metro center

Streets of Washington, written by John DeFerrari, covers some of DC’s most interesting buildings and history. John is the author of Historic Restaurants of Washington, D.C.: Capital Eats, published by the History Press, Inc. and also the author of Lost Washington DC.

At first glance, this circa 1880 view of E Street NW between 13th and 14th Streets seems like any other old-time street scene. A jumble of 19th century storefronts crowd a busy street. Yet in the decades after the Civil War, this block, affectionately known as “Rum Row” for its many saloons, was one of Washington’s liveliest and most notorious. Possibly a dozen or more pedestrians can be seen as “ghosts,” grouped in pairs or lounging in doorways, reduced to fleeting blurs by the photograph’s slow exposure time. Though still going strong at the time of this photo, the decadent culture of Rum Row would eventually be stamped out by righteous city officials in the name of progress–just as the infamous “Strip” on nearby 14th Street would similarly be eradicated 100 years later.

Author’s collection.

Originally a line of federal town houses, Rum Row changed character dramatically during the Civil War, when soldiers swarmed the streets of Washington looking for cheap entertainment. The row’s previously respectable homes and commercial establishments were gradually replaced with saloons and gambling joints, which remained for decades to come. The row’s central location made it the rendezvous for all elements of society. “On the row a man met and mingled with the elite, the bon-ton, the busy man-about-town, the Bohemian, the poet laureate, the soldier of fortune, and everything but the bootlegger, a type that at that date had not come into existence,” wrote The Washington Post in 1921. (more…)