Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-01
CAPITOL HILL REALTY
Many Residents Recall Time
When Crops Grew There.
WHERE FAMILY COW ROAMED
Many Small Ponds in Winter Afforded
Sport for Boys.
IN EARLY DAYS OF THE CITY
Initial Meetings of Churches Held in
Tobacco Barn-Incidents Many
Years Ago.
IN EARLY. DAYS OF THE CITY

That portion of Capitol Hill south OF T.
| street between South Capitol and I'd streets.
| which with much other territory was in
| cluded in the lines of Duddington Manor.
was part of the Carroll farm. Many not
| very old Washingt onians can recall the
| time when corn, oats and potatoes were
| raised there, not little of them feed
| for the family COW which roamed at will
| when the weather permitted. So few were
! the houses and so little work had been
| done on the streets that the impression was
| that it was all under the control of the
| master of Duddington, who lived in the
square south of E street between LIST and
| I'd streets. Though that portion Of this city
| has Of late years materially improved and
| Some conversant with the old conditions
are resident there in fine houses, 1t may be
| said to have been in state of lethargy
are resident there in fine houses. 1t may be
| found-in part, at least-in the topography
| Aside from that section along and west or
| New Jersey avenue being low ground bor-
| dering on the canal, which at South Capt.
| toll and E streets passed into what is now
! Garfield Park, other portions presented an
irregular surface. Two streams. one from
near the Library site and the other from
| near Pennsylvania avenue and 4th street.
entered this section, uniting in square 634,
between D and E streets, New Jersey ave-
nue. between d and E streets, New Jersey
ave- and list st. The caverns made by them
| of course were not incentives to building,
| but the boys of early Washington ap-
preciated them as a first class gathering
| place; the small ponds when covered with
| ice furnishing skating facilities, and along
| the stream the boys go. their ammunition
| for the numerous stone battles fought on
| Bloody Hill, as the locality was known to
some
| Small Grist Mill
A mill near the canal and E street was
| fed by race from these streams and a
| year or so ago in excavating for the rail-
! road tunnels east of New Jersey avenue
some masonry of brick and stone was en-
| countered, and it Is thought 1t was the
| dam of this mill. There are some persons
living who remember that 1t was a small
| grist mill and that the miller ground
! quality of meal which was a favorite with
many of the older families. 1t is also re-
| membered that small wooden bridges
| SPAWNED the streams in New Jersey ave-
| hue and in I'd street.
Though Mr.. Law had erected number
| of houses and his project was to line each
| side of New Jersey avenue from the Capt.
| tol to the Eastern branch with houses and
| about 1900 had erected the ten buildings"
| it does not appear that much other i'm
| provement followed. This enterprise had
| the effect of setting the corporations early
! valuation of the ground at from I to 10
| cents per foot. which later deprecated to
from to cents.
In square 691. between South Capitol
street New Jersey avenue, c and d streets
| and the canal on the southwest part,
| the division in 1892 in twelve lots;
| but in 1896 fourteen lots were plated
and equally divided between Mr.. Car
roll and the United States. In 1900 lots
| plated and equally divided between Mr..
| Carroll and the United States. In 1900 lots
| and II were leased to Edward Langley.
| Thomas Corcoran bought lot - and James
| Ramsey part of 70 In 1902 S. McIntre
| had part of u and James sMcCormick in
| 1907 owned this lot. Adam Lindsay owned
| lot Il and G. Tempemau and B. GIpin
| arts nj in 1917 In 1919 James FRY lea Spd
| part of lot 1, corner New Jersey avenue
| and D street. d. Adgate and George Grant
bought lot - in 1923; S. Miller. part of 1
| the following year and in 1881, John H.
! Houston, part of u. did c. II. Witberger
and s. Burch, part of IA. In 1896 J. w.
| Beck bought lot 10 and p. McCaffray leased
in the same lot and Timothy VIM, lots q
and IS.
| In the thirtes, when the ground was
valued at 10 cents per foot at the southeast
| corner of the square and from to cents
| in other portions, there were only two
| houses listed. They were on lot l, New Jer
! sey avenue and d street, each assessed at
500 to Ambrose White and James Fry.
Thirty Building Lots.
| Between South Capitol, D, E and Canal
| streets and New Jersey avenue, square 693
was laid off in thirty building lots. and in
| 1795 they aportioned, one-half each
| going to the government and Mr.. Carroll.
| Morris & Greenleaf succeeded to the gov
| ernment's portion the same year and
! Thomas Law took title. and through Moi
| fatt & Nesmith soon afterward commenced
| to improve in the southern portion of the
! east front of the square. The row of two
story brick dwellings which for many years
| was known as the Ten Buildings" some of
| which are now standing, resulted, and long
| was a landmark Of that section, the abode
| Of some well-known families. w. Moffatt
| and Ebenezer Nesmith held title for few
years, but on the dissolution of the firm
| it went back to Mr.. Law. In 1902 the i'm
provements are listed to Nesmtth at $3.50
and s., 800, the ground at 10 centS-SoOn
afterward valued at cents. No recorded
| transfers appear till 1913. when William H.
Lyes obtained a lease in lot on E street,
| and that in 1919 was assigned to William
| Ingle who was taxed on $1,000 of i'm
provements. In 1914 Shadrach Davis was
| on the lot corner of New Jersey avenue and
| E street. Four, years later James John
ston was there and in 1919 Phillip Otter
b-ck owned in the lot. DR.. William Gunton,
| in 1927, owned part of lot IS: James Adams,
| in $780, lot 20; P. Lynch lot Ii. and c. F.
Ellis lot % Joseph Cuvilier owned part of
| lot % in 1881; Ell Cross, part Of % the next
year; Vandoran Mallion, part of lot %.
| in 1888, and Elexius Simons. in 1884 owned
| four lots in the square. In the twenties.
| 2 to cents per foot was the value of the
ground, and improvements were listed to
| Thomas Law. $500; George Hicks, $500,
and P. otterbach, $3.50 in lot 1; William
| IS, and Mr.. Law, $1,000. lot 30.
Equal Division of Land
| Between c and D streets, New Jersey
| avenue and LIST street the land was laid
| off as square 692. with fourteen lots, in
| 1896 and equal division was made between
Mr.. Carroll and the United States. In 1897
government lots 3 to and to ~ went to
| Mr. Law. In 1850 w. Bushel took a lease
| on lot 6, on New Jersey avenue. and that
lot was in 1915 bought by Charles Glover.
No improvements appear listed for forty
| years or more. In 1896 John P. Ingle
| bought lots and 8. at the northwest cor
ner of the square, and In 1910 DR.. May
| bought lots 1, 3 ID and A. on D and list
streets.
| East of the foregoing the flat-iron shape
| plot. formed by d and 1st Streets New Jer-
| sey and North Carolina avenues was desg-
| mated square 694. 1t consisted of eleven
| lots, of which the United States took title
| to five IN the apportionment of 1895. Those
| of the government, two years later, passed
| to Mr. Law, who in 1901 acquired lot 2 and
| owned the larger portion of the square. 1t
| does not appear that much progress was
| made in the development of the square, the
| only lot subject to conveyance in forty
| years being lot B. In 1910 that lot was I'M
| der lease to William Gray, in 1911 to F. A.
L