Early 19th Century Neighborhoods

The Evening Star Articles by James Croggon

From his obituary in the Evening Star, August 22, 1916 -- "Mr. Croggon was probably the oldest newspaper man in Washington. He entered the work in 1862, writing many stories of the Civil War, and coming into contact with many of the historic characters of that time. He continued in active newspaper work until 1894, at which time he retired. He wrote special articles, however, until July 1915. Probably the best known of these were those in a series on 'Old Washington.'"

Articles about James Croggon:   Picture Presentation    75th Birthday    Obituary    Tribute

Articles about Mrs. Elizabeth Croggon:   Obituary

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General Topics

Northeast Washington

  • BLOCKS ONCE FIELDS Acres of Growing Crops Near Capitol in Early Years. Buildings Were Scarce. Streets in Northeast Only Wagon Tracks and Roads. Lots Sold Under Agreement. Government Sought to Build Up City--Building Inducement. Land to Georgetown College.
  • CAPITOL PARK BORDER. Trees and Shrubbery Displaced Commodious Buildings. Plot Known As Square 687. Block of Dwellings Known for Years as Dowson Row. The Home of Congressmen. Ground Contained Twenty-Four Lots, Twelve on A and B Streets Respectively.
  • COURSE OF SLASH RUN. Stream Traversed Important Section Years Ago. Great Change Effected. Territory South of Florida Avenue Now Solid Blocks. Once Largely A Wilderness. Slaughter Houses at Interval With Water Courses as Sewers. Conditions Now.
  • CUT BY SLASH RUN. Land Lying Northeast of Dupont Circle. Much Of It Marshy. Ground Covered With Dense Growth of Vine and Bush. Often Styled "The Slashes." In the Infancy of the City Values Were Low, But Even From Those Prices They Afterward Fell.
  • EARLY CAPITOL LIFE. Half Century's Changes in City's Topography. Land Near Union Station. First Settlement on the Tiber Crude Homes. Small Game Disported in '50. Paid Very Little in Taxes Toward Support of Government--First Chapel Is Built.
  • EARLY GROWTH SLOW. Development of Squares in Northeast Washington. Wagon Track Streets. Neighborhood Clustered About the Tavern. Hazels Row Old Landmark. Old Market on East Capitol Starts Settlement -- Some Arrangements of Property -- First Settlers.
  • EAST OF THE CAPITOL. Three Squares Possessing Unusual Historic Interest. Some Realty Valuations. Building the Home of Congress. Following the War of 1812. Officials Resided in Vicinity. Part of East Capitol Street Devoted to Business -- Many Hotels Located There.
  • HISTORIC CHURCH SITE. New Chapel Near Langdon, DC. On Site of Old Colonial House of Worship.
  • HISTORIC INTEREST IN CLEARED SECTION
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Jenkins Hill).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Northeast of the Capitol).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. Rural Conditions Until 1850 In Old Swampoodle. Spring Tavern Sports. Dog and Chicken Fights on Ancient Turnpike. St. Aloysius Church Erected. Saved From Hospital Uses During Civil War -- Few Structures in Neighborhood.
  • LOTS IN NORTHEAST. Dozen Squares Formed When City Was Surveyed. Low Valuations in 1802. Property Bounded by North Capitol, C, E and 4th Streets. Names of Original Owners. Section Which For Many Years Showed But Little Evidence of Improvement. (Squares 681, 682, 683, 684, 722, 723, 724, 755, 756, 780, 781, 782)
  • NEW PLAZA TAKES WASHINGTON INN
  • OLD-TIME BUILDINGS. Reminiscences of Early Life on Capitol Hill. Grading Removes Houses. Dirt Used in Terracing Around the Capitol. Some of The First Builders. Original Proprietors in That Part of the District. And Their Historic Connections.
  • SOME EARLY SETTLERS. Title to Land North of the Capitol Grounds. Suggestion By Thornton. Wanted Space Left for a Columbus Memorial. Matter Ignored For Years. Values of Lots on Territory Now Covered by the Union Station and Its Approaches.

Northwest Washington

  • A DOWN-TOWN SQUARE. Names of Property Owners in Early Days of City. Valuation of the Ground. Pennsylvania Avenue Possessed. No Attractions. Foot Pavement on North Side. Supply of Water Mainly From Springs--Trend of Improvements--Regarding "Rum Row". (Squares 252, 253, 254, 290, 291, 292)
  • A NOTED SECTION (Res. 9, Res. 10, Squares 490, 491, 533).
  • ABOUT THOMAS CIRCLE. History of Important Section of Capital City. The March of Progress. Fourteenth Street Once Mere Wagon Track. Squares 212-15 and 244-47. One of Early Mansions, Since Modernized, Now Occupied by Bishop Satterlee.
  • AN HISTORICAL SITE Square in Which General Land Office is Quartered. Uncle Sam's Purchase. Price Paid Was $17,700 and for Improvements, $11,853.91. Valuations in Square West. Story of Tenant Who Paid No Rent and Demanded Pay for Key of House.
  • AS TO FRANKLIN PARK. Known in Early Days of City as Fountain Square. First Public Purchase. Source of Water Supply for White House and Departments. Camping Ground For Troops. War Dance by Indians Results in Excitement--Names of Residents in Neighborhood.
  • ANCIENT LANDMARKS. Remnants of the Old Buildings in the Heart of the City. Erected A Century Ago. Early Settlers of Section North of Franklin Statue. The Real Estate Conditions. Land Which Now Commands High Figures Then Sold for Almost a Nominal Sum.
  • AWAY BACK IN 1796. Early History of a Square on New York Avenue. John Sioussa Built First. Corner of 12th Street Was Often a Lively Place. Stream Along 13th Street. Names of Persons Who Made Early Improvements in Square--Some Queer Neighborhood Characters.
  • BACK IN THE FIFTIES. Memories of the Old "Tiber" Section of District. B. & O.'s Engine House. Some of the Early Owners of Goose Creek Property. Owners of Submerged Land. Slow Settlement of Portions of Washington Near New Jersey Avenue and C Street.
  • BACK TO YEAR 1795. Construction of First Habitation in Square 457. Assessed Values in 1803. Twenty-Six Lots, One-Half Owned by United States Government. Old-Time Washington Data. Advances in Price Shown in 1835 and Later--Some of the Property Holders.
  • BUILDINGS ERECTED BY U.S. GOVERNMENT. Home for the Interior Department and Bureaus Under Its Direction. Wings to Patent Office Authorized March 3, 1849. Pension Office for Long Period Quartered in Winder Building -- Other Structures Rented.
  • CAPITAL OF YORE. Old Residents of Washington Circle Neighborhood. Last Century Citizens. History of Up-Building of Part of First Ward. Land Cheap But Men Few. When a Populous Section of the City Was in Field and Woods -- Improvements Came Slowly.
  • CHANGES OF FORTY YEARS IN EBBITT HOUSE CORNER.
  • CITY'S EARLY HISTORY. New Department Buildings' Site Long Waste Land. Development Was Slow. Interesting Details Regarding Its Earliest Owners. Where Tiber Creek Flowed. Increase in Value From Nominal Price Until Today Property Is Worth Millions.
  • COMMODORES' ROW. Name Given Houses on the North Side of K Street. Early History of Sq. 284. Description of Location of Gen. Davidson's Farm. Accent In Natural Grade. Graveyard for Slaves on Building Line of K Street East of 13th Street.
  • DEVELOPED SLOWLY. Two Blocks of Ground Near Judiciary Square. In State of Neglect. Reference to a Jail Erected in the Year 1803. Site of Public School House. Names of Owners of Property and V alue of Their Holdings--Course of Stream.
  • EARLY DAY HOTELS. Houses of Entertainment in the Capital City. Many West of Rock Creek. Congressmen and Court Officials Had Rooms There. Boarding Houses Numerous. Conditions in Washington Prior to Year 1825--Noted People of the Day.
  • EARLY DAY MEMORIES. Many Objects of Interest to the Old-Timers.
  • EARLY DAY VALUES. Washington Squares at Nominal Figures in 1796. Near Judiciary Square. Part of Section Known as English Hill. Included in Ben Oden Tract. Assessments for Taxation Made at Half a Cent Per Foot and Upward.
  • EARLY DAYS HERE. Clerks Kill Game South of the White House. Divide With The Chiefs. Davy Burns' Cottage a Social Center. Gen. Van Ness Wins Bride. Zigzag Roads for Streets Not Uncommon--Old Canal and Wharf. Corcoran Gallery Site.
  • EARLY DAYS IN CITY. History Given of Three Washington Squares. Low Values Century Ago. Between Massachusetts Avenue, H, 5th and 7th Streets. "Phillip's Row" Still Stands. Business and Building Progress Began About 1840--Residents of the Section in Review.
  • EARLY DAYS OF CITY. Land Lying Between 11th and 16th Streets North of S. Worth Few Mills A Foot. Farm of Joshua Pierce Took Half a Dozen Squares. Some Old-Time Graveyards. Persons Living Who Went Berry Picking on Ground Now Covered With Fine Homes.
  • EARLY DAYS OF CITY. Where Convention Hall and Market Now Stand. Unsettled in Year 1800. Progress From Rural Conditions to Busy Urban Section. Improvement Came Slowly. Changes in Proprietorship and Some of the Early Residents and Their Accomplishments.
  • EARLY DAYS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
  • EARLY HISTORY OF SECTION NORTH OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
  • EARLY MEETING PLACE. City Spring on the North Side of C Street. Grove of Trees About It. Favorite Spot for Family Gatherings and Recreation. Blessing To Neighborhood. Water Used for Public Baths--Settlement of the Square--Among the Early Owners.
  • EARLY REALTY VALUES. Reminiscences of Washington Ante-Bellum Days. Some Notable Landmarks. Boarding House Life Back in the Forties. Traders and Their Wares. Old Places Along Pennsylvania Avenue Recalled--Remarkable Changes in Localities.
  • EARLY WASHINGTON. Incidents of Fishing Days in Foggy Bottom. Rivalry of Sections. Real Estate Values Back in the Year 1803. Figures of Business Growth. Some of the Residents of West Washington and K Street in the Twenties and Thirties.
  • EARLY WASHINGTON. Rustic Environs of the Capitol Back in the Twenties. The Improvements Slow. Unique Condition of Affairs When City Was Small. Observations of an Old-Timer. Scenes Along Tiber Creek--First Public Gardener Came From Kentucky. Notes.
  • EARLY WASHINGTON LANDOWNERS. (Between 7th & 11th, North of S)
  • EARLY WASHINGTON LANDOWNERS. (Between L, P, 4th & 7th)
  • EARLY WASHINGTON LANDOWNERS. (Between L, P, 7th & 9th)
  • EARLY WASHINGTON LANDOWNERS. (Between L, P, 9th & 11th)
  • EARLY WASHINGTON LANDOWNERS. (Between P, S, 7th & 11th)
  • EAST OF THE TREASURY. Section of the City of Historic Interest. Celebrities As Actors. Suicide of the Representative of a Foreign Government. Where Dickens Was Guest. Real Estate in Early Days--Prices of Property Now Held at High Figures.
  • EASTERN PORTION OF THE "RIDGE" YEARS AGO.
  • FOND OF THE PUMPS. Regarded as Necessity by Old Washingtonians. Building Up The Squares. Public Wells Preceded the Construction of Homes. Settlement Above H Street. Territory Embraced Between 7th and 13th Streets N.W.--Where Wells Were Located.
  • GREAT EXPANSION OF FEDERAL WORK. Evidence of Progress Shown in Construction of Huge Department Buildings. Latest One Is Planned For Interior Bureaus. Limited Accommodations for Offices Under Early Government Constrasted With Present Conditions.
  • GROWTH WAS SLOW. Section Near Dupont Circle Long Neglected. Land Sold For a Song. Quarter of a Cent a Foot the Price in 1843. Some of the Early Owners.
  • HAS UNIQUE HISTORY. Square of Ground Known as Reservation B. Once Called Low Lands. Within Pennsylvania and Missouri Avenues and 4 1/2 and 6th Streets. Early Prices of Real Estate. Site of Theater, Printing Office and Numerous Boarding Houses--The First Improvements.
  • HISTORY OF A SQUARE. Events in the Development of Block No. 250. Values 100 Years Ago. Between the Present Lines of 13th, 14th, H and I Streets. Count Denemon's Building. Home of French Minister Among First in Section--School for Colored Children There.
  • HISTORY OF "FROGTOWN." A Section of Washington Whose Topography Has Prevented Its Development.
  • HOME OF POST OFFICE. Buzzard's Roost Was First Quarters of Department. Located In Washington. Many Moves Made in Course of Century. Spared By English In 1812. Fire Wiped Out City Post Office in 1836--Models Burned Up at Same Time.
  • HOME OF TREASURY. First Department to Have Its Own Building. Not One Now In Use. But on Same Site and Ready When Capital Moved In. Structure Thrice On Fire. Destruction Nearly Complete Last Time--Two Brothers Accused as Incendiaries.
  • HUNDRED YEARS AGO. Early History of City Squares South of Avenue. Bordered on Tiber Creek. Section Now Scene of Great Business Activity. Valuations in Early Period. Some of the Residents and Their Occupations--Gradual Rise in Ground Values.
  • IN CITY'S EARLY DAYS. Erection of Original National Theater in 1834. Thrice Destroyed By Fire. History of Apollo Hall, Built in the Early Thirties. Site of Bus Headquarters. Occupants of Rum Row--Hotel at Which Visiting Indians Frequently Were Guests.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Neighborhood of Square 523).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Northwest of the Capitol).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Rodbird's Hill).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Seventh Street).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. Portion of City Once Dark and Dreary. Early History of City. Daily Race of News Correspondents. To First Telegraph Office. Scene of Political Strife. Long-Ago Dwellers in Section Which Slowly Grew From Green Fields to Active Mart.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. Section Now Built Over, But Long a Wilderness. Early Property Owners. Shad Run Long Made Improvements Difficult. Finally Was Arched Over. Many Government Buildings Erected Among First Structures--Colored Families Interested.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. The Tiber or Canal.
  • IN OLDEN WASHINGTON. Along Rock Creek When It Was City Boundary. Navigable Waters Then. Initial Survey Began From Stone on Bladensburg Road. Half Way To Georgetown. Fish Were Plentiful and Barges Lightered Breadstuffs From Mills on Small Waterway.
  • IN THE EARLY DAYS. Conditions in Square Between 4-1/2 and 6th Streets. Circuses And Shows. Armory and Drill Room Conveniently Located In the Section. Place of Divine Worship Also. Senators and Representatives to Congress as Boarders in the Vicinity--Kalaidoscopic View.
  • IN THE EARLY DAYS. Improvement of Two Squares In Western Part Of City. Buildings Still Standing In The Walls of Which Are Bricks Manufactured at Their Front Doors.
  • IN THE EARLY YEARS. Portion of the City North of "an Avenue Unnamed." Developed Very Slowly. Stores on Seventh Street Attracted Country Trade. Purchase of Lot In Year 1799. Names of Many of the Long-Ago Business Men--Transfers of Realty.
  • JAIL OF THE DISTRICT.
  • KALORAMA TRACT HISTORY TRACED
  • KNOWN AS BLOCK 460. Square of Ground Owned by William Woodward. Prior to the Year 1800. North of Pennsylvania Avenue, Between 6th and 7th Streets. Hotel A Resort For Noted Men. Change in Business Life in 1830 and Thereafter--"The Middle Forties."
  • KNOWN AS "IRISH HILL." Designation of Square 533 in the Early Days. Near the U.S. Court House. Supply of Good Water Was One of the Blessings. Twenty-Five Lots Arranged. Names of Original Owners--Progress of Improvements--Some of the Characters Described.
  • KNOWN AS THE RIDGE. Ancient Designation of F Street, Washington. Much Used Thoroughfare. From the Old West Market to the Capitol. Those Who Had Residences. Business Men and Government Officials Included-Variety of Occupations.
  • LOWER FIRST WARD. Part of Washington City Once Known As Hamburgh. Seventeen Lots in Square. Sales and Exchanges in the Early Days of District. Valuations at Low Figure. Property in the Territory Owned in Large Part by Government Officials.
  • LYING ON BOUNDARY. Early Owners of North Washington Land. Settlement Was Slow. Ground Was Used Only for Pasturage. Crossed By Paths and Roads. St. Patrick's Cemetery Patronized by Leading Catholic Congregations for Many Years.
  • MASONIC TEMPLE SITE. Ground Once Known by Name of Seven Oaks. And Other Designations. When the Section Had the Aspect of Country District. Stream Through 13th Street. Section Now to Become the Center of Interest of Masonic Fraternity.
  • NAMED ENGLISH HILL. Judiciary Square Section in the Early Days. Residents Mostly Irish. Goose Creek and Swampoodle Part of the Bounds. Brickyards In Evidence. Some of the Pioneer Improvements, Public and Private--Residents Who Held Office.
  • NEAR ASBURY CHURCH. Development of Gen. John Davidson's Property. In Old Port Royal Tract. Second Part of James Croggon's Historical Sketch. About Squares 341, 342, 343. The Blocks Between I and M, 10th and 11th streets--Once an Enormous Gravel Bank.
  • NEAR OLD POST OFFICE. Development Anterior to Teens of Last Century. Great Hotel of Blodgett. Little Building Done Until After the War of 1812. Large Influx of Mechanics. Unobstructed View of Alexandria From the Intersection of 7th and E Streets.
  • NEAR THE CITY HALL. Louisiana Avenue Early During the Last Century. Site of American Theater. Meandering Paths Within Lines of Judiciary Square. Resort of Professionals. Value of Ground Erection of Buildings Names of Some of the Early Residents.
  • NEAR THE NEW LIBRARY. Situation North of Mount Vernon Square Years Ago. Valuation of the Ground. Erection of Schoolhouse as Early as Year 1819. Names of Early Residents. History of Square 402 as Place of Homes--Incidents of Distant Past.
  • NOW A HOTEL CENTER. Intersection of Pa. .Ave. and 6th St. So Designated. One On Each Corner. Famous for Taverns in the Early Days of the City. Portion Once Under Water. Attack by Mob on Bar and Search for Proprietor--Starting Point for Stages.
  • OLD MARKET SECTION. High Water Occasionally Inundated Reservation. Before Canal Was Formed. Business at the Mart a Century Ago Was Very Small. Butchers Use Wheelbarrows. Establishment of Commercial Houses in Sparsely Settled Area Proceeded Slowly--Land Valuations.
  • OLD SEVENTH STREET. Reminiscences of the Early Growth of That Highway.
  • OLD SLYE'S ORCHARD. Use of Part of Square 316 in City's Early Days. Ground Values Increase. Present Public Park Was Playground for the Boys. Tobacco Barn Blown Down. Settlers About 1840 Regarded as Fine Gardener--Incident Involving an Ugly Man.
  • OLD-TIME BURCH HILL. Historic Section Around New Jersey Avenue and I Street. First Settled in 1812. Capt. Burch's Residence at That Time Considered a Mansion. Famous "Minnesota Row". Houses in Which Lived Breckinridge, Douglas And Other Noted Men -- Civil War Hospital.
  • OLD-TIME FIRST WARD. Section of District Which Embraced Town of Hamburgh. Presented Rural Aspect. Hamburgh People's Interest in Creation of National Capital. Conditions In The Year 1797. Some of the Early Settlers and List of Their Holdings--Prevailing Values.
  • OLD-TIME MILL SEAT. Historic Landmark of Early Washington Life. Fed By Tiber's Waters. Homestead Occupied for a Hundred Years. Home of the Cazenave Folk. Slow Change of Squares That Passed From and to Government. Georgetown College Lands.
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Baltimore & Ohio Depot).
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Gadsby's Row).
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Goose Or Tiber Creek)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Judiciary Square, Part I)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Judiciary Square, Part II)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Judiciary Square, Part III)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Judiciary Square, Part IV)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Judiciary Square Stream)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Lafayette Square)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Tiber Creek)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Treasury Building)
  • OLD WASHINGTON (Treasury Neighborhood)
  • OLD WASHINGTON. Forgotten Streams
  • PATENT OFFICE SITE MEANT FOR CHURCH. Original Plan of City Called for Such a National Edifice. Strange Surrounding of Present Structure. Abattoir and Ice House at Corners of Square Thrifty Gardener Cultivated Streets.
  • PATENT OFFICE HILL. Slopes Occupied In the Forties by Orr's Orchard. Government Reservation. Nearby Was Potter's Kiln Square, Generally Shrouded in Smoke. No Statute Against Nuisance. Citizens Kicked, but Plant Continued to Turn Out Pots and Emit Black Masses.
  • PLACED CONVENIENT TO THE PRESIDENT. Four Buildings Entire Working Force of the Government in Early Days. Some Forest Growth In and Around Them. First of Group, the Treasury, on Part of the Site of the Present Structure, Was Burned in 1833.
  • PRESIDENT'S SQUARE. Early History of Park Fronting White House. Long Much Neglected. Land Values of Fifty Years Ago in Northwest. Old Homes and Residents. Davidson's Stubborn and Prolonged Contest for Title--Great Jump in Price of Real Estate.
  • PRIMITIVE SEVENTH STREET
  • PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR. Those Who Occupied Homes on F Street Northwest. Some Old-Time Incidents. Attached to Treaty of Ghent in Octagon House. Changes In Neighborhood. Dwellings Where Army and Navy Offices Resided -- Building Erected 100 Years Ago.
  • PROGRESS WAS SLOW. Improvement of Squares North of the Capitol. Site of the Senate Annex. Opening of B Street Did Not Occur Until the Year 1816. Values Expressed By Mills. Names of Early Residents and Description of Their Holdings--In the Thirties.
  • PROMISE NOT KEPT. River Section, Once Prosperous, Has Progressed Little. Trade Center Long Ago. Property at Potomac and Rock Creek Slow to Build Up. Ships Once Stopped There. Foreign and Coastwise Commerce Has All Departed to Other Sections of the Water Front.
  • ROCK CREEK SECTION. Early History of Populous District of Washington. Drinking Water Scarce. Prolific Spring at the Foot of a Gum Tree. Some Old-Time Residences. Grades of Squares and Streets--Cuts and Fills and Improvements--Slow Progress Noted.
  • SEVENTH STREET'S EARLY DAY BOOM
  • SLOW IN DEVELOPING. Vicinity of Convention Hall Once a Marsh. Held At Low Valuation. Half a Cent Per Foot in Early Part of Nineteenth Century. Colored Man First Settler. North of New York Avenue Between 6th and 7th Streets.
  • SLOW PROGRESS THEN. Early-Day Conditions East of Judiciary Square. Improved Only in Spots. Value of Ground as Low as Half a Cent Per Foot. Ravine Through One Square. Tavern Erected on Lot 1, Ben Oden Tract, and Property Assessed at $2,000.
  • SLUICE RUN SECTION. Settlement of That Area Several Generations Ago. East of Franklin Square. Infantile Boom in the Period of Early Development. Building Lots Were Spacious. Enough Room for Front Yards and Gardens--The Original Houses Widely Separated.
  • SOLD FOR A TRIFLE. Early Owners of Land Around Dupont Circle. Section of Slow Growth. Until the Fifties Only Half a Dozen Settlers. Long Site of Burial Ground. Graveyard Held the Remains of One of the Lincoln Conspirators--Now Location of Palatial Homes.
  • SOME OLD TIME HOMES. Well-Known Resident Section of Former Days. West of War Department. Site of One of the First Free School Buildings. Meeting House of Friends. Values of Land and Buildings Fixed by Tax Assessors in the Early Years.
  • SQUARE NUMBER 491. Its Development Early During the Last Century. Memories of Settlers. Block at One Time Was an Expanse of Swamp Land. Erection of National Hotel. Structure Was First Improvement Building to Appear Within the Tract--Other Business Houses.
  • STATE DEPARTMENT. What It Was Like When It Was First Brought Here. Old Memories Revived. Duties of a Chief Clerk in the Long Ago Years. Famous Hunter Cantaloupe. Men Who Helped to Make Washington and Where They Had Their Abode.
  • STUDDED WITH INNS. In Early Years Taverns Flourished on Sixth Street. Congressmen Boarders. Settlement of Square Known at 461 Was Rapid. Extended South To Tiber. As Buildings Were Erected Land. Values Steadily Increased -- List Of Early Property Owners.
  • THE CITY'S INFANCY. Local Conditions a Century Ago Recalled. Real Estate Valuation. Property Then Sold for Almost a Song. Canal Ran Through Town. Boats Uploaded Lumber Near Present Site of Post Office Building--The Early Settlers.
  • TREASURY FIRE
  • UPPER SEVENTH STREET
  • WAS DAVIDSON'S FARM. Early Use of the Ground East of Commodores' Row. Square 317 Country Property Until the Thirties. Source of Gravel Supply. Organization of a Junior Fire Company by the Boys of the Neighborhood.
  • WASHINGTON'S BEQUEST WAS EATEN UP BY TAXES. Interesting History of Property in This City Which the General Purchased for a Family Home.
  • WASHINGTON HISTORY. Reminiscences of the First Platting of City. The Remarkable Changes. Sons of the First Business Establishments in the City. Story of Old Odeon Theater. Old-Time Hotels and Boarding Houses--How Pennsylvania Avenue Looked Over Fifty Years Ago.
  • WASHINGTON IN EARLY DAYS. (Between 4th & 7th, North of P)
  • WEST WASHINGTON IN EARLY DAYS.
  • WHEN CITY WAS YOUNG. Oddities of Nomenclature Sixty Years Ago. Public Parks and Spaces. "Front of President's House" Now Lafayette Square. Triangles Used For Travel. Selection of Mall as Site for Smithsonian Institution and the Monument Prompted Improvements.

Southeast Washington

  • CAPITOL HILL REALTY. Many Residents Recall Time When Crops Grew There. Where Family Cow Roamed. Many Small Ponds in Winter Afforded Sport for Boys. In Early Days of the City. Initial Meetings of Churches Held in Tobacco Barn -- Incidents Many Years Ago.
  • CARROLLSBURG SITE. Early Attempts Fail to Establish Industries. Sugar Refinery Failed. Wharf Property and Breweries Have Hard Struggle. Buildings Rotted Away. Section of Southeast Washington Now Covered by Pumping Station--Near Old Canal.
  • EARLY PLAN FAILED. Promoters of Carrollsburg Disappointed in Purpose. Streets Were Cut Away. First Houses Erected Left High in the Atmosphere. Site A Commanding One. One of Best Natural Building Sections Within Limits of the Capital.
  • EAST OF THE CAPITOL. Transaction in Realty Early in Past Century. Growth Slow Before War. Various Squares Platted for Residence and Business Purposes. Statement of Ground Values. List of First Owners of Properties in Several Squares and Assessments Charged to Them.
  • GROUNDS OF THE CAPITOL. The Southeastern Portion Was Known as Square 688. Was Occupied Until 1872. Names of Some of the Early Residents Who Acquired Lots. Nature of the Improvements. Senators and Representatives in Congress Guests of Householders -- Valuation of the Ground.
  • GROWTH HINDERED. Section Near Tiber Creek Settled Slowly. Lay of the Land Was Low. Small Stream Wound Its Serpentine Course Through Square. First Theater Built There. On Its Stage Joseph Jefferson Appeared, and Vaudeville Delighted the Early Settlers.
  • GROWTH WAS SLOW. City Section Known as Squares 700, 701 and 743. Early-Day Values Given. Daniel Carroll Secures Title Under Division by Commissioners. Brickmaking Chief Business. Eighty-Seven Building Lots Laid Out About the Year 1796. Few Sold.
  • GROWTH WAS SLOW. Southeast Section a Hundred Years Ago. Land At Low Values. Prices for Half a Century Below a Cent a Foot. Some Early Taxpayers. Gardens and Fields Growing on Sites of Streets Surveyed, But Not Fenced Off,
  • HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST. Interesting Description of the "Navy Yard." Almost a Town in Itself. List of Prominent Residents and Business Men. One Hundred Years Ago. Uncle Sam's Big Shops Contributed Materially to the Growth and Prosperity of the Neighborhood.
  • HUNDRED YEARS AGO. Section Where Christ P.E. Church Was Located. Plat of Square 878 in 1795. Designed for Forty-Two Lots When Division Was Made. Valuation of Ground in 1807. Improvements Noted Five Years Later. United States as Owner of Lots.
  • IN COLONIAL DAYS. Owners of Ground Which Became Part of Capital Site. Town of Carrollsburg. One Hundred and Sixty Acres Laid Off in 1750. Located on Anacostia River. Small Shipping Interests of Record. But Community Transacted But Little General Business.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Naval Gun Factory).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Navy Yard).
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON (Navy Yard, 1821).
  • KNOWN AS PROUT FARM. In Vicinity of K Street and Virginia Avenue Southeast. Some Old-Time Residents. Possession of Property First Held Under Leases. Subdivision of Square 928. Large Area at 9th and K Streets, Where Open-Air Meetings Were Held.
  • NAVY YARD SECTION. Part of District Which Long Resembled a Farm. Site of Tunicliff's Hotel. Building Erected and Occupied Prior to the Year 1800. Some of the Early Settlers. Isolated Residence Known as the "Hermitage"--Environment of the Prout Farm.
  • NEAR GARFIELD PARK. Conversion of Farming Land Into City Squares. Old Duddington Manor. Contraversy to Which Maj. L'Enfant Was a Party. Ideal Home For Gentleman. Names of Those Who Owned Realty and the Value of Their Holdings.
  • NEAR NAVY YARD GATE. When Forest and Field Gave Way to Open Streets. Rapidity of Development. More Than Twenty Buildings on Square 906 in Year 1802. Assessments of Early Days. Names of the Owners and of Those Who Held Leases--Incidents of the Times.
  • OF OLD TIME HOMES. Sites Found in Woods and Fields Years Ago. Improvements Were Few. Section in East Washington Not Far From the Capitol. Low Valuation of Realty. Assessments Down to Fourth of a Cent Per Foot in Instances. General Topography.
  • OLD "BURNT BRIDGE." Where Ships Once Sailed Up Eastern Branch. Fired When British Came. Helped Early Settlement in Southeast Section of City. Scoffing Fiddler's Conversion. Brickyard and Hill That Vanished to Fill Up the Hollows of the Navy Yard.
  • OLD CARROLLSBURG. Development of Southeastern Section of District. Long Ago Enterprises. Changes of Ownership From Colonial Days--Men Interested in Projects.
  • OLD MARINE BARRACKS. Gradually Disappearing as a Result of Improvements. Constructed by Soldiers. In 1801 With Bricks that were Made on the Spot. Used by British in 1812. Aaron Burr after his Arrest for Alleged Treason Was Held a Prisoner in the Old Center House.
  • OLD WASHINGTON. Congressional Cemetery, 1807-1825
  • OLD WASHINGTON. Congressional Cemetery, 1825-1839
  • OLD WASHINGTON. Congressional Cemetery, 1840-1850
  • ON BAY OF ST. THOMAS. Section of City Near Washington Navy Yard. Early Day Investments. Portion of Reservation Then Covered by Water. Eastern Branch Market. Some Valuations During the Period From 1820 to 1830--Owners in Square 882.
  • PART OF PROUT'S FARM. Navy Yard and Three Nearby City Squares. Interesting Local History. Thickly Settled Community Was Not Anticipated. Some of the Early Owners. Busy Days During the War of 1812. Represented by Descendants. Places of Business.
  • PORT OF WASHINGTON. Southeast Section So Regarded in Early Days. Many Ideal Home Sites. New Jersey Avenue Expected to Be Great Thoroughfare. Some Prominent Residents. Tract of Daniel Carroll of Duddington--Improvement of the Streets and Lots.
  • ROSE HILL'S HISTORY. When the Navy Yard Was Under Water. "Fighting Bo's" Teacher. Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth, Afterward a Novelist. Commodore Porter's Holdings. Contest for Supremacy in Music Between a Negro Fiddler and a Mulatto Violinist.
  • SITE OF NAVY YARD. Selection Made in Early Days of Past Century. Improvement of Section. Development Follows Choice of Home for the Marines. Some Old-Time Celebrities. President Jefferson Interested in the Two Government Institutions. Valuations Upon Land.
  • SITE OF THE LIBRARY. Ground Upon Which the Beautiful Building Stands. Facing National Capitol. Formerly Known as Squares 729, 730 and 731 in City Plat. Was Once a Famous Section. Prison Where Union Forces Held Suspects Was Located in the Vicinity.
  • SOUTHEAST SECTION. Owners of Real Estate in Early Days of City. Providence Hospital Site. Folger Square, Eighty Years Ago, Was a Common. Original Ground Values. United States as Holder of Title. Trustees of Washington Academy Exchange Lots.
  • TOBACCO WAREHOUSE. When Washington City Was in the Business. The Old-Time Inspector. First Venturesome Merchants of the Early Southeast. Water Front All Blagden's. Growth of Section About Navy Yard and Gradual Increase of Real Estate Values.
  • WHEN CITY WAS YOUNG. Early Landowners in Neighborhood of Capitol. Memories of Long Ago. Reminiscences Suggedsted by Reading Old Records. Original Washington Homes. House in Which Prominent Persons Often Were Guests--Some of the Values.

Southwest Washington

  • CITY LAND FOR SONG. Property, Now Valuable, Sold for 1 Cent a Foot. Near Printing Bureau. Was Called "No Man's Land" in Ancient Days. Once Used For Cattle Pen. President John Quincy Adams Sold Three Lots to George Johnson in 1832.
  • EARLY CITY SCHOOLS. Establishment of Public Education on the Island. Pioneer Owners of Land. New Temple of Learning Brick Building of Two Rooms. Pupils Who Gained Renown. Square Sold for $60,000 in 1796 by Robert Morris--Later Transactions in Real Estate.
  • EARLY RIVER FRONT. Star Veteran Tells of the First Local Boats. Where They Were Docked. Property Originally Owned by Mr. Young. The First Marine Railway. How the Young People Before the War Used to "Go Down the River."
  • EARLY WASHINGTON. Many Wide Stretches at Unoccupied Squares. Conditions In The Fifties. Southwest Highly Favored for Homes and Business. Colonial Houses and Gardens. Some of the First Owners of City Property and the Assessed Valuations.
  • END OF SWAMPOODLE. Many Features of Southwest Section Also Changed. Railroad Improvements. Progressive Absorption of Land for Modern Uses. Old-Time Shipping District. Rapidity of Development Involved in the Greenleaf Litigation. Original Lots Described.
  • GREENLEAF'S POINT. Section of City Now Known as Square 503, South. River Bank Its West Line. Men and Affairs in Southwest Washington in Early Days. Wheat's Row Still Standing. Description of Realty Transactions in the Block B ounded by N, O, 4-1/2 and 6th Streets.
  • HISTORY OF "FROGTOWN." A Section of Washington Whose Topography Has Prevented Its Development.
  • IN HAMBURGH TOWN. Early Owners of Large Section of Washington. Funk Settlement Center. Exchanges Made by Lot Holders for City Property. Place Known As Camp Hill. Rendezvous for Soldiers in Year 1800 and During the War of 1812.
  • IN OLD BRADLEYTOWN. Southwest Section Which Was Unsettled Till Recent Times. Mud There Knee Deep. Now Traversed by Great Railroad Lines to South. Once Notley Young's Farm. Mayor Robert Brent Erected First House at Maryland Avenue and 12th Street.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. History of Twelve Squares in Southwest. Development Was Slow. Brickyard Almost Only Sign of Improvement for Years. Now Busy Section of City. Grazing Furnished for Cattle Until Late in Last Century--Old Property Owners.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. Some Interesting History of Southwest Landmarks. Places Once Gardens. Familiar Names of Early Proprietorship.
  • IN OLD WASHINGTON. Southwest Section Once Part of Mall Reservation. Thirty Years On Market. Finally Divided Into Squares and Disposed of in Parcels. Former Owners of Property. Distinguished Men Who Have Held Title--Changes in Course of Century.
  • NAMED ROGERS' ROW. Buildings Erected in Closing Years of 18th Century. Later Site of Car Barns. Block of Brick Structures Completed in 1797. Early Assessment of Values. Squares Embracing What Was Known Among Sportsmen as Penitentiary Marsh.
  • OF LITTLE PROFIT. Section of Washington Long Without Improvement. Much Of It Under Water. Description of Area Known as "Back of Van Ness." Land Valued At Low Figures. Title to Many of the Lots Vested in the United States Government.
  • OLD WATER FRONT. Improvements Were Slow in the Last Century. Big Bluffs in the Way. But They Made a Fine Vantage Point to View the River. Building First Wharves. Those Who Owned Them and the People Who Lived Near Them Years Ago.
  • PLAN WAS UNIQUE. Lottery System Employed in Real Estate Deals. Within District Lines. Lots in Hamburgh Town Transferred by That Means. Valuation Stated In Pounds. Extracts From Old Records Showing the Progress of National Capital Development.
  • QUIET ON RIVER BANK. Section of City Which Is Still Unfinished. Where Progress Is Slow. Few Factories and Boathouses About Only Improvement. Washington Once Investor. History of Section Shows Little Animation During Century--Canal Business Once Promising.
  • SOUTHWEST LONG AGO. Four Squares Between 6th, 7th, B and D Streets. But Two Settlers In 1825. Grown Into Village--Like Neighborhood Quarter Century Later. Some Early Dwellers There. Quilt Raffles--Resort for militiamen--Property Owned by the United States.
  • SOUTHWEST SECTION. Importance of Locality Near Old Long Bridge. In Early Days of City. Situation When Corporation of Washington Took Charge. Overlooking River Front. Names of Business Men--Progress of Improvements--Homes Prominent in Social Circles.
  • TOWN OF HAMBURGH. Settlement Laid Out in 1771 by Jacob Funk. Now Part of Capital. Five-Pointed Square, South of 104, Marks Its Center. Curious Deed On Record. "Half Penny for Use of Lord Baltimore" Receipted for and Mentioned in Document.
  • WHEN CITY WAS YOUNG. Southwest Secton That Was Unimproved for Years. Original Realty Owners. Changes in Title Negotiated in First Half of Century. Volunteer Fire Companies. Churches in Neighborhood--Minister Whose Salary Was Sole Leather. Interesting Traditions.