Latest Structures Page 154

Capital Traction Company Powerhouse, Washington DC

Capital Traction Company Powerhouse, Washington DC

The building housed the equipment which generated the electricity for Washington's transportation system from about 1911 to 1943. The following information is from the Georgetown Spectator, July 27, 1967: The Capital Traction Co. built the power plant in 1910-11 to provide power for its streetcars, previously drawn by horses. It was built to be grand and stately by the owners of the firm, Georgetown residents, who were well aware of its importance in the heart of the Georgetown waterfront. At the height of its operation, the plant had twelve boilers which operated five turbo-generators producing 18,500 kilowatts of electrical power which was in turn carried to four sub stations located through the city. Each substation was fed by a high tension

Lutz Woolen Factory (Juniata Woolen Mill), Everett Pennsylvania

Lutz Woolen Factory (Juniata Woolen Mill), Everett Pennsylvania

The Lutz Woolen Factory, also known as the Juniata Woolen Mill, is located on the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. It is a two-and-a-half-story building with a full basement and attic. Its four bays of windows are six-over-six, double-hung. The mill is constructed of randomly and roughly coursed limestone rubble and has a gable roof covered with corrugated metal. Three stone walls remain standing; the east (river) wall was washed away by a 1936 flood and is entirely missing, exposing the mill's four working levels and the stuccoed interior walls. The wall of the mill on the river side was not stone but heavy timber-frame construction with wood siding. This side of the building also contained a stair, an entrance,

New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Eastbound Passenger Station, Southport Connecticut

New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Eastbound Passenger Station, Southport Connecticut

The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad tracks were laid during 1848-49. The villages relative excitement about their new, direct link with urban centers is reflected in Jonathan Bulkley's diary, January 3, 1849: I went to New York today in the morning train - the New Haven and & New York Railroad is underway & it is said that over 1000 passengers pass over it daily. The greatest impact the coming of the railroad had upon the people of Southport was in their harbor economy. Rail travel made passenger and trade transport by boat less convenient, economical, and therefore desirable. However, while the Mill River harbor witnessed a decline in merchant traffic, it serviced an increasing number of pleasure craft.

Clarence Moore House (Canadian Chancery), Washington DC

Clarence Moore House (Canadian Chancery), Washington DC

Clarence Moore perished on the Titanic, which sank April 15^th, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. Moore, who was born in Clarksburg. West Virginia March 1^st, 1865, had been interested in developing West Virginia coal mining, oil and timber properties. In 1890 he came to Washington where he became associated with W B Hibbs & Co., which became one of Washington's more successful banking and brokerage firms. Through Hibbs & Co., Moore engaged in many large real estate transactions. Moore's first wife. Alice McLaughlin, daughter of Frank McLaughlin who was once the owner of the Philadelphia Times, died in 1897. In 1900 Moore married the former Mabelle Swift of Chicago. Six years after their marriage, the Moores began building their residence

Christian Hauge House, Washington DC

Christian Hauge House, Washington DC

Christian Hauge, born in Christiana, Norway in April 1862, began his diplomatic career in 1889 as an attache to the legation of Norway and Sweden at London. He then served as attache in Paris and Berlin; and as acting first secretary in the legations at Paris, Copenhagen, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. Hauge came to Washington, D.C. in 1901 as Secretary of the Legation for Norway and Sweden. When Norway peacefully gained independence from Sweden in 1905, Christian Hauge became Norway's first minister to the United States. In 1906 George Oakley Totten, Jr., designed 2349 Massachusetts Avenue, which according to floor plans published in the 1907 Architectural Annual was to serve as a residence and legation offices for Christian Hauge. The house

458 C Street, Washington DC

458 C Street, Washington DC

Isolated amidst a parking lot this L-shaped brick building stands with its neighbor as the only remaining small-scale buildings that once characterized this area. The building, consisting of a main block and an ell, occupies a small rectangular site near the northeast corner of the block, across the street from the new Federal Courthouse. The site measures 25' wide by 65' deep and slopes gently to the south. The main block of the building is rectangular in plan, three stories high (plus basement and attic) and is capped by a gabled roof. The narrow shed-roofed rear wing is also rectangular in plan but only two stories. This wing and the adjacent building to the east encloses a small three-sided court at

Bussard-Newman House, Washington DC

Bussard-Newman House, Washington DC

Bussard was a trustee of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church. He was also active in civic affairs. In 1825 he was named to the committee applying to Congress for a charter to build a Poor House and later, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Poor Farm which was located at the corner of what is now Calvert Street and Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., where the Guy mason home now stands. Bussard built the frame house on Fayette Street (now 35^th Street) between 1805 and 1808. In 1805 he paid $100 for the north half of Lot 67, a price indicating there was not a structure on the land at that time. In 1808 Bussard bought the south half of

Margate Elephant - Lucy, Margate City New Jersey

Margate Elephant - Lucy, Margate City New Jersey

Built in 1881 by James Vincent de Paul Lafferty Jr, Lucy the Elephant was intended to attract buyers to the building lots Lafferty was offering for sale in the area. It's reported to have cost $25,000 to construct. After falling into financial trouble, Lafferty sold the Elephant and other property to Anton Gertzen in 1887. Lucy is 6 stories tall, weighs 90 tons, and is covered with 12,000 square feet of sheet tin. In 1902 an English doctor and his family leased the Elephant as a summer home. They moved into Lucy's ample interior and converted the main hall into four bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen and parlor. A bathroom was outfitted in one of the small front shoulder closets using

Ralph J. Bunche House, Washington DC

Ralph J. Bunche House, Washington DC

The house was built for Dr. and Mrs. Bunche while he was on the political science faculty of Howard University. Born in 1904, Dr. Bunche came to Howard in 1928. In 1944 he joined the State Department, thus beginning a distinguished governmental career that was capped by his selection as the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and his appointment in 1950 as an undersecretary of the United Nations. Dr. Bunche was the chief assistant to Gunnar Myrdal, the Swedish sociologist, whose American Dilemma is a classic study of the Afro-American. Myrdal was often a guest in the house. The house is 28' wide (not including the side entrance porch) by 42'-6 deep. located on a narrow and deep, sloping lot, the

Brownley Building, Washington DC

Brownley Building, Washington DC

The building permit for the Brownley Building notes that when built in 1932, it received an award from the Architect's Advisory Council for meeting exceptionally well the standards which should be maintained for private buildings in the National Capital. The design successfully relates to the traditional fabric of older buildings in the area. Through its ornamentation, the Brownley Building captures the visual variety typical of older, more traditional buildings and relates to the pedestrian scale of F Street. Originally owned by Caleb G. Willard, the trustees of his estate, Boyd, Willard, and Howe, sold the property title in 1919 to Walter Brownley. Following Brownley's death, the deed was transferred to the Brownley Investment Company in 1923. Ed R. Brownley, surviving trustee,

Brickyard Hill House, Washington DC

Brickyard Hill House, Washington DC

A well preserved detached frame house of early date (ca. 1800) now very rare in the Waterfront district. Owned and probably built by the Peter family. No account of Georgetown can omit reference to the Peter family, among the earliest families to settle in the area, and who were, and still are, continually active in the life of the town. Two of the most illustrious members were Robert Peter (Sr.) and Thomas Peter, one of his sons. Robert Peter, born in Scotland about 1726, at Crossbasket, near Glasgow, came to Georgetown to set up business as a tobacco merchant. In 1752 he was the agent of the famous firm of John Glassford and Co. of North Britain, which monopolized in large

Twelfth Street YMCA Building (Anthony Bowen YMCA), Washington DC

Twelfth Street YMCA Building (Anthony Bowen YMCA), Washington DC

President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone on November 26^th, 1908. Following that event, fundraising activity continued. In 1911, for instance. President William Howard Taft was greeted by a large and enthusiastic audience of colored men who had gathered at the Howard Theatre to raise funds. Of the $100,000 cost of the building, $27,000 came from the black community, while John D. Rockefeller and Julian Rosenwald each contributed $25,000. The balance came from the YMCA Central Association of Washington. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson opened the building on May 19^th, 1912. In 1972 the structure was named for Anthony Bowen. Bowen (1809-1871), a free black man from Prince George County, Maryland, in 1853 founded the first YMCA in America for Blacks.

Bomfords Mill, Washington DC

Bomfords Mill, Washington DC

Colonel George Bomford was the builder and first owner of the mill. Milling of various kinds was an important business in Georgetown in the first half of the 19^th century, for after 1831 the Chesapeake and Ohio canal provided a reliable source of water with a 30-35 foot fall for the mills. Although Bomford is generally known as an ordnance specialist, he was also a business man of note in Georgetown. The Dictionary of American Biography (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1931) gives an account of his life. In brief, he was born in New York City in 1782. His father was an officer of the Continental army in the Revolution. He was appointed a cadet in the army on Oct. 24, 1804,

W. Taylor Birch House, Washington DC

W. Taylor Birch House, Washington DC

3099 Q Street, N.W. is a good example of an end of the nineteenth-century Victorian baroque mansion. Both on the interior and exterior it is a pretender to the title of grand residence. The academic picturesqueness of the exterior is complemented by the formal textural richness of the interior. Because of the manner in which it dominates a key site in Georgetown (southeast of Tudor Place) it is a critical node in the architectural structure of the northeast area. 3099 Q Street is located at the northwest corner of 31^st and Q Streets with its north wall approximately 55' north of the centerline of Q Street, The dimensions of the L shaped three-story brick residence are approximately 50' for the nominally

Birch Funeral Home, Washington DC

Birch Funeral Home, Washington DC

This home was built as a funeral home sometime between 1866 and 1871 by Joeseph F. Birch. It remained in the family and was used as a funeral home until 1966 when it was sold. The house is rectangular 45'3 by 26'6 and is attached by a link 4' 6 wide to the stable or carriage house which measures 41'4 by 26'3. The house has a three bay facade, and is three stories tall; the carriage house is two stories. After years of alterations, virtually nothing remains of the original interior. Along the north wall of the house are a straight run of stairs; 9 1/4 treads and 8 1/2 risers. Flooring is wood and concrete. Old steel bolt locks appear

Bronaugh-Bibb-Libbey House, Washington DC

Bronaugh-Bibb-Libbey House, Washington DC

According to tax records, there was a two-story house valued at $500 on the lot during 1818-1819. It is probable that this was what is now the rear portion of the present dwelling, constructed by John Bronaugh shortly after he purchased the property in 1816. Between 1865 and 1870, Lot 110 was assessed with Improvements--3-story brick and frame dwelling--$1000. This refers to the front portion of the dwelling, presumably added to the earlier two-story structure by the Bibbs after they became owners of the house in 1854. The land on which this house stands was part of John Threlkeld's extensive holdings. He sold it in 1815 to John Bronaugh, another large landowner. The existence of a two-story frame house on the

Philip T. Berry House, Washington DC

Philip T. Berry House, Washington DC

This house, by reputation only, has one of the most unusual and varied histories of any building in Georgetown. It is generally said that the building was at one time made of brick. It was rented by either a Senator or Congressman from Maine who was also engaged in the shipping business. As the story goes, he was supposed to have said that he could not let his constituents see that he was living in a brick house, so shipped down from New England this Victorian frame dwelling and built it around the brick building. Variations of the story mention that the brick building was one of the oldest in Georgetown, that only the clapboards and woodwork were brought from New

Beckers Leather Goods Store, Washington DC

Beckers Leather Goods Store, Washington DC

This building forms part of the low scale commercial area north of Pennsylvania Avenue erected in Washington in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The building is one of three similar commercial structures designed by the local architectural firm of Marsh and Peter. It was demolished in 1980. Becker's is a three-story rectangular building with a basement. This building measures 50' x 100', and is 50' high from street level to the top of the parapet wall. The building is three bays wide by five bays deep. Clad in limestone, the building's three-story front facade features a wide, central bay with two narrow bays at the sides. The vertical articulation emphasizes this three-bay division through the use of piers that express

Joseph Beale House (Embassy, Arab Republic of Egypt), Washington DC

Joseph Beale House (Embassy, Arab Republic of Egypt), Washington DC

This home was built as a residence for Joseph Beale and wife Margaret Beale in 1907-1909. Margaret inherited it after the death of Joseph in 1916. The house sat vacant from 1918 to 1929. In November 1928 Margaret sold the home to The Royal Government of Egypt for use as an embassy. Interior walls have been removed between the ground floor east rooms which originally included the ladies' reception room, man's room, servants' hall, and kitchen. This area is now used as a museum. The east wall chimney mantle in the kitchen has been removed, and the kitchen moved to the basement. The four story plus basement structure measures 63'-1 from sidewalk to parapet cap. All elevations are three bays wide:

Loughran Building (Bassin's Restaurant), Washington DC

Loughran Building (Bassin's Restaurant), Washington DC

The building was constructed ca. 1872. The architect is not known. Two three-story additions were made to the north of the original four-story building. One, approximately 25' x 20', was apparently built in the late nineteenth century; the other, approximately 18' x 39', was apparently built in the early twentieth century. There were gambling establishments in the Lounghran Building during the nineteenth century, but no record of ownership or tenant is available until 1887. Baist's Real Estate Atlas for 1887 shows the building as the D. Loughran Building. Daniel Loughran and Company, wholesale tobacco sales, occupied the building from 1887 until 1929, when their business moved to H Street, N.W. Daniel Loughran was president of the company until his death in

Book Title Abandoned Palaces (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Palaces (Abandoned Places)

Book Title Abandoned America: Then & Now: A Fun & Fascinating Look Revisiting America's Abandoned Places of the Past

Abandoned America: Then & Now: A Fun & Fascinating Look Revisiting America's Abandoned Places of the Past

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Book Title Abandoned Industrial Places: Factories, laboratories, mills and mines that the world left behind (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Industrial Places: Factories, laboratories, mills and mines that the world left behind (Abandoned Places)

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