The ill fated Washington City Canal: filled in and paved over in 1871

            In the early years of the United States, there was great interest in creating canals within cities emulating European counterparts.  These were not for aesthetics, but for commerce.  Pierre Charles L’Enfant included one in his design for the Capital City, but Commissioners in 1792 deemed it too expensive to construct.  A lottery held in 1796 to raise funds for its construction was unsuccessful. 

            In 1802, Congress granted a charter for the Washington Canal Company, and construction began in several portions of the planned route.  The canal was to connect the Anacostia River (then known as the Eastern Branch), which was navigable into Maryland, with the Potomac, which was seen as a gateway to the West.  It would later connect to the C&O Canal.         

           

Work at the beginning was slow and arduous.  Congress created a new canal company in 1809 when the original had little to show for its effort, and funded it with $100,000.  A groundbreaking ceremony with President James Madison took place on May 2, 1810 in southeast Washington.  Construction commenced, but was suspended during the War of 1812. 

            The canal opened to much fanfare in November of 1815.  It stretched from an entrance point near the Washington Navy Yard, proceeded north and west with several branches including James and Tiber creeks, and ran westerly exactly where Constitution Avenue exists today.  It joined the Potomac River just south of the White House, long before the western half of the National Mall had been filled in.                

           

The fanfare and hopes for the canal as a commercial success shortly faded, however, as silt and tidal nuances took their effect.  The canal could only handle barges drawing a depth of three feet, eliminating most boat traffic.  It was used moderately and suffered financial losses until the city purchased the canal company in 1831.  Repairs fixed the problem of overflowing during high tide and empty portions during low tide.     

            In 1833, an extension of the C&O Canal was completed to incorporate the Washington Canal.  Around 1835, a lock keeper’s house was built at the eastern terminus of the C&O Canal, where the C&O Canal emptied into Tiber Creek and the Potomac River. It still stands at the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue, and 17^th Street, NW.

            The canal was cleaned and dredged in 1849, but the city’s promise to provide work and matching funds to Congressional budgets for the canal never materialized.  In an era when most residents did not know how to swim, the canal provided a death trap to hundreds, especially young curious children or those wandering the city after a visit to a local saloon.

            In the 1850s, Washington and other cities had begun to utilize railroads for most of the commerce transportation, and both the Washington and C&O canals were neglected.  During the Civil War when the city’s population boomed, the canal was used as a storm drain and open sewer.  It was also a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria, and was such a health threat that it prompted the abandonment of the Van Ness mansion (see Van Ness mansion, pg. ?)        

Various proposals were introduced to either rehabilitate the city canal or fill it in. In 1871, the city’s controversial head of the Public Works Alexander “Boss” Shepherd had the Tiber Creek portion of the canal be covered over, which took years to complete.  The new street that was constructed over this portion of the canal was initially designated as B Street, NW, but is known today as Constitution Avenue, NW.

The southern portion of the Washington City Canal remained open for years afterwards, but eventually was also paved over. A street constructed south of the Capitol over that section of the canal now connects Independence Avenue, SW, and E Street, SE.  Formerly designated as Canal Street, the northernmost section of the street was later renamed to Washington Avenue in commemoration of the state of Washington.

Copyright Paul K. Williams

The Lost Mansions of Farragut Square

The Pepper Mansion

Unknown to most office workers today that traverse K Street and Connecticut Avenue is that up until the 1920s, what is now high rise office buildings was once the most socially important residential neighborhood of the city.  Oversized mansions and spacious lawns lined K Street in the nineteenth century.  Three of these were built at 1701 to 1705 K Street facing Farragut Square that were designed in 1873 by Adolph Cluss, who would occupy the center townhouse himself; the elaborate Second Empire corner mansion (left) was built for Alexander “Boss” Shepherd, but purchased later by two very socially prominent families.          

Much has been written and attributed to Gov. Alexander R. Shepherd (1835-1902), who made a fortune in real estate speculation in this city following the Civil War.  He became infamous during his tenure as the head of the Board of Public Works beginning in 1871, directing $30 million in contracts to close acquaintances before becoming Governor of the District.  However, the depression of 1873 and corruption charges by Congress led to his removal from office in 1874, and personal bankruptcy. 

With the mansion being just a year old, it languished in the court system until the owner of a $45,000 private mortgage note on the house, George Seckel Pepper (1808-1890) of Philadelphia, right, petitioned to obtain title to the house in 1876.  The Shepherd legacy reappeared, however, when it was discovered that his note only covered the front portion of the house, and excluded a twenty foot extension of the house that featured a picture gallery.  The court also discovered that Shepherd had also obtained a $35,000 mortgage from Mary J. Gray for the same property. 

The legal situation took almost two decades to resolve, at which time the house was leased to the Russian Legation and as a residence for its Minister.  Pepper eventually gained title to the house, but not until 1890.  He was a philanthropist and lawyer who had graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1827.  He was left a large estate by his father and devoted himself to its management and to philanthropic work focusing primarily on the financial concerns of Philadelphia He also served as the President of the Academy of Music and of the Academy of Fine Arts, and upon his death, bequeathed half of his $2 million estate to the University of Pennsylvania, the Free Library, and the Academy of Art. 

Susan Draper

The corner mansion at 1705 K Street was sold in 1890 to General William F. Draper (1842-1910), the same year he married his second wife, the former Susan Preston.  Draper was a well known Union General during the Civil War.  Susan was the daughter of Major General William Preston of Kentucky, a Major General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. This is perhaps the only case on record of a General of the Union Army marrying a daughter of a General of the Confederate Army.  To tie the families even closer, Susan’s sister Jessie married William’s brother, George Albert Draper.

William’s first wife was Lydia D. Warren Joy Draper, whom he married in September of 1862 and had five children; William Franklin Draper Jr., George Otis Draper, Edith Draper, Arthur Joy Draper, and Clare Hill Draper.  Lydia died in 1884.

William Draper

Draper spent four years in the Civil War in a remarkable career that eluded both serious injury and death.  In the Burnside Expedition he became signal-officer on the general's staff, engaging in the battles of Roanoke Island, New-Berne, and Fort Macon when he was promoted first lieutenant and returned to his regiment.  In August, 1862, he was commissioned captain in the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts and went through the rest of the Antietam campaign and battle of Fredericksburg, and was then sent to Newport News.  In June, 1863, he joined Grant's army at Vicksburg, taking part in the capture, and subsequently in the march to Jackson and the fighting in that locality. His regiment was reduced, from fighting and sickness, from six hundred and fifty in June to one hundred and ninety-eight in September.

The war over, he then engaged in the manufacture of cotton-machinery, forming a company with his father called George Draper & Sons.  A mechanical expert, he received a record fifty patents on various implements and machinery that created a fortune. 

1887 Hopkins Map

He served as colonel on the staff of Governor John Davis Long from 1880 to 1883, and was elected himself as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1897).  He was also appointed an Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to Italy from 1897-1899.  His daughter Margaret from his second marriage met and married Prince Andrea Boncompagni-Ludovisi-Rondinell-Vitelli of Italy in a lavish ceremony at the K Street house in 1916.     

William Draper died before the wedding, however, on January 28, 1910.  He was interred in Hopedale, Massachusetts, where he maintained a summer house.   

The K Street houses were all converted into office space in the 1920s, and were razed in 1952 for the construction of the present day office building; itself being renovated several times from its original facade (right).  

Copyright Paul K. Williams

Wilhelm Schmidt's Grocery & Liquor Store at 18th and S Street, NW: Today's Rosemary's Thyme Restaurant

Schmidt's grocery and liquor store at 18th and S Streets, NW

Like many buildings and houses in the District of Columbia, the well known building on the northeast corner of 18^th and S Street was not built as the result of one particular building permit, but rather evolved over time from a modest house with a series of additions and alterations.  It served for many years as the original location of the famed Lauriol Plaza, a Mexican restaurant now located a block north, in a new building at 18^th and T Street.  Today, its the location of Rosemary's Thyme restaurant at 1801 18th Street.

Interestingly, the original configuration of the corner building was that of a brick townhouse, matching those located between 1743 and 1753 S Street today.  They were all built simultaneously sometime before 1874, the year they were valued at $3,000 each, a substantial sum for the time.  They are situated well behind the building line, providing a deep front yard.  The end two houses, 1759-1761 S Street, at 18^th Street, were later added onto both the front and rear to form a grocery story, and later a restaurant; they also later had a duel address of 1801-1805 18^th Street when their orientation was changed to face west.  An adjoining building at 1807 18^th Street was built by Susan Fletcher in1889, the same year three rear wood frame kitchens were added to the corner buildings.

Susan Fletcher was the owner of record of the corner building in September of 1900, when Wilhelm Schmidt applied for a permit to construct three large show windows on the corner, one measuring over 22 feet long, all at a cost of $600.  A grocer, Schmidt would operate a business at the location for about 30 years, which also carried the finest array of wines and liquors, delivered by a horse drawn truck, seen in the image above.

A separate dwelling on the site built in 1889 was the subject of a complaint by a Mrs. M. C. O’Brian of 1912 13^th Street years later, in a letter dated July 29, 1908.  She claimed that the dwelling built behind 1807 18^th Street had been recently utilized as a stable, which she found “very objectionable.”  The building inspector noted in his reply that the owner was to apply for a stable permit or face “prosecution if necessary.”

Wilhelm Schmidt

Wilhelm Schmidt is pictured above about 1908 inside his business in the liquor room.  Signs on the wall indicate that no one under the age of 21 was allowed in the room, and on the floor one can see stacks of “Old Possum Hollow” whiskey.  Schmidt ran a successful business at the site for nearly three decades, and when he died in 1935, he left an estate worth and estimated $400,000, an impressive sum not long after the Depression was coming to a close.

Always conscience community members, the Schmidt’s set up a food stand for the rescue workers aiding the victims of the Knickerbocker Theatre disaster in January of 1922.  The 1920 census taken at the corner store indicated that Wilhelm Schmidt lived above his business, typical at the time.  He resided there along with his wife Johanna, and five daughters ranging in age from 4 to 22.  Wilhelm had been born in 1872 in Germany, and had immigrated to the U.S. in 1888, according to the census taker.  His wife Joanna had been born in Germany in 1875, and emigrated in 1893.  They both became U.S. citizens in 1896.  By 1930, the City Directory indicates that Wilhelm and Joanna had moved into a house at 4225 17^th Street in the Crestwood neighborhood.

Copyright Paul K. Williams 

A Note on Source: InTowner newspaper reader Chris Hinkle contacted the author and provided the rare and personal vintage photographs of his ancestors, longtime Washingtonians, accompanying this feature.  We are grateful that his sharing of family history can benefit and educate a new generation of residents.  

History Mix: 1301 Corcoran Street, Zalmon Richards, and the Salem Witch Trials

1301 Corcoran Street, NW

Many passersby notice elegant brass plaques mounted on Washington’s numerous historic buildings, but one on the house at 1301 Corcoran Street, NW that simply reads “Zalmon Richards House” certainly tends to arouse curiosity.  Just who was this man with the odd first name, and why was he important?     

Some quick research reveals that Richards (1811-1899) was a leader in both local and national public and private education, and one of the founders of the National Education Association and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).  He and his second wife lived at 1301 Corcoran Street from 1882 until his death in 1899.  Her family members, on the other hand, were chiefly responsible for the infamous Salem witch trials!    

Research does not reveal the origin of his rather unusual first name, however.  It is curious to note that he signed his name only with a Z, and was known to have “vials of wrath if one called him ‘Zed.’” (Allen C. Clark, Records of the Columbia Historical Society, vol. 42/43, p. 145)  His brother was seemingly equally cursed, having been named Almarin; He served as a principal of the old Prescott High School on 8^th Street, between K & L Streets, NW., and served as a Superintendent of Police from 1864 to 1878.        

Zalmon Richards had been born on a farm in Cummington, Massachusetts on August 11, 1811, the son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Packard) Richards.  He attended the Cummington Academy and the Southampton Academy to prepare for his entry into Williams College in 1832.  His tuition was paid for by private teaching and small loans that he repaid after his graduation in 1836.  He also pledged himself to abstain from alcoholic beverages when he joined the Baptist church just prior to his undergraduate work. 

Richards returned to his alma mater to become the principal of the Cummington Academy after receiving a MA about 1838.  The following year, he married his assistant teacher, Minerva A. Todd, and they moved to teach at the Stillwater Academy in New York.          

Zalmon Richards photo by Mathew Brady

Richards became principal of the preparatory school for Columbian College in Washington beginning December 1, 1848.  The school was established for students wishing to enter Columbian College (now The George Washington University) and was then located at 14^th and N Streets.  Built of brick in 1822, it measured 25 by 30 feet and housed about 17 students.  It had a checkered past, due to the fact that during its first 26 years in existence, from 1822-1848, it had no less than 17 principals.  Zalmon served as its Principal until 1851.         

In the 1850’s, the termination of the school year in Washington was marked by examinations, followed by public presentation of prizes.  In 1851, a parade of two thousand students marched through the streets of Washington, joined by the Marine Corps Band, Mayor Walter Lenox, and trustees of the public schools, who were all greeted by thousands of spectators.  Richards then addressed the crowds. 

Richards and his wife purchased a 43’ x 103’ vacant lot the northwest corner of New York Avenue and 14^th Street on September 12, 1851, and opened the Union Academy the following year.  Richards attended the preliminary organizational meeting of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) on June 9, 1852 at the Masonic Hall.  He served as the organizations first President, beginning later that month.  The YMCA first occupied the buildings at 437-441 7^th Street, NW.    

The Academy flourished until 1862, when Richards was employed as a clerk at the Treasury Department during the Civil War.  His wife ran the Academy alone until the end of his Treasury job 1867. That year, Richards had become active in securing the establishment of the National Department of Education, and served as its clerk until it was transferred to the Interior Department in 1869, when he went back to teach at his Union Academy. From 1869 to 1871, Richards served as the first appointed superintendent of public schools in the District of Columbia. He was later appointed the city’s auditor from 1872 to 1874. 

Apparently, Richards enjoyed becoming intimately involved in new organizations that he had a passion for; he attended the organization meeting of the National Teachers Association on August 26, 1857, and was elected as its first president as well.  It later became the National Education Association.  Among its founding members, at least one-fourth were faculty members or administrators from institutions of higher learning, including John Seeley Hart of Princeton, Calvin Pease of the University of Vermont, and James R. Challen of Northwestern University.

Earlier, on June 3, 1861, Richards had been sworn in as a Union supporter to the city’s Common Council, representing the Second Ward.  His brother Almarin was elected from the Third Ward.  The election meeting had not gone smoothly, however, as the Star reported in its May 29, 1861 edition:     

“The meeting finally adjourned with an indefinite amount of blowing, and in going out somebody’s fist accidentally got into another body’s face whereupon half a dozen pitched into everybody in general and no one in particular, the only object appearing to be a desire to let some one fight out.  Heads went down and heels flew up; benches rolled up among themselves in a hurry, and several serious collisions occurred at the door between those getting out and others getting in.” 

A true renaissance man, on July 4, 1864, Richards even witnessed the signing of a dedicatory hymn he had composed for the opening of the Wallach School.  In 1871, he attempted a partnership with Henry R. Miles to manufacturer paper files and carpet stretchers on the Academy grounds that failed the following year.  The Academy itself was foreclosed upon in August of 1877, and the Richard’s moved into the Rugby Hotel.       

Richards’s wife Minerva died in the afternoon of July 15, 1873.  Richards married his second wife, Mary Frances Mather, on August 19, 1874, just thirteen months after the death of his first wife.  Mary had been born in Darien, Connecticut on November 5, 1835.  She was twenty-four years his junior (he was 63 she then 39).  Mary was a direct, lineal descendant of the famous Rev. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), a Puritan Minister at Boston’s Old North Church and chief cause and promoter of the Salem witch trials.  Following the wedding in Darien, they resided on the Academy grounds at 1401 New York Avenue, NW.        

They moved into 1301 Corcoran Street in 1882, and resided there until her death in 1896, and his death there at 4:15 am on November 1, 1899.  He is interred in a family plot in Oak Hill Cemetery next to his two wives.     

The Zalmon Richards house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 as an individual landmark, long before the surrounding neighborhood was considered for historic district status.  

Copyright Paul K. Williams