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Photos of Lost Southworth Cottage in Georgetown

This cottage sat atop the Exorcist Stairs in Georgetown. Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth wrote more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century and was one of the most widely read authors of that era.
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E.D.E.N. Southworth
E.D.E.N. Southworth

Another great find courtesy of Dig DC and the DC Public Library. This is the Southworth Cottage at 36th and Prospect in Georgetown, home of noted author Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth, taken in 1909.

She was a contemporary and friend of Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as a supporter of women’s rights. Below is her obituary which we came across in The New York Times, printed July 1st, 1899.

WASHINGTON, June 30.–Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth, the novelist, died at her residence in this city, at 8:30 o’clock tonight.Mrs. Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth, more commonly known by the word formed by her initials, which was taken by her as a name–“Eden” Southworth–was the most voluminous producer of fiction in the literary history of this country, having been the author of more than sixty novels and stories….Mrs. Southworth began the production of stories while she was a teacher in the public schools of Washington. At that time hse had to support herself and her two children and undertook to add something to her small salary as teacher. She began by contributing short stories to The Visitor, a paper published in Baltimore by Dr. Snodgrass. This was as early as 1843 …In 1840 she married Frederick H. Southworth of Utica, N. Y. She settled in a villa on the Potomac Heights, Washington, in 1853, where she lived until 1876 when she removed for a time to Yonkers, in this State. For some time before her death she ad lived in Prospect Cottage, Georgetown, near Washington. It overlooked the Potomac, to which her birth on its banks and her long associations had firmy [sic] attached her

Sadly, the house was razed in 1942. Also note that the cottage used to sit at the top of the Exorcist Stairs.

View of the east and south elevations of Mrs. E. D. E. N (Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte) Southworth's cottage, located at the southwest corner of Prospect and 36th Streets NW. In background can be seen 1224 36th Street NW whose Prospect Street elevation is painted with "Drink Coca-Cola."
View of the east and south elevations of Mrs. E. D. E. N (Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte) Southworth’s cottage, located at the southwest corner of Prospect and 36th Streets NW. In background can be seen 1224 36th Street NW whose Prospect Street elevation is painted with “Drink Coca-Cola.”

Here’s our favorite photo of the old cottage after it was no longer a residence.

Prospect Cottage once stood on the southwest corner of 36th and Prospect Streets, NW, in Georgetown. The house was torn down in 1942.
Prospect Cottage once stood on the southwest corner of 36th and Prospect Streets, NW, in Georgetown. The house was torn down in 1942. Source: Streets of Washington Flickr

Below is another photo of the cottage, courtesy of the DC Public Library’s Flickr page.

E.D.E.N. Southworth house in Georgetown. Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth wrote more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century and was one of the most widely read authors of that era
E.D.E.N. Southworth house in Georgetown. Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth wrote more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century and was one of the most widely read authors of that era

And another one from Dig DC.

Southworth Cottage
Southworth Cottage Source: Dig DC
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