The "Glorious Square 519"
Surrounded by R Street, 3rd and 4th Streets, and Florida Avenue, NW
Long before the house at 319 R Street
NW (below) was built between 1902 and 1903 by Harry Wardman and designed by
Nicholas R. Grimm, an older brick house occupied the exact same
location. It was constructed before the
requirement of a building permit, which was necessitated by the City of
Washington beginning in February of 1877.
Utilizing a combination of maps, tax assessments, geneology and deed research,
however, it has been determined that the house had been built about 1850. Located outside the city at the time, it had
no address, but eventually became known as 317 R Street.
It was built and owned by George
Glorious, as was the entire Square 519.
As one can see on the 1887 Hopkins Map, illustrated above, Glorious
operated a large scale greenhouse where he grew flowers for resale. Early listings for his business reveal that
it was located at what was then known as 316 Boundary Street (Florida Avenue
today), with retail locations at 1112 7th Street, NW and at stall number
247 at the Center Market (right). It was
located where the National Archives building stands today on Constitution Avenue, NW.
According to the 1870 census,
which was taken at 317 R Street, George had been born in Prussia (Germany) in
November of 1821. He moved to
Washington, DC in 1846 and shortly thereafter, established his floral
business. His wife Mary had been born in
Bavaria (Germany) in April of 1824.
Together, they had five children that included Mary (born 1852), Andrew
(born 1854), George Jr. (born 1856), Barbara (born 181858), and Ignatius (born
1865). Glorious indicated that his real estate was
then valued at $70,000, a tremendous sum at the time. His personal property was then valued at
$500. Both sons Andrew and George
indicated that they worked in the family business as gardeners.
The 1880 census taken at 317 R
Street revealed that all the children remained at the house that year, all unmarried,
and most of whom worked for the family business. Son George was married and had his own son
named George by 1884. Eleven years
later, the Washington Post reported that the young boy had been seriously
injured when he fell off an awning pole at the house on August 15, 1895.
The
1900 census taken at 317 R Street lists only George, Mary, and their daughter
residing at the house. However, the
family stayed close by – daughter-in-law Elizabeth and her two children resided
at 320 Florida Avenue, and son George resided with his wife Anna and their five
children at 316 Florida Avenue, NW.
With the
city rapidly developing and expanding, the George Glorious decided to sell
Square 519 to developer Harry Wardman.
The sale was announced in the November 1, 1902 edition of the Evening
Star newspaper who reported it as “Glorious Square.” The sale price was $35,500. Glorious, however, wisely negotiated Wardman
building a house for himself on the location of his former home, now known as
319 R Street, NW, where the family remained for many years. Other houses in the development were also
built for members of the second generation of Glorious family members.
319 R Street, NW (right) is currently being renovated (2018).
Copyright Paul K. Williams
[1]
Building permits in Washington were not required until 1872, and not archived
until 1877. Permit No. 1 was issued to
Martin McMalty on February 17, 1877 for a $50 repair to his house on H Street
on Capitol Hill. The first house issued
a building permit occurred on the same day, when Thomas Henry was awarded
Permit No. 2 for his $15,000 house to be built at 916 6th Street,
NW.