History

Streets of Washington Presents – The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Willard Hotel in the 20th Century

By Prince Of Petworth

Streets of Washington, written by John DeFerrari, covers some of DC’s most interesting buildings and history. John is also the author of Lost Washington DC.

Last time we re-lived the Willard Hotel’s early era, when it was run by brothers Henry and Joseph Willard and occupied a sprawling complex of low-rise 19th-century buildings on the northwest corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. With the death of Joseph in 1897, control of the hotel fell to his son, “Captain” Joseph E. Willard (1865-1924), who had big changes in mind. As the 20th century dawned, a new era and a new building were in store for Washington’s most prominent hotel, and there would be plenty of drama ahead as well. At one point the building was abandoned and left in ruins, but it finally took on a new life as the once-again grand hotel we know today.


The Willard Hotel, circa 1910 (author’s collection).

The younger Joseph, though born in the Willard, immediately began planning to replace it when he gained control of the property. He hired architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (1847-1918) to design a thoroughly modern new building. Hardenbergh had designed New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and would soon be working on the Plaza Hotel there as well. For the Willard, he created a soaring Beaux-Arts palace that resembled in many ways his other Washington hostelry, the Raleigh. Sometimes called Washington’s first skyscraper, the new Willard used advanced construction techniques, including a steel frame and reinforced concrete base. The stately exterior finishes included rusticated Indiana limestone curtain walls on the first three stories with beige brick and terracotta detailing above. The highly-ornamented top-floor dormers, curved mansard roof, and bullseye windows have become iconic.

Construction took place in two phases so as to allow hotel operations to continue uninterrupted. The first part of the new hotel—the southern section on Pennsylvania Avenue—went up between 1900 and 1901, while guests stayed in the northern part of the old hotel opening on F Street. The hotel’s sumptuous new main lobby on Pennsylvania Avenue opened for business in October 1901. After guests moved into the new structure, the rest of the building went up between 1902 and 1904.

Like the Raleigh, the new Willard included a lavish ballroom and private dining room on the top floor with magnificent views of the city. At street level were the restaurants. The main restaurant on the first floor was “one of the largest and most elegant dining halls to be found anywhere,” according to The Washington Times. “With its richly decorated ceiling and great columns it is a sight worth looking upon.” Across the long main corridor, which in time would be called Peacock Alley, was the so-called Pompeian Room, a “dangerous” place in some people’s minds, because men and women could mingle there, and women were allowed to smoke. Overlooking all this activity was a balcony designed to accommodate the hotel’s in-house orchestra.

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Streets of Washington Presents – The Willard Hotel in the 19th Century

By Prince Of Petworth

Streets of Washington, written by John DeFerrari, covers some of DC’s most interesting buildings and history. John is also the author of Lost Washington DC.

Of Washington’s great hotels, the Willard is one of the most celebrated and easily recognized. Many people know that President Lincoln stayed at Willard’s before he was inaugurated in 1861. Others believe (incorrectly) that the word “lobbyist” was coined to refer to promoters of various causes who hung around the Willard’s lobby, hoping to buttonhole President Ulysses S. Grant for favors. But fewer realize how many incarnations the old hotel has had, that it began life as a rather mediocre hostelry, or that many of the famous events in its history occurred in a very different, earlier building.


Early view of Pennsylvania Avenue with the City Hotel on the right (Source: Library of Congress).

There has been a hotel on the northwest corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, since 1818, almost three decades before the Willard brothers showed up to take over its operations. The prominent early Washington landowner, John Tayloe (1770-1828), whose elegant Octagon House is one of Washington’s great mansions, acquired this property and built a row of six townhouses here as an investment in 1816, renting out the corner building to be used as a hotel two years later.

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Then and Now by the House History Man – 2941 Newark St, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

Then and Now by the House History Man is a series by Paul K. Williams. Paul has been researching house histories in DC since 1995, having completed more than 1,500 to date. Read Paul’s previous post here.

Many people can’t imagine Cleveland Park without its leafy canopy of trees, but the reality is that it was developed in the early 1900s just a suburban tract is today; trees clear cut for the most part, and the new homes surrounded by young saplings and little else. This 1904 view of Newark Street, NW from the Moore & Hill Real Estate brochure shows what the original residents would have seen when they moved in. The Tudor house on the right at 2941 Newark was built at a cost of $8,000 by the Cleveland Park Company in 1898 and was designed by Robert Head. Behind it is 2945 Newark, which was built by John Sherman in 1902-1903 at a cost of $5,500.

Today one can barely see some houses from the street, and mature trees provide privacy between each house. This photograph from 2002 from the same front yard illustrates the change during the last 100 years, from open yards to a lush treed setting.

(Photographs from Washington Then & Now by Paul K. Williams and T. Luke Young (Arcadia, 2002). Contemporary photograph by T. Luke Young)

Super Cool – The Palisades Museum of Prehistory

By Prince Of Petworth

I never thought I’d see something cooler than the Glass Forest in the Palisades. Then I met Doug Dupin and the Palisades Museum of Prehistory (PMOP). So freaking cool. At first I was simply admiring the unusual little building and I just thought it was cool looking work shed. Turns out I was way off. Here’s the mission of PMOP:

The Palisades Museum of Prehistory (PMOP), incorporated in Washington DC, is a non-profit regional organization dedicated to promoting the awareness and preservation of prehistoric artifacts in the Palisades of Washington DC.

It is little known by most residents of our area that humans have occupied what is now the Washington, DC metropolitan area for at least 12,000 years. In particular, the Palisades of Washington DC is especially rich in the history of early humans. In light of the area’s rapid rate of development, much evidence of early man’s presence is being lost. (more…)

Remembering – Victims of 2009 Metro Crash

By Prince Of Petworth


Click to enlarge

From a press release:

Today, on the third anniversary of the worst rail accident in the District’s history, Mayor Vincent C. Gray fulfilled a promise made last year to the families of the victims of the 2009 Metro crash by unveiling a bronze memorial plaque in honor of their loved ones.

The plaque is located on the New Hampshire Avenue/Charles Langley Bridge, above the approximate location of the accident, which claimed the lives of nine victims and left 80 passengers injured.

“Today we unveil a memorial plaque that will serve as an everlasting testament to these nine members of our community,” said Mayor Gray. “They left us too soon, but we will forever remember what happened here. We will remember the fallen and find joy in their lives and the ways in which they enriched the world around them.”

Many family representatives of victims Jeanice McMillian, the train operator; Mary “Mandy” Doolittle; Veronica Dubose; Ana Fernandez; Dennis Hawkins; Lavonda “Nikki” King; Cameron Williams; Ann Wherley and her husband, Major General David Wherley, met with District officials on the design of the plaque and plans for a proposed memorial park and garden.

In addition to many of the victims’ family members, Mayor Gray was joined at the unveiling by Deborah A.P. Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; dozens of first responders from D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical Services and the Metropolitan Police Department; and other public safety officials who rushed to the scene from neighboring jurisdictions.

“Our public safety officials rescued, triaged, treated and transported the injured within the first two hours of the incident. They guided the public, calmed surviving victims and kept their families informed,” Mayor Gray said. “In short, their heroism was on display that day, and I extend my thanks and appreciation for the professionalism and bravery they bring to their jobs every day.”


Photo courtesy of Mayor Gray’s office

History of the National Capitol Columns at the Arboreteum by Janice Kaplan

By Prince Of Petworth

The following was written by Janice Kaplan.

Twenty-two massive Corinthian columns that stand in a meadow two miles from the U.S. Capitol represent a little-known piece of inaugural history. One of Washington, D.C.’s most notable and dramatic landmarks, the original National Capitol Columns are on permanent display at the U.S. National Arboretum where they may be viewed leading up to the inauguration, and throughout the year. The columns were the backdrop for two dozen presidential inaugurations from Andrew Jackson to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Abraham Lincoln, for instance, gave his famous second inaugural address in front of the columns.

“Anyone who has visited the U.S. National Arboretum, either during the day or when the Capitol Columns are dramatically illuminated from below at night, understands the power and grace of these historic pillars,” said Dr. Thomas S. Elias, director of the U.S. National Arboretum. “In this inaugural season, it is compelling to imagine the sights and sounds of past inaugurations while standing among the Arboretum’s columns.”

History

The sandstone columns were a source of great pride when they were installed at the U.S. Capitol in 1825. They were considered the splendid finish for a building that had taken 33 years to build. Their elaborate design is based on ancient Roman Corinthian columns used in the grandest public buildings of that empire. These classic architectural references were considered necessary for a young nation that wished to assert itself on the world stage.

The columns were removed from the Capitol in 1958 when they were declared too fragile to support the newly expanded dome and an extended east portico. They were replaced with marble replicas and the originals were put into storage on the banks of the Anacostia River.

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Then and Now by the House History Man – Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) Building

By Prince Of Petworth


9th and T Streets, NW

Then and Now by the House History Man is a series by Paul K. Williams. Paul has been researching house histories in DC since 1995, having completed more than 1,500 to date. Read Paul’s previous post here.


9th and T Streets, NW in 1934

Located on the southeast corner of 9th and T Streets, NW is the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) Building, which was draped with electric lights in 1934, just two years after its opening. The occasion was the 26th meeting of the GDOOF convention, held in August of that year. Local noted African American photographer Addison Scurlock took the dramatic image at night. The GUOOF was founded in 1843 as a separate, black organization from the white only Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

The building was designed by African-American architect Albert I. Cassell, and construction began in January of 1932. The building featured an auditorium among its 30,000 square feet of space, and was built at a cost of $150,000 during the height of the Great Depression. In 2001, the then abandoned building was completely renovated and turned into the Maya Angelou Public Charter School. It went on the market in 2011 for an asking price of $9.5 million.

(Vintage Photographs courtesy of Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History)

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