Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-02


The weather has been much against US.
Could we have been on the ground and
exhibited a general plan 1 believe II would
have aided the sale considerably. We have
thought proper as the business seemed to
flag a little today. to discontinue the sale.
but with notice that If any gentlemen
wished to purchase we should still be ready
to receive their offers"
In a postscript he adds: The squares on
which sales were made are some distance
from the Presidents house" He means
the site of the house, for at that time not
even the foundation had been laid.
Private Sales by Individuals.
While the public sale tagged a little"
the individual proprietors seem to have
taken advantage of the presence of the
buyers attracted thereby to sell a large
number of their own lots. A letter from
Georgetown under date of October q, 1191
published in the Maryland journal, says:
THE public sale of lots in the Federal City
ended on Wednesday evening, but the pri-
Vate sales still continue, and probably will
all the week. In the whole. there have
been at least 100 lots sold The average
of the public sales is something upwards OF
100 for lot of forty feet front and 1870 or
10 feet deep. The sales made by indi-
viduals, L suspect, were at lower rate
Indeed, they nave sold, in many parts of
the city, and the public sales were confined
to the part which lies between the
Presidents square and Georgetown, which
il is imagined will be first improved, being
SO convenient to the present seat of trade"
These considerations doubtless induced the
Commissioners to begin the sales where
they did, and gave that prominence In the
start, to the northwest section that 1t has
maintained ever since. But in those days,
as well as now, other portions Of the city
had their advocates.
Beginning Of an Association.
The champion of East Washington was
George Walker, a prosperous Scotch farm
er, who owned a large tract of land in the
northeastern part of the new city. He an
tedated the East Washington Association
a hundred years. and battled with the Com
missioners of that day for the rights Of
his section with a tenacity and vigor that
is recognized in his successors today. He
did not hesitate to charge the Commission
ers with Partially, and carried his charges
to headquarters. In a letter to the Presi-
dent. October s. 1892 he protested that the
conveyanceS OF the various tracts embraced
in the plan OF the city were made by the
several proprietors with the distinct under
standing that the improvements and ex-
penditures were to be divided, with the
most rigid justice and impartiality, be-
tween the eastern and western sections OF
the city; and that the two principal build
ings, the Capitol and the Presidents House,
were to be erected pari passu. and an equal
number of lots in their respective vicinities
would be offered for sale at the same time.
Instead of that. he says, the principal i'm
provements have been made at the George
town end of the city, the preparations for
the Presidents House are much further ad-
vanced than the Capitol. the first sale was
confined entirely to the western section,
and that while justice demands that those
about to take place should be limited to the
eastern section. the Commissioners do not
appear to have any intention of doing so.
Hence" he concludes. those who may
have come here from a distance with an
intention to purchase the Eastern
branch will again be deceived. and natur-
ally conclude that the Commissioners are
not DESTROYS that any city should ever be
built to the eastward of Goose creek" The
Goose creek of those days was a small
stream emptying into the Potomac just be-
low the Presidents grounds. The Commits
sioners bestowed upon 1t the more classical
title of '"Tyber creek" and so it appears ON
the first official plats Of the city.
The Second Sale.
Mr.. Wall rs letter was too late to affect
the second sale. which began the very day
it was written, october 8.
The first lots offered were in square 224.
bounded by F and G and l4th and 18th
streets northwest, now one Of the most val
liable business squares in the city. That
canny old Scotchman. Davie Burns, was on
hand early. and bought the first two lots
Sold No. for GOO, or 1888 80, and No o for
$50. or $500. thereby securing the corner of
10Th and G streets, where now stands the
Riggs House VIM. A. Washington bought
lot II for fl25 and lot Ii for f1OO on the
south side OF q street, ad joining the Mackaii
corner. now occupied by Messrs. Baughman
& Co. Hoben and Purcell bought lot 4 ON
the north side Of F. midway the square. for
GlO William Corkill bought lot 8, Just
west of 4. for f105. and Thomas I. Beatty
got lot No. 1, the corner of F and l4th. now
owned by Mr.. Joseph Willard. for Ellis, or
$3O667. He also bought lot l6. adjoining 1t
on 14th street, for f117.
The next square put up was No. 254 be-
tween E and F and 18th and 14th, the site
of the Ebbitt House, the Hooe building,
Newspaper Row, the National Theater, the
Hotel Lawrence and the new Post building
Leonard Harbaugh bought the first lot s.
where the Hotel Lawrence formerly the
Imperial, stands. next door to the National
Theater for 1885, or $3.50. Gabriel Vanhorn
bought lot Z. now occupied by the new Post
building, for f12O, or $50. Cortworthy
Stevenson purchased lot 10 for flO2, and
Collin Williamson lot IL for f105, both on
14th street. where Newspaper Row now
stands, and whence more varied informa-
ton has been transmitted to all parts of the
country than from any other spot in It,
Richard Contee struck what has turned out
to be bonanza. He got lot Ia. the Ebbitt
House corner. for f105, or $3.50 Saml. Blod-
gett, IT.. bought the adjoining lot, No. 10,
on F for f100 even. He bought lot 10 for
ESQ. lot 20 for $50 and lot q for f15; all on
the south side of F street. Sam'l Davidson
bought lot = on II street, next the corner on
14th, for fS6 That was a great day for
| bargains. The Commissioners perhaps
thought so. for they stopped the sale for
| that day.
The next day they skipped to the extreme
West End, where they put up five lots in
| square 4, bounded by X and l., and 10Th
| and 9th streets. Robert Peter one Of the
| proprietors, whose mansion house stood in
square 5, on the opposite of K street.
bought lot for fSS. Richard Bland Lee
| bought lot 2 for f76 and Richard Ober paid
| f67 for lot /.
The next sales were in square 5. bounded
by l and x, and Goth and 9th streets. Col
| Richard eakins, one of the richest men in
Georgetown, bought lot Is for Els, Richard
| Contee bought lot IL for flo and lot IL for
| f10, and Robert Peter bought lot 8 for 49,
The next square was 16, between 1 and X
| and 18th and Goth streets. Walter HELEN
bought lot 10 for ISL and lot 16 for fS3
| Hoben & Purcell took lot II at f101. Saml
! Blodgett, Jr., lot q at f61. and Richard
Ober lot % at f63 and lot % at ISL This
| ended the sale for that day.
| Shifting the Scene.
The next day the Commissioners shifted
the sale to square 4SS, bounded by z and
F and 9Th and 9th streets northwest. Ed
ward Voss bought lot for f92 and lot for
fS6. Samuel Blodgett. jr.. bought lot II for
f76 and lot Ii for f75. Then four lots In
square 4S9, between u and E and 9th and
9th streets. were put up. Hoben and Pur-
cell purchased lot /, the site of the old