to whitewash Connors Grill to go into a tie for first place with Friendship IOOF. Hutchingon, Warring Barrel, had a near high set of 364.

Connors was owned by Thomas J. (Dutch) Connors, who was also involved in the Golden Bull Restaurant, and the Devonshire Grill. He was a lifelong resident of the District and passed away in April of 1970. He lived at 2701 35th Pl. NW — a nice home north of Observatory Circle — with his wife Mickey and was survived by a daughter Anne and a son, Jerry.

Okay, that brings this epic “If Walls Could Talk” to a close. Hope you liked it Nick, and I hope the readers enjoyed it as well. If you did, why don’t you follow us on Twitter or Facebook?

Related articles

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Au Pied De Cochon and 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW – Part 2 appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

The Facebook post that spurred the most recent chatter was the question about which restaurant to research for a post. So, the second installment of “Reader’s Choice” will be a post about Au Pied de Cochon — which is now a Five Guys, like a quarter of the restaurants in the D.C. metro area. This was the suggestion from our reader Nick (sorry it took so long).

I do want to give two shout outs for a couple posts in the blogosphere that helped me out in my research … so, thanks to The City and the World and the Georgetown Metropolitan (photo below is from GM).

Au Pied de Cochon

Read about Au Pied de Cochon and its tenure at 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW below. The rest of the building’s history will be in the second part of this piece coming out tomorrow.

Au Pied de Cochon (1976 – 2004)

Au Pied de Cochon review

It was a sad day for Georgetown and all of Washington when Yves Courbois closed the doors to his restaurant for good in 2004. The greasy french restaurant was a mainstay at Wisconsin and Dumbarton St. NW for nearly three decades.

It opened in 1976 to some positive reviews by the Washington Post. Yves also started two more establishments nearby, Aux Fruits de Mer and Au Croissant Chaud, much to the delight of Georgetown’s Francophiles.

Below is an excerpt from Donald Dresden’s review in the June 6th, 1976 Washington Post titled “Au Pied de Cochon: Sturdy bourgeois food at practically any hour.”

The “foot of the pig” is the kind of place where one comes for a snack or a full meal in unpretentious informal surroundings at hours that run almost around the clock. One of the owners/operators said recently, “This is a place where people come to eat, not dine.” It’s really a neighborhood restaurant that is trying, and succeeding, in being just that and nothing more.

The premises were one of Georgetown’s old-fashioned bars that had changed hardly at all over several decades. The Cochon’s owners have done the place over with informality, polished up the bar and put in tables with artificial marble tops, much in the style of a French brasserie.

I’m terribly sad to say that, even in my ten plus years in the District, I never dined at Au Pied de Cochon. It’s a total bummer that I never experienced this place, as I’m sure a number of the Georgetown or Glover Park readers have.

By the way, interesting side note, Yves Courbois was born in Hanoi, in what was then, colonial French Indochina (i.e., Vietnam) and came to the U.S. in 1960, beginning his D.C. restaurant career by washing dishes at The Monocle — which opened in 1960 — on Capitol Hill. That’s a pretty cool story, in and of itself.

Bistro in bankruptcy

1984 was a bleak year for the restaurant as Courbois had to declare Chapter 11. According to a Post article that July, it was far more complicated than the restaurant being in financial dire straits. This was an issue of disputed ownership and feuding partners, long a problem of the restaurant (I don’t know how it lasted almost 30 years).

Claire Smith, of Alexandria, dealt with all the finances for the restaurant (and two others owned by Yves). She had invested $500,000 in 1982 to become an even partner in the business, but Courbois claimed that he never received a cent. Leonard Sloan, the former attorney for Mr. Courbois, advised him to file bankruptcy in an attempt to force Smith out of the business. To make matters more confusing, Sloan claims he was legally entitled to the option of acquiring a 30 percent stake in the three restaurants … hence, the title of former attorney, due to a major disagreement over that fact with Courbois. At the end of this entangled mess, the three restaurants and Courbois survived. Yves remained the sole proprietor, but he learned a valuable lesson.

Courbois said he now runs the businesses from top to bottom, putting in 18-hour days, seven days a week. “I know every piece of bread sold.” Now his wife counts the money, and all books are checked by an outside accounting firm.

“I don’t want no more partners,” Courbois said. “I just want good managers. I want to expand the bakery. Nothing is going to stop me.”

“All my life, everything I got is in the companies,” he said. “The most important thing has been to keep it going. The bread has to come out.”

Now that is a dedicated restaurateur that endures through the hard times. This is a cautionary tale for any of you thinking about starting a restaurant, especially with partners. Proceed with caution.

Don’t forget to pay your taxes

Twelve years after his major financial and partnership snafu, he hit another little bump, this time with the United States Government (the Wikipedia link is here if you want to learn about the government). I dug up a small bit in the May 16th, 1996 Washington Post, which mentioned the IRS closing two Georgetown restaurants for back taxes dating back a decade. Ouch, that’s not good.

Two French restaurants, Au Pied de Cochon and Maison de Crepes, were forced to close and begin selling off tangible assets to satisfy their debt. Well, clearly they addressed this problem because they were in operation for another eight years, but this was not the best of luck for Yves Courbois.

KGB spy defects … then un-defects

This is the most famous story that took place at the bistro, so you may already know it, but I still find it fascinating. It happened on November 2nd, 1985, towards the end of the Cold War. Here’s the really brief summary …

Vitaly Yurchencko

On August 1st of that year, Vitaly Yurchencko, 49, slipped into the U.S. Embassy in Rome, asking to defect. He claimed to be frustrated with his stagnant life as a Russian spy, his failed relationships with his wife and son, not to mention that he had a Russian mistress living in Canada.

According to CIA reports, he was No. 2 in the KGB department overseeing spying in North America. He had actually already lived in Washington in the 1970s as the chief of security at the Soviet Embassy (i.e., the guy that prevents defections) and was a man-about-town known as “Vity” to the bartenders in posh downtown establishments.

After defecting in Rome, he exposed a couple of CIA agents that were double agents working for the KGB. The Agency felt they had a valuable commodity in Yurchencko and persistently debriefed him to extract more information, activities that Vitaly claimed led to a deep depression and regret for his decision.

Later, in September of that year, the CIA assisted in reuniting him with his beloved in Canada, with the hopes of lifting his spirits. Unfortunately for Vitaly, the love was not mutual and she spurned him, which only deepened his depression.

By October, his security detail was far more relaxed and he was relatively free to go where he wanted in Washington. Below is how the Washington Post reported the details of November 2nd (disclaimer: this is how the Post guessed it went down).

… On Saturday, Nov. 2, Yurchenko was assigned a fairly new employe [sic], a young and inexperienced agent who agreed to take him to Au Pied de Cochon, a Georgetown brasserie, 1 1/2 miles from the Soviet compound on Tunlaw Road NW.

As they finished their dinner about 8 p.m., Yurchenko looked at the young agent, said he wanted to take a walk, and asked, “If I walk away, will you shoot me?”

Of course not, came the answer. This is America.

Perhaps out of fatherly feeling toward a young agent, perhaps out of anger at his debriefers, he parted with these words: “If I don’t come back, don’t blame yourself.”

And with that, Yurchencko vanished.

Russian Embassy on Wisconsin Ave. NW

Now, the Post’s story takes a bit of creative license and isn’t the generally accepted version of events (although it is a little like Jason Bourne). It’s believed that Vitaly asked to use the restroom and then crawled out the window, en route to defect back to the Soviet Union.

There’s a second side to this story. Many claim that Vitaly was, in fact, a double agent himself, and his plan all along was to return to the Soviet Union.

The Soviets were desperate to jump ahead in the intelligence war and embarrass the CIA. There would be no better way to do that and shake their confidence by planting a fake defector in their hands, only to have him return. The double agents he turned in were no longer of use to the KGB, so they were collateral damage.

I don’t know which story you think is true, but I’m inclined to believe the former. It may not have transpired exactly as the story proffered by the Post, but doesn’t that make for great dinner table conversation?

Always one to spot an opportunity to monetize something, the restaurant added a new drink to the bar menu called the “Yurchenko Shooter,” a combination of Stolichnaya vodka and Grand Marnier on the rocks. Gross, I’ll pass.

If you’d like to see an interesting interview of John Stockwell, former CIA agent, who talks about the Yurchencko affair, watch the clip below.

Fire shuts down Georgetown restaurants

Just after Christmas in 1992 a fire severely damaged two of Courbois’ restaurants. Below is an excerpt from the Post mentioning the upcoming reopening of the restaurants.

Two Georgetown restaurants damaged by a smoky fire on Sunday are to reopen soon, according to a spokeswoman for the businesses.

Aux Fruits de Mer, a seafood restaurant at 1329 Wisconsin Ave. NW, is to reopen tonight, and renovation of its sister business, Au Pied de Cochon, is expected to be finished by Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, the spokeswoman said.

Au Pied de Cochon, 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, which sustained the brunt of the damage from the fire, became a part of Cold War legend in 1985 when a high-ranking Soviet defector slipped away from his CIA escort during dinner and sought refuge in the Soviet Embassy compound. It also has become something of a local institution as one of the few restaurants in the city open 24 hours.

The fire started in a basement storage area. Fire officials said at the time that they believed it was caused by an electrical malfunction.

Don’t mess with Iron Mike

Angry Mike Tyson

The gossip column of The Washington Post on March 11th, 1998 had an interesting paragraph on Mike Tyson. Two Baltimore women were suing him following an incident that transpired at the bistro.

Sherry Cole and Chevelle Butts, both 30, sued Tyson in Montgomery County alleging assault, battery, defamation and mental distress stemming from a predawn meal at Au Pied de Cochon. They say he propositioned one of them, cursed both of them and upended a table on them; Butts acknowledges throwing coffee on the Bethesda-based boxer after he swore at her.

What? The Champ needed to quickly get out of the way of scalding hot coffee, and in doing so, inadvertently flipped over the table. No big deal. He’s normally a pretty chill dude.

Farewell Au Pied de Cochon … much has happened inside your walls.

Au Pied de Cochon advertisement (1990)

Now that you’ve read all the way through this post, you probably want to find out what else happened at 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Check back tomorrow for the second part of the building’s history. I will post it here (this link won’t work until tomorrow).

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: Au Pied De Cochon and 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW – Part 2 (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Big Bear Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: Au Pied De Cochon and 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW – Part 1 appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Big Bear Cafe is a lovely coffee shop which has warmed up Bloomingdale residents since 2007. It’s a favorite of many in the neighborhood and, for better or worse, people in other neighborhoods (this Portlandia clip is very àpropos).

It’s Friday afternoon and we’re on the cusp of a chilly, rainy weekend. So, let me say that there’s no better place to go for a nice hot chocolate, chai or cup of joe than Big Bear. Get there early if you plan on relaxing with the paper (or iPad), because half the neighborhood will probably have the same idea.

Since I’m always in a coffee mood and want to hit up a different part of the city, my next “If Walls Could Talk” will be about the neighborhood hang out at 1700 1st St. NW.

Big Bear Cafe

Thanks to Flickr user quinnums for this great photo. Check out the other awesome Bloomingdale photos she has on Flickr. This is awesome and so is this. Oh, and this one. I don’t know Quinn, but she takes some nice pictures. Maybe I can do the history on some of those houses.

A stolen harness and a grand jury

Here is an old story I found in the Washington Post, dating back to December 16th, 1894:

John Russell, colored, was brought before Judge Miller yesterday on the charge of grand larceny of a set of harness [sic] worth $50 from the stable of William J. Holtman, of 1700 First street northwest, on July 12 last. Officer Foley found the harness in the possession of William Hancock, of Fourth and Wilson streets, who said he brought it from Douglas Chicester, living at 342 Pomeroy street. From the latter, the harness was traced to Russell. The court sent the case to the grand jury, remanding Russell in default of $300 bonds.

Wilson and Pomeroy streets (between 6th and 7th St. NW) are long gone, but these were in the neighborhoods around Howard University. And $300 sounds awfully steep for bail on a $50 charge.

Stop that horse!

This is a wild story, which probably wasn’t that rare when it happened back in 1910. This was on July 21st. John Schamil, of 1700 1st St. NW was the owner of a horse that went crazy and bolted through the city for two miles, pulling a buggy behind him.

Aresta, aged 5 years, the daughter of John O’Regan, an automobile merchant of 1354 Girard street northwest, had a narrow escape from death, four persons were thrown to the pavement, receiving slight injuries, and two policemen had a struggle with a maddened horse, which had traversed 2 miles of the city’s streets last night in a wild dash.

…

Samuel Posey, a clerk, of the Olympia apartment house, Fourteenth and Euclid streets northwest, was the first person struck by the horse. This happened at Fourteenth and Fairmont streets. Mr. Posey was thrown to the street with great force, and was treated by a physician. His injuries are not serious.

At Fourteenth and Euclid streets, Mrs. O’Regan was crossing Fourteenth street with her baby. The mother, in an attempt to keep the horse from striking the little girl, shoved the baby carriage across the car tracks. A front wheel of the buggy struck the baby carriage, throwing the occupant out. Mrs. O’Regan, was struck by the horse, and received slight injuries. The child, apparently, was not hurt.

…

With one shaft dangling at its side, the animal was captured at Fifteenth and Pennsylvania avenue northwest, as it was about to dash into the windows of the Regent Hotel, by Bicycle Policemen Nolan and Cullinane, of the First precinct. It was turned over to its owner, John D. Schamil, of 1700 First street northwest.

Mark this down as something you’ll never see in Washington today. I can just imagine a giant steed thundering down the 14th St. hill, from Columbia Heights, down to U St., all along the way having shocked onlookers jump out of the way. It reminds me of this post about the Columbia Heights fire trucks.

Everything must go

The September 7th, 1910 Washington Post had a notice of an auction of all possessions from the grocery store at 1700 1st St. NW. This is clearly not good for the proprietor of the store, and it sounds like some major disagreement between the property owner and grocery store operator. And this story involved the horse owner from the previous story.

Auction sale at 1700 1st St. NW - 1910

By virtue of a decree passed in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the case of Edith B. Fenton vs. John D. Schamel, Equity No. 29563, we will sell at public auction, in front of premises No. 1700 First street northwest, on FRIDAY, THE 9TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1910, at 4:30 o’clock p.m., the following, namely: The stock of goods, fixtures, two wagons, one horse, harness, and good will of the grocery business heretofore conducted on said premises under the name of Schamel & Co., together with the unexpired portion of the lease of said premises, except as to the apartment on the second floor thereof, and a rental agreement to a stable in Reeves court heretofore used and occupied by said firm.

TERMS OF SALE–All the purchase money to be paid in cash. $100 deposit required upon acceptance of bid. All conveyancing, notary fees, and recording at purchaser’s cost. Terms to be compiled with [sic] within 10 days, or receivers may advertise and sell at the purchaser’s risk and cost after five days’ previous advertisement of such resale published in some newspaper of Washington, D.C.

WM. J. BACON, Jr.,
HARRY G. KIMBALL
Receivers

Ouch, things area really looking bleak for John Schamel (same guy, different spelling as the earlier horse story).

Digging through the papers, it appears as if Schamel and Fenton were business partners in the grocery store and this partnership was being dissolved in the courts.

This wasn’t the end of John’s bad luck, because in the police blotter from February 3rd, 1916 his bicycle (valued at $10) was listed as having been stolen from the Columbia Heights Arcade (where DC USA now stands). Poor John. His bad luck ended July 25th of that year when he died at the age of 35, leaving behind his wife of 15 years, Elizabeth. She would go on to live 24 more years.

You might think that was the end, but it’s not. It turns out that John’s premature expiration was due to asphyxiation caused by escaping ammonia fumes at work. That sounds like a horrible way to die. At the time, he was in the employ as the superintendent of the Old Dutch Market at 7th St. and Florida Ave. NW and Elizabeth filed a wrongful death lawsuit against them in the amount of $10,000.

Below is a photo of an Old Dutch Market (there were a few in the city) at 20th and P St. NW. Greater Greater Washington did a post on this particular one, caddy corner from Pizzeria Paradiso. The building on the left (with the car in front) is now the CVS on Dupont Circle.

Old Dutch Market at 20th and P St. NW

Ernest bought a Ford

Antique bronze cash register

Back in the good old days, the paper would include a list of people who had recently purchased and licensed an automobile in the District. The whole city would know your name, where you lived, and what kind of car you just purchased (they could probably gauge your wealth as a result). On October 24th, 1917 — while the world embroiled in global war — license number 60958 was granted to Ernest D. Thorne for his recently purchased Ford. I’m sure that automobile was a great source of pride for Ernest, his wife, and three sons. It was likely his mode of transportation to his job as a supply clerk at a local bakery.

Another story about Ernest … his grocery store at 1700 1st St. NW was also ransacked on December 5th, 1925 when robbers forced entry through the front door and stole the bronze cash register, which was valued at an astounding $250.

Three youths rob a grocer and his wife

The September 11th, 1952 edition of the Post has small article on a robbery that happened in front of, what is now, Big Bear Cafe.

A grocer at 1700 1st st. nw. reported to police Tuesday that, he and his wife were about to enter their parked car after closing the store when three youths robbed them of about $150.

Carl Kaplan, 53, said one youth held and choked him while the second went through his pockets and found $120, the day’s receipts. The third bandit knocked down Mrs. Kaplan and, as she screamed, the took her purse containing $30, Kaplan said.

Sounds very similar to the muggings you hear of today, but now there are guns involved and the bounty is often an iPhone and cash.

Robber gets $200

Sounds like this corner was a hotbed for criminal activity and I’m guessing that’s because the grocery store was a cash business and any manager closing up for the night was an easy and attractive victim. There’s another mention of a mugging, this time on December. 23rd, 1967.

Jack Mehlman, 35, manager of the Big Bear Market, 1700 1st st. nw., was forced to give an armed bandit $200 shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday, police reported.

First, an afternoon mugging? That’s not good. Second, Big Bear Market? I’m going to guess that at least handful of the readers did not know the current name is a derivation of the former name. It’s really nice to see local business owners with an appreciation for history and continuity in the District.

Filling in some gaps

Here are a few more shorter stories that I came across while scanning newspaper archives.

In a July, 1928 article on the local real estate boom, it’s noted that Oscar Diskin purchased the commercial property.

In 1943, David Gilbert was running the grocery store at 1700 1st St. NW and he was fined $25 when he failed to appear in municipal court to answer charges of having flies on fruit, cakes, pies and meat. This was in an article that mentioned a rash of dirty groceries in the city being cracked down on by the D.C. Health Department.

On March 25th, 1951, the District Selective Service System ordered 89 regular draftees and 56 delinquents to report for induction. Neal McClain Jr. of 1700 1st St. NW was listed among the men, but it doesn’t mention which group he was associated with.

I came across a short notice in the November 10th, 1994 Post, which stated that the owners of Big Bear Market, Sang In Lee and Sung Nyun Lee, were banned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from accepting food stamps in their store for a full year. Apparently, they had been accepting food stamps as payment for sandwich bags, toilet paper and household cleaning product. Food stamps are only authorized as payment for food products as outlined by the USDA. That said, it’s probably a product of their willingness to support the community. I say that because there is a long article in November of 1995 which talks about how Mr. Lee was a lovable neighborhood man who would do things like allow local kids to buy on credit while their parents were at work, or allow people that ran out of cash to pay at the end of the month. So, those food stamps were being accepted in an attempt to help out their neighbors.

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UPDATE: Thanks to our reader @IMGoph, you can out a photo (circa 2004) of the building prior to it becoming a coffee shop.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to Stu from Big Bear Cafe for sending another cool photo. This is from Shorpy (of course) and it’s at 1st St. and Florida Ave. NW. Maybe this is the triangle in front of Big Bear? I can’t really tell.

1st St. and Florida Ave. NW (1916)

Related articles

• Great Coffee Shop Hunt: Big Bear Cafe (traveleatrepeat.com)
• Sunday Supper at Big Bear Cafe (welovedc.com)
• If Walls Could Talk: Corte Salon and Arzo Boutique – 1019 U St. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• Two Plumbers and a Plasterer Go Looking for Trouble and Find It (1895) (ghostsofdc.org)
• Wine and beer at Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale (tastingtable.com)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Seaton at 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar (ghostsofdc.org)
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The post If Walls Could Talk: Big Bear Cafe appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

This next installment of “If Walls Could Talk” will be the Petworth watering hole, The Looking Glass Lounge. This is one of my favorite places for a Sunday afternoon beer, especially in the warmer months, out on their back patio. I imagine the place will be packed this evening, and now you guys have another interesting conversation topic … what’s the story of the building inside which you’re drinking beer? So, let’s look into the history of the building at 3634 Georgia Ave. NW.

The Looking Glass Lounge, 3634A Georgia Ave. NW

I should also add that two businesses occupy the top floor of the building — Fission Strategy and Big Window Labs.

Dominic who?

The first thing I came across is the listing of a building permit in the November 18th, 1928 Washington Post. Dominic Polnerendo applied to build a two-story front brick addition for 3634 Georgia Ave. NW with the estimated cost of $3,350. That’s a fair bit of money for the time. Full homes would sell for about $5,000 to $6,000 at the time.

I will support and defend the Constitution …

On November 2nd, 1949, Judge Henry A. Schweinhaut presided as 34 people were sworn in as American citizens at the District Court. In this group was Frank Weltlinger of 3634 Georgia Ave., who was an immigrant from Hungary.

Eleven years later, poor Frank (63) and his wife Marie (64) were attacked and robbed by two men and a woman. The Post reported in April of 1960 that they were closing up their market at 3rd and Q St. NW when the mugging happened. The Weltlingers had to go to the hospital, but the injuries were minor. By that time, they were living way up Georgia Ave., in Silver Spring.

A taxi and automobile collide

Here’s a report from May 12th, 1955:

Seven persons were hurt early yesterday in a two-car collision at 12th and K sts. nw.

Investigators identified the drivers as Walter J. Dymek, 32, of 1305 N. Herndon st., Arlington, and taxicab driver Vincent E. Hawkins, 50, of 408 M st. se.

Hawkins, they said, was admitted to Emergency Hospital in serious condition with a fractured neck and head cuts. Others listed as Emergency patients were Maxine Shafer, 26, of 1664 Columbia road nw., a passenger in the private car, fractured left leg, and Woodrow W. Williams, 39, of Georgia ave. nw., a passenger in the taxicab, head injury.

Treated at Emergency, police said, were Dymek, Edythe Murdock, 40, of 1664 Columbia road nw., and Spikes Haronis, 30, listed at 1614 N. Danville st., Arlington, both passengers in Dymek’s car, and Williams, wife, wife Pearl, 36 a passenger in the cab.

The first thing I’d like to point out is that there is a passenger named Spikes Haronis. What a name! Second, I will not make any snide comments about Virginia drivers in the District. Maybe I’ll cut them some slack because the other car was a taxi … not exactly known for stellar, safe driving habits.

I was able to track down a U.S. Census record for Woodrow in 1920. He was 7 years old and was living with his family at 1526 34th St. NW, in Georgetown. I’m sure the he’s be shocked to hear that the home is now worth $1.3 million (thanks Zillow). His father, Joseph Williams, was a sergeant in the Washington Police Department. Maybe he knew everyone’s favorite policeman, Officer Sprinkle.

Woodrow is listed in an article about the Thanksgiving meal served in 1941 at Ft. Belvoir. It states that he was being chosen for induction into the military (Pearl Harbor and the U.S. involvement in World War II is still weeks away). The best part of the article is where they talk about the menu.

A letter was received at The Post yesterday written on the back of a Thanksgiving Day menu which evidently inspired Private First Class Joseph E. Marcus stationed at Fort Belvoir, Va., to poetic ecstasy.

Lovingly he called attention to the “shrimp cocktail, sage dressing, giblet gravy, mince pie and cocoanut [sic] layer cake,” among the list of items on the menu which, of course, centered around the traditional roast turkey. “Won’t Hitler be mad when he sees what our boys are eating,” wrote Private Marcus concluding his letter.

I found another article, this time from May 29th, 1945, which listed Woodrow Williams as one of 22 District residents who were ordered to report for induction into the armed forced. Lucky for Woodrow, World War II would be over in about two month. But also odd, since the previous article mentioned he was inducted in 1941. Either he slipped through that first time, or maybe this would be a second tour of duty.

Old ads and classifieds

I found the small advertisement below in the March 23rd, 1927 newspaper.

BARBER-First class: good guarantee and commission. Apply 3634 Georgia ave. nw.

Interesting. I guess there used to be a barber shop in the building.

The help wanted section on April 17th, 1940 had a listing for male painters and paperhangers. The advertisement said to call at 7 a.m. by showing up at 3634 Georgia Ave. I’m curious whether this was a request to help paint the building or because the person living there had a painting business. Another curiosity was right below it, looking for an experienced presser to apply at Walker & Co., which was located at 2317 18th St. NW — the current location of Brass Monkey.

Here’s another one I came across in the classifieds from August 8th, 1965:

NW-3634 Georgia Ave. Lge. 6 bed rm. home, oil heat, ref. required. Rent $195. per mo. EX 3-0303.

Holy cheap, right? Well, it was 1965.

For sale: Georgia Ave. row house

In the March 26th, 1986 Washington Post, an announcement listed 3634 Georgia Ave. NW as up for sale by the trustees. Below is what was in the paper.

DOUGLAS K. GOLSTON
AUCTIONEERS, INC.
3408 Wisconsin Avenue
Northwest, Suite 208
Washington, D.C. 20016
(202) 966-0100 (202) 686

TRUSTEES SALE of Valuable store known as premises 3634 Georgia Ave. N.W., Wash. DC.

By virtue of a deed of trust duly recorded February 1, 1985, Instrument #04096 and in accordance with Public Law 90-566 noticed [sic] filed February 12, 1986, the undersigned Trustees will offer for sale Lot 131 in Square 2897 at 1:00 PM Friday March, 21, 1986 in the office of the Auctioneer.

TERMS OF SALE: ALL CASH Sold subject to prior deed of trust, further particulars of which to be announced at time of sale. Settlement 30 days. A deposit of $2,500.00 cash or certified check to be made at time of sale. All other terms and conditions to be announced at time of sale.

ROBERT STRAUSBERG
HARRIET MAYERSON
TRUSTEES

I’m guessing that the owner of the building passed away, and as a result, the property was to be sold at auction.

So, when you’re knocking back that Old Fashioned, PBR (read this post about the beer) or Dogfish Head, think about these stories in conversations with the bartenders and your buddies. Don’t forget to tip your bartenders!

3634 Georgia Ave. NW

Here’s a great indoor shot I found on their website (sorry I took it without permission, but I’m hoping it’s cool since I’m writing this post).

Inside the Looking Glass Lounge

UPDATE: Reader Kent from Park View emailed to tell me that, technically, The Looking Glass Lounge is in Park View … Which is correct. So make sure you correct your buddies tonight when they ask to meet in Petworth.

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: Corte Salon and Arzo Boutique – 1019 U St. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• Reader’s Choice: Why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park? (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home Lucy Worsley – review (guardian.co.uk)

The post If Walls Could Talk: The Looking Glass Lounge – 3634 Georgia Ave. NW appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

A curious Ghosts of D.C. reader posted on Facebook that she wanted to know why Syracuse has a house in Woodley Park. I too am curious each time I walk by the Greenberg House at 2301 Calvert St. NW. So I’m going to find out, as well as learn about the house’s history.

This will be our first official “Reader’s Choice” and another “If Walls Could Talk.” It better be good.

Greenberg House, photo by Karen Ruckman

The university has a program in Washington called “Syracuse University in the Capital” and their school website gives some basic information on it. By the way, the Greenberg House is also on Twitter and Facebook, so check those out (after your read the full post of course).

Home to over 16,000 alumni, Washington, D.C. is known for many things: the point of origin for the nation’s public policy, the home base for some of the most powerful men and women in the country, and a magnet for world attention. Located in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, Syracuse has a presence in the nation’s capital. The four-story facility was named with a gift from Paul Greenberg ’65 and has been supported by gifts from alumni and friends.

The Syracuse University Paul Greenberg House serves a number of vital academic, alumni and recruitment purposes that opens doors to a variety of opportunities for students, faculty and alumni.

I like how the first sentence says we are a “magnet for world attention.” Flattery will get you everywhere @SUinDC. Even for a university with 20,000 students, that seems like a large number of alumni in the city. I’m guessing that D.C. is the second most popular destination for graduates after New York City. That number is large enough for them to have an alumni club website.

Syracuse University Seal

Actually, I think the number should be corrected to 15,999 after the very unsuccessful tenure of Donovan McNabb, former Redskins quarterback and Syracuse alum (why do we insist on getting crappy old — or just lousy — quarterbacks to helm the team?).

Another thing I learned today … 35 study abroad students from Syracuse University were onboard Pan Am Flight 103 when a bomb brought it down over Lockerbie, Scotland. That is so sad. My uncle was a pilot for Pan Am and flew that route regularly. I vividly remember that day in 1988.

Sorry, I’m getting a little sidetracked. Let’s get back to the house’s history and see what I can dig up on the former residents.

The real estate mogul and an aspiring aviator in The Great War

Everything I read points to the house being built in 1913 and the resident at that time was Turner A. Wickersham (1853 – 1915) and his family. Turner was a successful real estate mogul in Washington in the early 1900s. The Wickersham’s were originally from Indiana and were very influential in the D.C. Christian Science community. Prior to taking up residence in Woodley Park, they lived at 1101 15th St. NW — in a building that no longer exists.

1910 U.S. Census of the Wickersham household

Mr. Wickersham was quite well off because in 1913 he filed for a permit to install an elevator in his home at a cost of $2,050. And by well off, I mean rich, because elevators were not exactly common then and second, a typical home in Columbia Heights would cost about that much to built.

On February 4th, 1925, the Washington Post had an obituary for Elizabeth C. Wickersham (1862 – 1925). It stated that Turner predeceased Elizabeth and she lived at 2301 Calvert St. with their son Morgan and adopted daughter Jane G. Syme.

Morgan Wickersham is listed in the July 2nd, 1917 Washington Times as having been accepted to Cornell University, in return for volunteering for military services in The Great War.

Twenty-seven Washington young men, most of them collegians, have offered their services to the Government as members of them aerial corps, which will be sent to France as the “eyes” of General Pershing’s army.

The Washingtonians have passed preliminary examinations and have been assigned to ground schools at several colleges. Later they will be sent to flying schools for further training. If successful in the second examination they will be commissioned first lieutenants of the aviation section of the signal corps.

Where Sooners gathered in D.C.

Oklahoma!

Did you know that there is an Oklahoma State Society in D.C.? Well I certainly did not, but they apparently have a website. I do have one Oklahoman friend here that will find this interesting. During World War II, the Oklahoma State Society occupied 2301 Calvert St. NW and on January 16th, 1944, they held an open house with honored guest Sergeant Jim Lucas, Marine Corps combat correspondent. He dispatched the first eyewitness account of the landing at Tarawa in the Pacific and was formerly a reporter for the Tulsa newspaper.

The Society also rented the place out as there are many advertisements for events in the building, such as an alumni meeting in the spring 1944 when the New Jersey College for Women (subsumed by Rutgers University in 1955) held their school’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Oklahoma House.

A fraudulent university

In the 1940s Mount Vernon University of Washington was embroiled in a minor scandal covered by the papers. On October 17th, 1947, an article in the Post titles “FTC Charges School Here Sold Degrees” claimed that the university had been fraudulently awarding its degrees to students. The school had a presence in the Woodley Park building, but was based in Fort Worth, Texas. The building has four floors and two were used for academics, while one was used for dentistry and another as a sanatorium.

The FTC complaint termed the school’s educational standards “wholly insufficient to satisfy minimum requirements of any standards in the educational field.”

…

Other allegations, in substance, charged that degrees “were sold to students on the barest compliance with suggested courses and on wholly inadequate material and theses.” In many instances, “honorary” diplomas and degrees were “sold for cash,” usually for $50, the complaint stated.

Ouch, those are some harsh printed words and damning accusations … also, $50 for a degree? I hope nobody out there has a $50 degree from Mount Vernon University in Woodley Park, because it’s probably not worth the paper on which it’s printed.

A mid-century nursing home

Elza Heald

Both the Washington Post and the Washington Times have numerous obituaries of D.C. residents that passed while in the care of the Mount Vernon Nursing Home Service (weird that the name is the same as the university — I’m guessing there is an obvious connection).

During the 1950s, the building served as a nursing home for local aging residents like Elza Heald. Mr. Heald’s story in the March 1st, 1957 Post caught my attention.

This was a man born before Lincoln was president, headed west to take advantage of the Homestead Act, only to be forced back east due to untenable conditions on the prairies of Nebraska. He landed in Washington, took a position as a government bureaucrat and ended up living out his final days in Woodley Park at 2301 Calvert St. NW.

Elza Heald, 98, who homesteaded 160 acres near Gordon, Nebr., among the Sioux Indians in the 1880s, died Wednesday at the Mount Vernon Nursing Home Service, 2301 Calvert st. nw.

Mr. Heald was born in Bartlett, Ohio. After his marriage to the former Lenna Haines, of Zaneville, the young couple struggled for 10 years then gave up the homestead and moved to Blair, Nebr.

Mr. Heald often recalled that the Sioux, while they sometimes took tools or food, would always leave a buffalo robe or something of greater value than that taken.

He came to Washington in 1899 and held clerical positions with the War Department and the Treasury. He retired in 1929 from the office of the register of the Treasury.

Elza is a guy that probably had some incredible stories to tell from his days on the plains of Nebraska.

A tragic four-alarm fire

This was a shocking and detailed article to come across in the Washington Post from February 3rd, 1961:

The District Government was warned exactly three months ago that a doorway in the Mt. Vernon Nursing Home constituted a potential fire hazard.

A fire shot through the home Wednesday, trapping and killing seven aged patients on the top floor of the four-story brick building at 2301 Calvert st. nw. Seventeen others were injured, only one seriously.

The cause of the blaze, one of the worst in Washington history, remained a mystery late yesterday.

Wow, seven dead in one of the worst fires in D.C. history (don’t forget the Mt. Pleasant fire of 2008). That is some tragic history attached to that house and it’ll feel a little different the next time I walk by it.

Six victims of the 1961 fire

The home was operated by Normund Leas and was one of 11 nursing homes in the District that had a license to operate. Among the nine casualties of the fire included Ira S. Moss, 63, a former Pentagon civil engineer … and Normund’s father-in-law.

These seem to be the darkest days for the building as it ended up being boarded up for some time during the investigation and until at least 1965. Mr. Leas publicly stated that had no plans to reopen the nursing home after this tragedy.

A romantic dinner for two at The Talleyrand

The Talleyrand (1966)

By the 1960s, the university was gone, the nursing home was no longer serving Woodley Park and 2301 Calvert St. was a find dining room and lounge. An advertisement in the July 18th, 1966 Post said the “Talleyrand features the largest variety of continental seafare,” and also had live entertainment in the lounge (not to mention they accepted credit cards).

The establishment had fine dining, cocktails, dancing and live performances of jazz by groups like the Frank Hinton Trio, staying open until 1:30 a.m. (the guys from Swampoodle would party much later than that).

Here’s a review of the restaurant from may 16th, 1971

President Garfield’s town house has been converted into the Talleyrand. The service from maitre d’hotel to bus boy is a model. While not all-inclusive, the menu offers a range of seafood and meat dishes. The cuisine varies in quality. Lobster tails came off well. Steak diane in a thickened sauce was acceptable; it differed completely from the classical version. A beef ragout was made from good meat, but hardly memorable. A la carte average.

That is the opposite of a glowing review. The restaurant was billed as “just another dark, romantic club.” It also only received one smiley face out of four, so this was probably not the place you wanted to take a date to impress her.

Also, Garfield’s town house? How is that possible when he was assassinated in 1881 and the house was built in 1913? Maybe this is the same spot where the President’s home once sat? This one doesn’t make sense.

Indian Curry House (1976)

The building appears to have remained a restaurant through the decade and on into the 1970s. By then, the establishment was named the Indian Curry House (I’m sure you can guess the cuisine). It had a similar live entertainment schedule, just of a slightly different musical genre. The advertisements of the time also bill it as the former residence of James Garfield. If that’s the case, it was some time between 1863 and 1881 when he was a member of Congress from Ohio.

Rolling into the 1980s, there are notices in the newspapers highlighting art gallery openings in the building, so the restaurant days were over. It was billed as the “Calvert Collection,”  a four-story mansion filled with antiques, paintings and fine art, capable of holding up to 250 people for events. A private party could be arranged for between $800 and $1,500.

Syracuse University

Okay, let’s get back to the reason for this post … why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park?

In the late 1980s, Syracuse University pulled together a committee to find a location for the school’s new satellite facility in the District. After reviewing a number of properties, they settled on 2301 Calvert St. NW as the property they would acquire.

At the time it was being used as an art gallery and a space for private parties by an antiques dealer. The university purchased it in 1988 with the help of a $1 million donation (of the total required $2.5 million) from Paul Greenberg, a Syracuse University graduate from 1965 and founder of Greenberg Realty Co. in Bethesda, MD. The dedication ceremony was presided over by former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) at which time, the building was formally given the name Greenberg House.

So there you have it. That was a really long post, but some interesting stories in there about the life of this house … although I still can’t figure out this James Garfield connection. I’ll leave that for another post. Hope you enjoyed this one.

UPDATE: Our friendly reader @SUinDC volunteered to scan some old photos of the building to share. Here they are.

Washington Star photo from 1963 of the fire

Ladies admiring themselves in the mirror - maybe early 70s from Talleyrand days

Same women being helped down the stairs by owner?

A night on the town at the Talleyrand

The post Reader’s Choice: Why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park? appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

My wife is a huge fan of Corte Salon and she convinced me to start going there a couple of years ago … and I have to say, it’s definitely the best haircut I’ve ever had. So yes, this is a plug for them and the folks that work there. But second, my wife and I were chatting with the owner Carlos and his assistant stylist, Courtney, telling them about this blog. They were intrigued and were kind enough to tell me the concept was great.

Given that they’re right in the historic U Street Corridor, about 47 feet from the legendary Bohemian Caverns, I’m sure their building has seen its fair share of history. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Red Rocks in my first “If Walls Could Talk,” so why not try another local business which we frequent and see what I can uncover.

1017 & 1019 U St. NW

Bandit with toy gun robs storekeeper

Less than a year after the ’68 riots, the U street area was not a place you wanted to be. It was a sad, burnt out shell of its former self. The Post had, what is now, an amusing story.

Crawley F. Smith did not quite foil a robbery at his store yesterday. He traded $7 and his watch involuntarily for half a plastic pistol.

Smith, 72, was behind the counter in his Afro Electric Shop, 1019 U st. nw., at about 1:30 p.m. when a man about 35 years old entered with a drawn gun and announced a holdup.

The gunman was not content with what Smith gave him, and ordered the storekeeper to get more money from the rear of the store.

When the two men reached a storeroom, Smith suddenly punched the man, who was half Smith’s age. He knocked the gunman down and grabbed for the gun. It snapped sharply in half.

Smith then lunged for his watch and money, but the assailant fled.

A bold move by Crawley that could have ended badly if it was a real gun, but it sounds like he’s a bit of a bad ass … and he was 72 years old!

On a sad note, Crawley Smith was eleven years removed from a major family tragedy. In May of 1958, his wife Margaret, was killed in an automobile accident on the day of their 38th wedding anniversary. They were married in 1920 when he was 24 and she was 16. Margaret was returning from a trip to Cleveland with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson, helping them move to D.C. Her son-in-law was to start a new job as an architect the following Monday. She was the only one killed in the accident.

One amazing thing I found for Crawley was his World War One Draft registration card. Take a look below and click the image for a larger view.

Crawley F. Smith - World War One Draft registration card

Mrs. Gertrude Ruppert

Gertrude is a serious old person name. How many Gertrude’s do you know? Well, that’s because it came out of the paper on August 7th, 1892 in the “City Brevities” section.

A small fire in the residence of Mrs. Gertrude Ruppert, 1019 U street, about 10 o’clock yesterday did about $100 damage.

That was brief, but $100 was not a trivial amount of money then, probably the equivalent of $10,000 today. I can get two haircuts at Corte Salon for $100. Mrs. Rupert would be appalled.

In the 1881 Boyd’s City Directory, Mrs. Ruppert is listed as a dressmaker at 418 New York Ave. NW. Definitely no dress making going on there these days as that’s a parking lot (likely soon to be high-rise apartments) at the entrance to I-395. She’s still at the same spot in the 1891 directory, so she likely was commuting from U street to her work on New York Ave.

Digging a little further, it appears that she came to the United States from Germany with her husband Henry, a butcher. They were both born in Hesse-Kassel in what was then technically known as the German Confederation. She was born in 1836 and he was in 1826. Also, their neighbors were also Rupperts from Hesse-Kassel, so it’s a safe bet that Henry’s younger brother Anton (also a butcher) moved his family there as well. Another thing I discovered was a D.C. tax record from 1865, listing Henry’s residence at 12th & W, He had a tax liability of $19.75 for his income, $2 for his carriage, and $2 for his watches, bringing the grand total to $23.75. You cannot get a haircut at Corte Salon for that. But maybe after this post, my wife will be charged that for her next visit.

Now that’s some cheap rent

I came across a classified ad from September 25th, 1988. I’m sure just about everyone would jump on this one today.

NW/LOGAN CIR-1019 U St. 1BR, LR, kit & BA. Immed occup. $388+utils. 499-4778 or 667-4744.

First of all, it’s not Logan Circle, but that’s how real estate works. Try to stretch the nicer neighborhood boundaries as far as you can. I’m shocked they didn’t call it east Georgetown, given how rough most of the city was back then.

Filling in the gaps

Some other small bits came up in my research, but nothing major. A giant drug bust at 1341 R St. NW, resulted in 17 arrests at a rooming house in May of 1964. Among those arrested was a Paul B. Mason, 35 years old, listing 1019 U St. as his residence. In the June 24th, 1893 edition of the Post, it mentioned that William Jackson, of 1019 U street northwest, was seriously injured by being struck in the abdomen with an iron crowbar while unloading stone.

Another interesting one I came across was on September 24th, 1973. The Washington Area Cab Drivers, Inc., was holding a meeting at 2 p.m. that day to discuss taxicab relations with the public and how to improve them. If they’re having meetings to improve relations with their customers, I’m guessing it wasn’t great at the time. Now their biggest gripe seems to be about painting all the cabs yellow (a unified and logical color, kind of like most major metropolitan areas).

Henry J. B. Artis, Jr. and Mary Grace Reid were listed as having applied for a marriage license in July of 1941 — a short four months before the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor. Henry’s residence was listed as 1019 U St. NW.

Corte Salon, 1019 U St. NW

The next time you walk through the above door, you’ll have plenty of stories to discuss with Carlos, Courtney, David, and the rest of the Corte crew. Ask for a cut like Gertrude Ruppert.

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The post If Walls Could Talk: Corte Salon and Arzo Boutique – 1019 U St. NW appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

I am obsessed with Red Rocks at 11th and Park NW. I have been since day one. In the hopes that I can convince my wife to go there tonight (or at least this weekend), I think it’s only fitting that they’re the first restaurant that I do a little historical research on. At least I know the proprietors will appreciate it, judging by the photos they hang on their walls.

I did some Internet sleuthing and this is what I came up with.

Red Rocks Firebrick Pizzeria (courtesy: Park View, D.C.)

Building on an empty lot

An article on July 7th, 1912 titled “Firms and Citizens Take Out Large Number of Permits” lists a the following building permit:

To Guy S. Zepp to erect three brick houses at 1032, 1034, and 1036 Park road northwest. Cost, $6,600.

First … $6,600. I know, I know, but that is amazing to think about. Second, I’m sure Mr. Zepp did not foresee his corner property becoming the best pizza joint in Columbia Heights … maybe all of D.C. (yes, a bold statement – maybe I’ll get a free pepperoni pizza out of it).

By the way, the same article lists a permit granted for 1744 R St. NW.

The largest permit of the week was issued to A. B. Butler for the erection of a four-story residence, which will cost approximately $35,000.

That sounds like a lot of money, even in today’s dollars. Alban B. Butler’s former residence at 1744 R St. NW happens to be the current location of the German Marshall Fund and I’m sure you’ve walked by and admired that building dozens of times. Now you know it took $35,000 to build it.

German Marshall Fund (Wikipedia)

Watch your step

A little more digging through the archives of the Washington Post and I came across this one from May 7th, 1916:

Mrs. Julia A. Lee, 60 years old, 1036 Park road northwest, was bruised about the body yesterday afternoon, when she fell from the steps of an electric car at Eleventh street and Florida avenue northwest, She was taken to her home by T. E. Mullaney and treated by Dr. Barnhart. According to the police, Mrs. Lee was thrown to the pavement as a result of the car suddenly starting backward as she was getting off.

Judging by the date of aforementioned building permit, she was the first, or probably one of the first residents of 1036 Park Rd.

The marriage of Benjamin and Olga

Here is another thing I found in the Post tied back to the building. It’s a marriage announcement from October 22nd, 1936:

Benjamin Jerome Fonville, 22, 1036 Park road northwest and Olga Webster Vrooman, 21 780 Fairmont street northwest. The Rev. E. C. Smith.

A tiny little mention in the paper, but enough information to start finding out more about Benjamin and Olga. Ancestry.com had a copy of his World War II Army enlistment record, stating that he was born in 1913 and was originally from North Carolina. His race was “Negro, Citizen” and he enlisted on July 3rd, 1942 at Fort Myer in Arlington (there’s another connection to Fort Myer in this story). He completed four years of high school and his occupation was listed as “Clerks and kindred occupations, n.e.c.” He was a slight man at 5’4″ and 131 lbs … not exactly the stereotypical military man. He enlisted with an initial term of enlistment of “the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law.”

Digging a little more on Benjamin, I found that he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery (Section 48 Site 2176) and his rank was staff sergeant. On his headstone he is listed as being born November 4th, 1913 and died on August 25th, 1961. Hunting for some more information, it looks like he was living Essex, Massachusetts in 1920 with his sister Norma and mother Lillian. They were all from North Carolina, and Lillian moved the family up there to live with her sister and brother-in-law.

I can’t find as much on his wife Olga. She is buried next to Benjamin and the dates on her headstone are November 23rd, 1914 to January 9th, 2000. What I did find was a Commerce Department report as a supplement to the 1970 U.S. Census titled “Race of the Population by County: 1970″. Judging by this, I’m guessing she was employed by the Bureau of the Census. The report was prepared by an Olga V. Fonville and issued in December of 1975, which would make her 61 years old. I’m sure there weren’t too many Olga V. Fonville’s in D.C. at the time, so it’s probably her.

Retired from the Commerce Department

Here’s another former occupant of 1036 Park Rd. This one is from December 10th, 1966.

Joseph L. Bryant, 73, a retired employee of the Commerce Department, died Thursday night of a heart attack at his home.

He was born in Eufaula, Ala., and was educated in Alabama public schools and at Tuskeegee Institute, Tuskeegee, Ala., Minor Teachers of Washington, Howard University and the University of Chicago.

He moved to Washington in 1917 and went to work at the Commerce Department. When he retired in 1953, he was in charge of the Publications Distribution Section of the Office of International Trade and was honored by Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks.

He became a real estate broker after his retirement and maintained an office at 1036 Park Rd. NW.

Joseph was clearly a well-educated guy.

City Wide Learning

Here’s a little more recent one from December 12th 1976 from an article titled “Ex-DHR Foes, Now on Payroll, Silent”:

Ilia Bullock heads City Wide Learning Centers Inc. at 1036 Park Rd. NW. She was one of about 2,000 persons who rallied in defense of DHR director Joseph P. Yeldell last month, the day before he was suspended pending an investigation of charges that he put friends and relatives on the agency’s payroll.

According to records of the city’s contract review committee, chaired by assistant corporation counsel James E. Lemert, Horn negotiated a contract of $215, 248 with DHR, and Bullock and agreement for $180,000.

By the way, DHR is the Department of Human Resources for the District government. City Wide Learning looks to have rented the property in 1975 from the owner, W. Napolean Rivers. The property was sold in 1978 to Ronald J. Chancellor and H. Peter Larson. In April of 1982, the offices of City Wide vacated the premises, but Bullock allowed her two sons to live in the building.

In January of 1983, City Wide filed a tenant petition against the owners, claiming the rent was being unlawfully raised and since it was now occupied as a residence, it should be subject to rent control on D.C. law. To make a long story short, there was a legal battle that ensued, where City Wide maintained the position that the property was a domicile and should be subject to residential property laws whereas the property owners claimed the opposite. All rent was being paid into the court registry while the owner attempted to wrest control of their property away from City Wide. In the end, the court concluded that the property was, in fact, a commercial property and City Wide did not appeal the decision.

Red Rocks Firebrick Pizzeria

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The post Stories from 1036 Park Rd. NW … Before Red Rocks Pizzeria appeared first on Ghosts of DC.