It seems unlikely, but there was – for a time – a club on Capitol Hill named the Ugly Club. It flourished for a few years – in a couple of incarnations – before the Civil War. After that, it disappeared again.
The original Ugly Clubs were formed in Great Britain in the 18th Century, as a reaction to the formation of the Punning Club, the Witty Club, and, inevitably, the Handsome Club. It is quite possible that the first of these were, in fact, fictional; however, they eventually led to the creation of real clubs. In Britain there really was some celebration of physical deformity at the Ugly clubs. Yet by the time the idea had moved to the United States, the purpose of them was entirely to get together to drink and sing.
The first clubs in the United States seem to have been in Philadelphia, but in 1853, there was a short-lived outpost in what was then called The Island – i.e., SW DC. After throwing a few balls, this incarnation disappeared – though not before having gotten involved in politics in some way.
The real Ugly Club did not appear until 1856, and its members seem to have been taken mainly from around the Navy Yard. Their first ball was held in the Anacostia Hall, which is (as far as I can tell) the building owned by the Anacostia Fire Company. After a few successful events there, they moved up the street to the Odd Fellows Hall on 8th Street.
The following year, the Ugly Club was accused of having helped the Plug Uglies of Baltimore in their attempts to undermine the US government by stealing a cannon from the Anacostia Engine House. Two of the leaders of the Ugly Club felt that it was incumbent to set the record straight, and they published a notice in the Washington Evening Star that explained that they were “not a political Club” (emphasis in original) and that, in fact, it was “organized only for the purpose of giving Balls, Parties, Pic-nics, &c., &c. In other words, it is a Dancing Club.”
This seems to have put the matter to rest, and over the next year or so, there are repeated advertisements of further balls and excursions to the White House Pavilion. A frequent source of entertainment on these trips was “Professor Withers’ Unrivalled [sic] Brass and String Band.” William Withers Jr. (pic) would later become famous for being the music director at Ford’s Theater on the night that President Lincoln was assassinated.
Detail of an ad from the Washington Evening Star of July 15, 1857, announcing an excursion by the Ugly Club. (LOC)
Some time in 1858, the club disbanded. Members joined other organizations: Thomas S. Denham, one of those who had defended the club the previous years, joined the Masons, and is still honored every year with a dinner for his work in defending Washington in 1864.
The club did have one last hurrah in 1863, when an ad appeared in the Star that said “Remember the Ugly Club! They have Awaken from their Slumber.” Once again, a “grand soiree” was to be had, with Withers’s band at the Odd Fellows’s Hall. For one last time, for the low price of 50 cents, a gentleman could bring in any number of ladies and enjoy music and dance.