I have frequently mentioned how I have come to hear about some bit of half-forgotten part of Capitol Hill history. You never know if it’s going to be a small sign, or an old article found while looking for something completely different, or maybe just an obviously repurposed building that leads me to the subject of a column.
My best luck has, however, come from friends and acquaintances suggesting something or other to me. So today, instead of writing about something, I am simply going to ask: What would you like to know more about? What have you heard or seen on the Hill that you would like to know more about? It could be anything, from an old sign that you’ve seen or a story you heard from a neighbor, or something you remember reading long ago. I’d especially be interested in researching parts of the Hill that are outside my usual beat, and will be happy to look into anything all the way up to Florida Avenue.
Thanks for reading.
(picture above is East Capitol Street ca. 1860. It is, as so many of my pictures, from the Library of Congress website, which can be found here: http://www.loc.gov/pictures)
Don’t know if this really fits, but one thing I really miss are those old-timey signs painted on the side of brick buildings. There’s still an ad for an old oyster house on an alley off Barracks Row. Further down 8th south of the freeway, you can barely make out an old Coca Cola ad. I remember in the 1970s as we were driving into town on Pennsylvania Ave, just as we’d pass Barney Circle, there was an old Quaker Oats painted ad on the side of the wall where the McDonalds is now. That guy really creeped me out; more than Grimace even. I guess what I’d like to know is: at what point does commercial advertisement become something worth historic preservation? I’m pretty sure the current rules prohibit permanent painted advertisement, which only means these old ads will become more endangered.
A couple thoughts . . .
We know there was an old trolley system in DC, including on the Hill. It would be interesting to know more about where exactly the Hill stops and routes were. Perhaps this has been done already.
At the intersection of 6th and D NE you can see a long crack in the asphalt running along D St. If you walk about 30 feet or so west of that intersection along the crack, the asphalt has broken through a bit; you can see a portion of the rusted old trolley track underneath.
I would also like to know how to research the history of one’s home. There is a way to go through city records but I don’t know where to start. About 10-15 years ago there was a woman who did this for a fee, and sometimes she would publish her findings on the more interesting homes. She has since passed. I don’t remember her name.
I like both of the suggestions above. I would also like to know more about the commissioning and the reception of the statues in Lincoln Park. The figures in the “Emancipation” statue are posed in what now seems to be a somewhat impolitic fashion ; did that influence the decision to place Mary McLeod Bethune in the park? Perhaps you’ve covered this already and I missed it… though I try not to miss your wonderful posts.
In researching my house I have had cause to look at the old Sanborn maps and have always been surprised about all of the businesses that have been in the alleyways (so much so that I have thought about a long-term project to take pictures of all of the ally entrances that I can find in DC).
@Steve,
I highly recommend Paul Kelsey Williams of Williams & Associates. He’s written several volumes on DC neighborhood history (check Amazon), lives in Shaw, and does a thorough job researching house histories.
http://www.washingtonhistory.com/
There used to be a baseball diamond on Ives Place… I think down the street where our house is. It’s on a permit, but my neighbor didn’t find out much else about the name..
Things I’d like to know more about:
Folger Park; the old Nurse’s Quarters (now Capitol Hill Police and Day Care) at the Southwest corner of E & 1st Streets SE; the large posts and chains still found on the perimeter of some open spaces (such as around the little triangle where North Carolina crosses Independence Ave SE); location/history of the original Tunnicliffes; location of major liveries on Capitol Hill. Questions to answer: how did a statue of Greene end up in the middle of Stanton Park (shouldn’t there be a statue of Stanton?); what happened to the large wading pool in Garfield Park; where, exactly, were the Bonus Army encampments; what infamous deaths (e.g., shooting of William Taulbee) occurred on the Hill; what former President’s (e.g., Gerald Ford) lived in the Hill and where?
Marcus,
Great suggestions. I’m sure Robert will be glad to have them when he gets back.
In the interim, let me point you to one that he’s hit up already.
Tunnicliffs:
http://www.thehillishome.com/2009/09/lost-capitol-hill-william-tunnicliff-and-his-two-taverns-pt-2/
Also, if memory serves, Taulbee was shot at the Capitol and died in Providence Hospital, which once stood a few blocks away (http://www.thehillishome.com/2009/12/lost-capitol-hill-providence-hospital/).
Look forward to Robert doing the grunt work on the others….
Steve two major thoughts on your home. DC public library’s Washingtonian room has some property records on fiche – think it is realtor records or some such. I think they may only go back to the 1960’s.
The Library of Congress also as a few things. First it has business directories (do cover residences) in microfiche in the Microfilm reading room. It is a mulit-step process though. First you go to the by address section and get the name and then if you go to the alphabetical listing you may get where they worked. Second, they also has some reverse directories who can tell you who lived there (if your house had been a rental). Third LC has the old Lusk volumes with properties and their assessments.
One other thing of interest. Old fire insurance maps and the like are good. DC public has some and LC has a Sanborn database people are free to use if they come into the library as well as a few the Library has digitized.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/sanborn/