COSMOS CLUB

ON LAFAYETTE SQUARE

1882 - 1952
Cosmos Club circa 1910
 The Cosmos Club was founded in Washington, D.C. in the 

fall of 1878 as a “private social club dedicated to men distinguished in 

science, literature and the arts.” From 1886 until 1952, the Club occupied 

several historic residences along the northeast corner of Lafayette Square. 

Women were invited to become members in 1988.

 In 1831 there were four houses on Madison Place on the east 

side of Lafayette Square. The houses were known as the Dolley Madison 

House, the Tayloe House, the Gunnell House and the Rodgers House. All 

served as homes to important fi gures in the country’s history. Though just 

one short block, Madison Place was, and continues to be, a unique spot in 

the capital city of the United States. 

 Madison Place remained the same until the mid-1800s. In 1869, 

the Gunnell House, which had belonged to the Federal Government since 

the Civil War, was razed and replaced by the Freedman’s Bank, for which 

Frederick Douglass served as president. In 1893, when the last resident 

of the Rodgers House passed away, that house also was torn down to 

make way for the Lafayette Square Opera House, which opened in 1895. 

In 1906 it was renamed the Belasco Theatre.

 In the late-1800s, two brick buildings were erected on the lots 

between the Dolley Madison House and the Tayloe House at numbers 23 

and 25 Madison Place. These two houses were similar in appearance, 

each three stories tall, built of brick with a gabled attic.

Watercolor courtesy of artist Leonida Ivanetich
 The fi rst house was built by William 

Windom, a Senator representing the state of 

Minnesota, who accepted President Garfi eld’s 

appointment to the position of Secretary of the 

Treasury in 1881. Windom resigned this position 

and resumed his seat in the Senate after President 

Garfi eld’s death eight months later. He was 

appointed again as Secretary of the Treasury by 

President Benjamin Harrison in 1889. 

 The second house was built by Senator 

Reuben Fenton of New York and rented for 

several years by Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. 

Ingersoll was a prominent lawyer and famous 

orator who often was referred to as “the most 

eloquent man who ever spoke from a public 

platform.” Due to his strong anti-Christian 

sentiments, Ingersoll also was known as “The 

Great Agnostic.” Such was the strength of his 

personal creed that instead of a family Bible, 

he had a bound copy of the complete works of 

William Shakespeare in which he recorded births, 

deaths and marriages. 

 Eventually, both the Windom House 

and the Ingersoll House were purchased by the 

Cosmos Club. The major scientifi c societies in 

Washington met regularly at the Cosmos Club. It 

was the birthplace of many kindred organizations, 

among them the National Geographic Society 

in January of 1888. In the late 1800s Lafayette 
Photo courtesy of Volkmar Kurt Wentzel
Square was at the height of 

its glory. 

 The Cosmos Club 

membership continued 

to grow and the costs 

for maintaining and 

improving the Club’s 

properties on the Square 

continued to escalate. 

After many attempts to 

fund improvements to their facilities, the Cosmos Club, at a board meeting in March 

of 1909, concluded that a new “fi ve story fi reproof building” should be constructed 

on Madison Place. A resolution directed the Club’s president to appoint a building 

committee to select an architect as well as to appoint a fi nance committee to raise 

$100,000 for the new structure. At the same board meeting, architect Thomas J.D. 

Fuller’s sketched plans for the new building were approved. The new addition to the 

Cosmos Club complex was completed in 1910. 

 The brief era of national peace after the war years of 1917 and 1918 were not 

ones of placid contentment for the Club. As one Cosmos Club member put it, “a cloud 

no bigger than 

a man’s hand” 

appeared on the 

horizon in the 

form of a proposal 

that the federal 

government should 

take the Club’s 

property as a site 

for departmental 

Photos courtesy of Cosmos Club
Courtyard outside the Cosmos Club building

Courtyard outside the Cosmos Club building in 2009
offi ces. The growth of the executive 

branch of government in the vicinity of 

The White House between World Wars 

I and II cast serious doubt that the Club 

could maintain its presence on Lafayette 

Square. In March of 1930 the Club’s 

fears were realized when Congress 

directed the Secretary of the Treasury to 

acquire all the privately owned land on 

Madison Place.

 No time limit was set, and no 

immediate action was taken by the 

government. The Club continued on in 

its Madison Place location, making only 

necessary repairs and no renovations. 

The deteriorating properties soon 

became a heavy fi nancial burden on the 

Club’s membership. 

 By 1922, the Club had increased 

the size of its facilities nine times, and 

its property on Madison Place was 

considered one of the most valuable 

real estate investments in Washington. 

Eventually, in September of 1939, 

the government offered $1 million 

for the Cosmos Club’s holdings on 

Lafayette Square, slightly less than 

the tax assessment at the time. Since 

the government was bound by law 

ultimately to take possession, the Club 
voted in March of 1940 to accept the 

offer. The Club’s holdings on Madison 

Place were transferred to government 

ownership. However, the build-up and 

entry into World War II delayed the 

government’s plans for the buildings on 

the Square. Consequently the Cosmos 

Club leased the buildings back. 

 During World War II, no 

construction of government-owned 

offi ces could begin. Even at the end of 

the war, the government made no move 

to break their lease, and the Cosmos 

Club continued to rent the property until 

1952, when the Club moved to their 

current home on Massachusetts Avenue. 

 During times of crisis, the 

Cosmos Club was an active haven 

for scores of scientists and specialists 

detailed to Washington on various 

missions connected with the war. For 

instance, at a meeting at the Club on 

December 6, 1941, informal discussions 

were held that laid the foundation for 

the Manhattan Project, a top secret 

effort to discover a means of separating 

plutonium from uranium, leading to 

the development of the fi rst atomic 

bomb. By the end of 1942 the fi rst selfsustaining chain reaction was achieved, 
and the atomic bomb was a reality, eventually 

leading to the end of World War II. The 

Manhattan Project ultimately employed more 

than 130,000 people and cost nearly $2 billion. 

 Following the Club’s move, two 

government agencies, the National Science 

Foundation and the Offi ce of the Administrator 

of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration occupied the former Cosmos 

Club as well as the Dolley Madison House until 

1964. 

 During President Eisenhower’s second 

term, construction of new offi ce space for 

the executive and judicial branches of the 

government was a top priority. In 1960, the 

General Services Administration announced 

that two modern offi ce buildings were to be 

built on Lafayette Square, one on Madison 

Place and one on Jackson Place, after most of 

the current buildings were razed, including the 

former home of the Cosmos Club. Although 

the plans for this modern offi ce complex 

construction had been approved by 1962, First 

Lady Jacqueline Kennedy became involved and 

boldly stated “the wreckers haven’t started yet, 

and until they do, [the square] can be saved.” 

President and Mrs. Kennedy prevailed, and by 

the mid-1960s defi nitive plans were made for 

the “Lafayette Square Restoration Project,” 

utilizing the architectural plans of their friend 

John Carl Warnecke. The historic houses 
remained and, indeed, Lafayette Square was 

saved. 

 Part of the restoration of Madison 

Place included the nine-story red brick 

Howard T. Markey National Courts Building, 

which was completed in September of 1967. 

The building was occupied by the United States 

Court of Claims and the United States Court 

of Customs and Patent Appeals. Under the 

Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982, the 

United States Court of Customs and Patent 

Appeals and the Appellate Division of the 

United States Court of Claims were merged to 

become the United States Court of Appeals for 

the Federal Circuit. 

 The Federal Judicial Center occupied 

the Dolley Madison House and the former 

Cosmos Club building from 1968 to 1992. 

When the Federal Judicial Center moved to new 

offi ces on Capitol Hill, the United States Court 

of Appeals for the Federal Circuit acquired 

the three historic houses for additional offi ces. 

Extensive renovations were completed and 

these historic houses now serve as conference, 

reception and offi ce space for the United States 

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which 

strives to honor and preserve the history and 

legacy of Lafayette Square. 

Color Photography by Shannon Chambers and Robin Reid
COSMOS CLUB

ON LAFAYETTE SQUARE

1882 - 1952

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 

Lafayette Square

Washington, DC 20439

www.cafc.uscourts.gov May 2010