The 1900 block of
Pennsylvania Avenue on the southern side of Square 118 was one of the oldest
residential developments in Washington, DC, evidence of which remains in two
preserved front facades at 1909 and 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue incorporated into
the Mexican Embassy complex in the mid 1980s.
In addition, four houses that were built along Eye Street in 1887
remarkable remain to this day in much the same format as when they were
built.
Seven large and
impressive Federal styled houses were built in 1796 along Pennsylvania Avenue
from 1901 to 1911 as part of a speculative real estate development by the
Morris and Nicholson syndicate. Built
before the government was moved to Washington from Philadelphia in 1800, the
houses each featured fine brickwork and lintels over the front doors carved
into a feminine head. They were built by
Georgetown builder John Archer, and while the original plans exist, the
architect remains unknown.
During the Civil
War, the corner house at 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue became the headquarters of
both Maj. General George B. McClellan and Maj. General M. D. Hardin, as
photographed by Mathew Brady in April of 1865 (seen in the background to the
right is the side of the 19th Street Baptist Church).[1] By 1890, many of the houses
in the row were deteriorated significantly, and were used for a variety of
office and retail space. The first
location of People’s Drug store opened in the corner house at 1901 Pennsylvania
shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, which later grew into a large
chain across the entire Mid Atlantic.
All but 1909 and 1911 were razed in 1959 for the construction of a
office building, with the remaining two facades incorporated into an office
building on the western portion of the site today.
Copyright Paul K. Williams
[1]
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division for architectural drawing
and Brady photograph.
No comments:
Post a Comment