Coming back from the Southeast Library on Friday, I noticed that the workers at the Hine development were removing the barriers keeping us from the sidewalk in front of the north building of that construction: The sidewalk was open again. I tweeted about it, mentioning that it was the first time that it had been open in about 100 years.
I went back today to get some better pictures, and have since tried to find out how long the sidewalk was actually closed. Turns out, the former was much easier than the latter. I was expecting that there would be all sorts of discussions about the closing of the street, but instead found only queries about the size of the Hine school that was opened in 1965 – most felt that it was too small for the student body, but other locals were worried that any expansion would impact them.
Here’s what the north side of C Street looked like in 1919. The relevant block is the one in the middle, right above the (23) (LOC)
And here is what it looked like on Friday, just after the workers had removed the barriers. (RSP)
There aren’t many pictures of the area from that time. You have to imagine C Street behind Eastern High school (left) in this picture (that’s 7th Street on the left, and the Wallach school, which fronted Pennsylvania Avenue, on the right) (LOC)
There will be a lot more people living here than before. In 1920, only five houses are listed as being on this block in the city directory. I have no idea why there are only four houses shown in the above map. (RSP)
Most of them were blue-collar workers, though one actually operated the Harry Winingder Garage at 507 8th SE. And yes, that was really his name. He was also apparently investigated by the FBI during the First World War as a suspected spy. (RSP)
One of them, however, was a trumpeter in the Marine Band (That’s probably not him in the picture at the top of the post, though it is from about the right time.) Hans Wunderlich was respected enough that his endorsement was used by a brand of trumpets in the 1920’s. (RSP)
The next step is to have C Street itself reopen, an event that we will certainly cover in great depth. Maybe by then, I’ll have figured out when the street was closed. And where the missing house went. (RSP)