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Schott’s Alley on Capitol Hill in 1941

What was alley living like near Capitol Hill? This photo shows Schott's Alley, razed in the 1940s to make way for the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Screenshot from 2023-01-27 20-25-41
The Mayflower Coffee Shop and Grill, Washington, D.C.
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This photo was taken just a couple of months before the attack on Pearl Harbor launched the country into World War Two.

The alley was located between first and second streets NE and B and C streets NE. The image below has your looking west towards the Russell Senate Office Building.

October 1941. “Schoot’s Court [i.e., Schott’s Alley], Washington, D.C.; Senate Office Building is in the background. Four very small dark rooms rent for 15 and 18 dollars per month with water and privy in yard. It used to rent for 6 and 8 dollars. Frank Coles and his friend are sitting on the bench. He was a cement plasterer but has been on relief during the past year. He has frequent heart attacks and his feet and ankles are all swollen. Doctor advises a chicken and lamb diet, no pork or beef, but he doesn’t even have money to buy fuel. He can’t get waited on in a clinic or get to one. He waited from before 11 until 4 p.m. but still could not see a doctor. He has been in Washington since 1906.” Photo by Marion Post Wolcott.

Below is a map of the area from 1919. The alley is located in square 725.

1919 Baist Map
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