Lost Capitol Hill: The Hilton School

Finding topics to write about each week about lost Capitol Hill buildings and institutions can be tricky, as so many have disappeared without a trace. Sometimes, like for the Car Barn, at least the structure remains to remind one of the street cars that once called it home. Other places, like Lincoln’s boarding house on Capitol Hill, have disappeared without a trace and we have to rely on the historical record for all information. Others leave only the smallest trace. One of these is the Charles E. Hilton school, which is memorialized only in a small plaque mounted on a fence surrounding the Hilton Community Garden on 6th Street between Constitution Avenue and C Street NE. It reads “Charles E. Hilton School, 1898-1947.” Today, we will look at the history behind that simple sign.

Washington DC experienced an unprecedented building boom after the Civil War. As the country grew, so did the Federal Government, as the government grew, so did the residential neighborhoods. Capitol Hill, in specific, experienced profound changes in the closing years of the 19th Century. As Capitol Hill grew so did the need for services, and in particular, schools. Most Capitol Hill schools were built in the years 1865-1900, and an article in The Washington Post of August 15, 1897 contains a short item announcing the building of a further school building “William J. Marsh was appointed yesterday by the Commissioners as architect to assist the Inspector of Buildings in preparation of plans and specifications for a school building on lots 43, 44, 45, and 46, square 838, with the understanding the plans prepared shall be for a building not to exceed $27,000[.]”
The architect, Walsh, (not to be confused with the William J. Marsh who wrote the music to “Texas, Our Texas”) was one of those prolific but little-known architects who, collectively, gave DC – and Capitol Hill – its distinctive look. Born in DC, and showing early promise as an architect, he lived and worked in DC until his death in 1926. His most famous building is Kenridge, a house in Albemarle County, VA, which was nominated for inclusion in the National Registry of Historic Places in 2008.
The school was named for Charles E. Hilton, a Maine-born and educated schoolmaster who had been lured to DC in 1870, where he was head of the Wallach school, before retiring due to illl health in 1878. He had died in 1883.
The school quickly made a name for itself, and its students were frequently mentioned in the news stories of the day, often due to their athletic prowess, but occasionally due to scholastic and artistic endeavors. For example, on May 8, 1910, a young woman by the name of Eleanor Parke Custis, a twelve-year-old student at Hilton, won a prize for her silhouette of George Washington – who was also her step-great grandfather, as Eleanor was a direct descendent of Martha Custis Washington. Custis went on to prove that there was no nepotism involved in her victory, as she became a well-known artist, particularly known for her gouaches.

Students from Peabody-Hilton School show off their birdhouses in this detail from a Jan. 25, 1926 Post article (both illustration are from the Washington Post archive at dclibrary.org)

A 1912 overview of the DC schools gives a snapshot of Hilton school. There are 8 classrooms, covering 1st to 8th grade, with somewhere between 25 and 35 students per class. In the following years, however, the school district found it necessary to make changes. As of the 1923/4 school year, therefore, Hilton merged with its rival around the corner, Peabody, and became the middle school to which Peabody’s graduates went.

Further demographic shifts caused the school district to close Hilton in 1947; thereafter, the building was used for storage. As is so often the case, however, the building was not well taken care of, and eventually was razed and the land used to raise vegetables for local families. The garden today is so popular that the only thing the manager will say about the waiting list is that it is ‘very long.’ Much like the waiting lists for Capitol Hill schools.

Do you know of any Capitol Hill buildings or institutions you want to know more about? Leave them in the comments, and I will see what I can find out about them.