Following up a couple of recent articles I wrote about manufacturing on the Hill, I wanted to look at a factory that was right in the middle of the neighborhood and two blocks behind the Capitol. Though hardly heavy industry, the pie bakery at 220 East Capitol Street had a “national reputation” for the quality of its products.
Lamb’s National Pie Bakery was opened by Charles M. Lamb before the Civil War. He and his brother, Lyman Lamb, had moved from Baltimore to begin the business, and in fact continued to hire bakers from there when they expanded their business. Lyman Lamb eventually went his own way, opening his own bakery in SW DC.
Charles Lamb died in 1879, “after a long and painful illness.” He was interred in Congressional Cemetery. The next year, his widow, Mary, married William I. Schneider, who had previously worked at the bakery. Under his direction, the business flourished, and a 1887 business directory sang the praises of his business thus:
The bake-house, on the ground floor, is equipped with all the modern appliances adapted to the business, and contains a duplicate oven to be used in case of emergency. In the store-house, adjoining, is kept a large stock of materials used in pie manufacture, such as sugar, flour, fruits, etc., which are carefully selected by Mr. Schneider, who buys them in large quantities from reliable dealers. The upper portion of the store-house is used as a repair shop for trays, etc., for handling pies in large quantities.
In spite of this glowing reference, the National Pie Bakery disappears some time in the next ten years. As so often, the demise of a business generates far less press than the opening, but a clue as to what happened can be gleaned from Lyman Lamb’s obituary printed in the Washington Herald in 1912, in which it states that “new business methods and strong competition caused him to retire about fifteen years ago.” This would have been about the time that the bakery on East Capitol closed, as well, and in 1903, William Schneider is listed simply as a “distributor,” now living at 8th and D NE. In the same city directory, a number of people are listed as living at 220 East Capitol.
Illustration from an 1884 book describing DC businesses. Why a stolen pie should be the best advertisement for this particular establishment is left as an exercise to the reader (Archive.org)
And so, another manufacturer on the Hill closed its doors, as the neighborhood became ever more residential. Today, with the arrival of Dangerously Delicious pies, there is some taste of what it was once like on the Hill, even if it is unlikely that any more industrial business will return.
I – and my new book Wicked Capitol Hill – will be at the Literary Hill’s BookFest next Sunday, May 6, from 10 until 3. Lots of other Hill authors will be there, so a great chance to see what your fellow Hill residents have been up to.