The history of the Hill is littered with many and varied clubs and associations. Some, like the Masons, are still with us. Others, like the Odd Fellows Club, still exist but have disappeared from the Hill. And then there was the Ugly Club, which has – probably rightly – disappeared entirely. It is probably for […]
Readers of my posts will remember that the workers at the Navy Yard are not always focused on just Navy work, but occasionally stray into other fields of endeavor. One of those relates to one of Washington’s most iconic monuments. On June 6, 1848, the work on the foundation of the Washington Monument had proceeded […]
When I started looking at the McCormick family two weeks ago, I found myself looking forward to the third of the line. Not only had he been a Rear Admiral in the Navy but a Commandant at the Washington Navy Yard as well. This was, I thought, enough to ensure that he would have stories […]
Last week we looked at Alexander McCormick, Capitol Hill merchant. The McCormick family stayed nearby, starting with his son, also named Alexander McCormick. The younger McCormick was, like his father, not one to make it into the history books; however, two tales of his life are worth mentioning. The first was that McCormick, who was […]
In the new year, it seems appropriate to go back to the earliest days of the Hill and to one of its earliest inhabitants –especially as there is a crime involved. Some of those who came to Capitol Hill in its earliest days were not there to either build the city or run the country, […]