Lost Capitol Hill: Women Built Capitol Hill

Kyra’s recent article about her house, and particularly her comment about the fact that the owner was a woman, reminded me of something I noticed when researching the history of my house: the number of women involved in the real estate market. The first two owners of the house were both women, and the builder’s wife was a real estate force in her own right.

Today, I will take a brief look at these women, as well as a few others on the Hill.

When William Murphy bought the land on which he built 217 and 219 11th Street, SE, his wife was listed on the deed with the usual “et ux.” This was, however, by no means out of politeness. Margaret Murphy was an integral part to William Murphy’s rise from simple bricklayer to large-scale developer of Capitol Hill properties. In fact, the first reference that can be found of them is her buying two of the houses on Park Street, NE in 1903. At the time, William was still listed in the city directory as a bricklayer. Presumably Margaret’s sales allowed William to expand his business, and in 1906, she is featured in an article entitled “Margaret E. Murphy to Build Four Houses” (Washington Times, September 16, 1906) whose headline pretty much sums up the information within quite neatly. Even more intriguing, her husband is not listed on the building permit as the builder. In later years, while Margaret would continue applying for permits, but then listing her husband as a builder.

The Murphys sold 219 11th Street, SE to Mary S. Campbell. Although there was no question that she would do so alone — she was a widow — her real estate transactions had begun even before her husband’s death. She would supplement whatever pension James Campbell had accrued as a clerk for the DC Commissioners with further real estate deals until her death.

When Mary Campbell sold 219 11th Street in 1919, it was once again to a woman: Jean Perrie. Ms. Perrie was unmarried, and she moved into the house with her two parents. In spite of her being listed on the deed, when the census came by the next year, it was her father who was listed as the head of the household. Perrie would continue to own the house until the early 60’s.

My research also took in the immediate neighborhood, and I discovered that the two projects on either side of the one which included my house were built by women. 211 and 213 11th Street were built by Catharine Bohrer, on land she had inherited from her mother, Sarah Otterback, while 221 – 225 11th Street were built by Mary Guy, daughter of Catharine Bohrer. (This is the row about which I wrote recently) While Bohrer’s real estate work commenced only upon the death of her husband, George A. Bohrer, Mary Guy was engaged in her work while her husband was still very much alive.

I really thought I’d found a trend when I found out that the houses on the corner of Independence and 11th Street, directly next to the Bohrer houses, had been built by one Florence McAuliffe. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that this Florence was actually male.