From Barber Shop to Shoe Shop to $1 Million House: 605 Constitution Ave NE

The owners of the vacant lots where 605 (right) and 607 (left) Constitution Avenue were to be constructed, Filippo Di Bella and Letterio Ciatto, applied for and was granted an Application for Permit to Build numbered 1385 for their construction on September 22, 1915.  They listed architect A. C. Spaulding as responsible for their design, and themselves as builders.  They were both built at a cost of $2,500.  Di Bella had purchased lot 15 a short time earlier, on September 14, 1915 for $3,700; he immediately sold the eastern half to Ciatto.  Di Bella had constructed 605 Constitution as a barber shop for his son-in-law.   

The building permit indicated that the two buildings were to be constructed on solid land atop a foundation composed of concrete.  They would initially measure 29 feet wide by just 20 feet deep, but were later expanded when it was converted into residential use.  External brick walls were to be thirteen inches thick, the roof was to be composed of tin, and they would be heated by stoves.  The original configuration featured a shared, central opening between the buildings for access to the alley.  When built, the houses had the address of 605 and 607 B Street until the name was changed in the early 1950s.   

Owner and builder Filippo Di Bella constructed the building at 605 Constitution as a location for his son-in-law’s barber shop.  He himself indicated that he was a carpenter and resided at 1931 8^th Street, NW, according to the city directory. 

Fillipo Di Bella had been born in Italy about 1868; his wife Frances was born there about 1877.   Their daughter Louise had been born in Argentina on August 4, 1898, and they immigrated to the United States in 1903, according to the 1903 census when they resided at 1931 8^th Street, NW.  Di Bella indicated that he worked for himself as a house carpenter. 

Daughter Louise married Anthony Joseph Chirieleison who operated the barber shop out of 605 Constitution Avenue.  He had been born in Messina, Italy on June 7, 1895 and immigrated on June 8, 1903.  They had a son named Joseph (born March 26, 1920) and a daughter named Jane (born December 28, 1922).   Anthony had entered the Army on May 3, 1917 shortly after his barber shop had opened; he was Honorably Discharged on March 6, 1919, according to his Military Naturalization paperwork seen here.  The extended family resided at 1239 H Street, NE when they were enumerated in the 1940 census, seen here.

While Anthony Chirieleison was away in the Army, the structure at 605 was rented to Goda Norman, according to the 1917 City Directory.  She neglected to list an occupation or business type.  In 1920, the structure was listed as vacant in the Directory, which reflected information collected a year prior when Chirieleison was still in the Army.  607 housed a grocery store.  In 1925, the storefront at 605 was rented to a shoemaker named Paul Stanton, who was again listed there in 1930.    

Filippo Di Bella died on November 26, 1944.  His widow Frances, under the Will of Filippo, sold 605 Constitution Avenue on December 12, 1947 to Paul L. Mandolia, seen here in his shoe making and repair business that operated from the location (below).  This rare photograph was included on their family tree, posted by his grandson Ray Campagnoli.[1]  He had rented and run a shoe making shop at the address as early as 1935, according to the City Directory.  He and his wife Josephine resided close by at 614 Constitution Avenue. 

Mendolia had been born in Santa Ninfa, Italy on November 25, 1895, the son of Giuseppe and Giovania Mendolia.  He immigrated in 1911.  He too joined the military in 1918 and was a Naturalized citizen shortly thereafter (left).  In 1917 he married 16 year-old Josephine Biondo (1901-1985), left, and they had daughters Genevieve Rose (1921-2018) and Rose Margaret (1923-2018).  His wife had been born on June 21, 1901 in Italy.   He valued the house they owned at 614 Constitution  for $7,000 in the 1930 census, and indicated that they did not own a radio, one of the more unusual questions asked of occupants that year.   One wonders what Paul would think if he learned that his shoe shop was listed for sale for $999,999 in 2020.  

Mendolia died in Washington, DC in July of 1981 and Josephine died in August of 1985.  In 1960, the structure housed “Paul’s Shoe Repair,” while also housing Antonio and Joseph Cichello as residents, according to the Haines Directory.  The 1994 Directory lists Leo Demesaker as a resident.    

This continues our series on tiny houses, with previous entries on 233 12th Street, NE and 302 12th Street, SE.    

                                   Copyright Paul K. Williams

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[1] Picture and information from Christine McDonald family tree on Ancestry.com.

 

Another Tiny House on Capitol Hill

Continuing our little house obsession  since writing about 302 12^th Street, SE, (160sf), we turn to the other 12^th Street, this time in NE and this tiny gem at 233.   It was issued a building permit on October 5, 1907.  It comes in at just nine feet wide by thirty feet deep, or 252 square feet.   It was built as a store at a cost of just $300! 

Edgar I. Booraem had obtained the building permit; he worked as a clerk in the War Department and resided himself at 1008 O Street, NW.   He had been born on June 23, 1841 in South River, New Jersey, meaning that he was age 66 when he built his real estate investment.   He died in 1925 in Washington, DC. 

Morris Stein was listed as the tenant in 1914, who utilized the building for his tailoring business.  He rented a room close by at 508 C Street, NE.  

 

Copyright Paul K. Williams

Is This The Smallest House in Washington, DC?

Have we stumbled onto the smallest house in Washington, DC?  Measuring just ten feet wide by sixteen feet deep, and only one story in height, we certainly think so - it's a mere 160 square feet!

The one room house on Capitol Hill, now an apartment under renovation, is located at 302 12^th Street, SE.  At first glance, it appears connected to a house next door, but it is an independent structure.  Intrigued, I located the original building permit that was issued to J. A. Clark in 1912 for a “coal office.”  It provided the measurements and the cost to construct – only $150!

Researching a bit further, the 1914 City Directory listed Bernard A. McDonnell living in the adjacent house at 300 12^th Street, a coal merchant.  It had been built in 1895 by Richard Rothwell, who rented it out.  McDonnell was new to the coal business.  In 1910, according to the census, he worked as a bartender in a saloon while he rented 510 B Street, SE.  He lived there with his second wife, Florence, whom he had married in 1903.  Both of his parents had been born in Ireland.   

Earlier, he worked as a clerk, and according to the 1891 City Directory, he operated a restaurant at 1102 8^th Street, SE.  It still exists today and was most recently home to Taco City DC (left).  In 1899, he was a bartender at 507 E Street, SW, a building since demolished.   

McDonnell had been born on June 15, 1856 in Alexandria, Virginia.  He died in Washington DC on May 10, 1924 at the age of 67 and was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in that city.    

                                                            Copyright Paul K. Williams

Death by Tiger: It Happened in 1899 in Washington, DC

Circus Tiger by Maureen Siegart (no relation to Charles)

When one begins to explore the “cause of death” among the 65,000 interred at Congressional Cemetery, your imagination begins to recreate the ultimate demise from myriad illnesses, murders, train wrecks, auto accidents, drownings and the like.  But one really stood out to me recently: an 1899 death “by tiger bite.”  The cemetery is also competing for a share of $1M from AmEx and the NTHP until May 10, 2013 by popular vote.
     

How was that possible in Washington, DC?  Well, the Wallace Circus was in town, and so were its many animals.  21-year-old Charles Siegert was in charge of the shows ponies, but developed a strange and dangerous habit of sleeping on top of the tiger cage, which ultimately led to his demise.  As he slept atop a Bengal tiger named “Old Ben” the evening of September 4, 1899, he turned in his sleep shortly after 1:30 am and his leg dropped down the side of the cage.  The Washington Post reported:

A Wallace Circus animal cage

                “The beast appears to have put out one great paw through the bars, and with its long, sharp teeth clutched Siegert’s leg.  Siegert felt the horrible grip on his leg, realized what had happened, and, as the tiger pulled his leg into the cage, Siegert was dragged over its side.  The beast had his calf between its teeth and Siegert’s body caught at the knee of the imprisoned foot and hung full in reach of the tiger.  His cries awakened the whole tent and while men ran to his assistance the other animals roared and growled at the uproar.  Torches were pushed at the tiger; employees who were familiar with similar accidents got clubs and pushed them hard against the tiger’s nose.  He hung on till his own pain caused the grip of his teeth to relax and the instant they did so Siegert was pulled away.  His wounds were hastily dressed and the police notified.”

               

Siegert, ironically a butcher by trade, had joined the circus just eleven weeks before, when it rolled out of Tolleston, Indiana.  He had endured the horrible accident for a full ten minutes.  He was taken to Emergency Hospital, where the reality of his wound was revealed.  The Post described that “part of the calf had been torn away, and at the knee and the exposed bone showed indentations of the great teeth of the beast.  Muscles, sinews, and flesh hung in ribbons from the great wound.”                 

                An employee of the circus visited the hospital, but it was reported that he had no interest in Siegert, and coldly announced that he was only there to reclaim the bloodied quilt which had been wrapped around Siegerts leg.    

                Surgeons initially thought they could sew the wound back together, but eventually, at 8 pm on September 5, 1899, the leg was amputated below the knee by William P. Carr.  The stress, blood loss, and infection took Siegerts life just five hours later, at 1 am on September 6^th.  

As they say in the business, “the show must go on,” and the Wallace Circus pulled out of town that morning.  Little was known about his family, and after several days of local media attention, a local insurance man named Robert Cook took pity on the situation, purchased and buried him in Congressional Cemetery on September 7^th.  The site remains unmarked to this day (at Site 130/Range 250).   

A week later, the circus finally located his father Julius G. Siegert in La Porte, Indiana (who had been born in Russia about 1847), and sent him a telegram about the death of his son.  He wrote a letter to the Washington Post which was received on September 12, offering to pay for his son’s internment, but the funeral had already taken place. 

If you want to assist in creating a marker, now is you chance!  The cemetery has a kickstarter project where you can contribute, vote on a design, and finally get a monument installed at the site.  Think of the design possibilities!  Be part of the process HERE.           

The Wallace Circus

                Benjamin Wallace, a livery stable owner from Peru, Indiana, and his business partner, James Anderson, bought a circus in 1884 and created "The Great Wallace Show."  The show gained some prominence when their copyright for advertising posters was upheld by the Supreme Court in the Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Company case.  

Wallace bought out his partner in 1890 and formed the "B. E. Wallace Circus.”  It later merged with another circus and became the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. 

In 1913, the circus lost 8 elephants, 21 lions, 8 horses and several tigers in the Wabash River flood.   Its unknown if one of the tigers drowned included "Big Ben," the Bengal that killed Charles Siegert.

Another tragedy struck the circus just before 4:00 a.m. on June 22, 1918, when a locomotive engineer fell asleep and ran his empty troop train into the rear of the circus train near Hammond, Indiana.  A fire broke out and quickly spread through the wooden sleeping cars.  86 persons died and another 127 were injured, with many victims were burned beyond recognition.  Most are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois in a section set aside as Showmen's Rest, marked by large elephant memorials.

Copyright Paul K. Williams