Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
Early History of a Square on
New York Avenue.
JOHN SI0USSA BUILT FIRST
Corner of 18th Street Was Often q
Lively Place.
STREAM ALONG 18TH STREET
Names of Persons Who Made Early
Improvements in Square-Some
Queer Neigh borhood Characters.

The square number oss. between New
York avenue. !. 18th and 18th streets. laid
off in thirteen lots in 17o6. was vested in
the United States. In 1900 Solomon Et-
ting had all the lots excepting lot 10 in
the name of Benjamin Stoddert and II in
Samuel Blodgett. In 1902 Dunlap &
Charlton owned lot 3 on New York ave-
nue. and the names Of Morris & Nicholson
appear. In 1904 DR.. Thornton had the
Blodgett lot and James Ross lot 10. the
latter in 1912 going to William WheeIock.
There Is no record OF any improvements
prior to 1870. though one Of the lots
had passed to a firm Of carpenters and
builders and one lot was held for q build
ing company. The ground then was val
ued at but a cent per foot With a gentle
decline west and south to the stream In
18th street which turned eastward near
HI street there were eligible building sites.
particularly in the east part OF the square.
but 1t was a long time before there were
near neighbors.
There was then little call for public inn
provement and the adjoining streets were
not even graded. The stream In 18th
street remained open till the flfties.
John Sioussa's House.
The first Improvement made in tina
square was that of John Sioussa on lot 3.
fronting on New York avenue. M.
Sioussa bought this lot In 1919 and erect
ed, sitting we'll back from the street.
comfortable brick house, in which he
lived for many years. This bore q value
Of $7OO in the twenties, and the ground
2 cents or less per foot. Mr.. Sioussa was
for about ten years. the sole occupant
Of fhA nd Tho fnYffoa thu
houses erected were Of little cost. The
elder Sioussa and his sons are well re-
rendered by the older business people.
for he and his son Frederick for over
of the Metropolis. now National Metro
politan, and the son Frederick held q Ike
position in Corcoran & Riggs banking
house
In 1928 lot IL, corner Of 18th and 1
streets. passed to Statria Elliott, and
shortly to Count Demerou. and lot 10, on
I street. went to R II. Douglas and w.
w. Billing. On lot II were David Jones
John Hunt, Jemima Moulder and Rich
mond Posey in 1879. c. Hagen owned
10 in 1880: James Dant. part Of II. in 1881:
Basil Shorter. part Of 10 In 1892. and r
Brown the same in 1884. In 1885 Mi
chael Cation had lots 1 and ID, the south
east corner on the square. In this decade
the ground was valued at to. 10 cents
per foot and the improvements listed to
w. w. Billing $3.50 and $500: c. L. Colt
man, 5000; S. Elliott, $50: Demerou. SOD
and 500; G. Etting. SIS, and John sious-
sa. 500
ner Of New York avenue ana 18th. four
years later selling It to Michael Tally.
Here were erected two or three frame
houses. with a store on the corner. con-
Quoted for several years by Mr.. Tally.
who also had a store on It'll street. After
him came Mr.. Weeks and then Il be-
came Stops grocery. Thomas Allen, q
carpenter. long resided over the store, and
adjoining the grocery was q shoefnakers
shop, occupied by Eli Davis and others.
improvements in 1914
The adjoining lot on the north. lot Ii.
was bought by ]. L. Elliott In 1874 and
improved by two two-story and attic brick
houses one Of which was owned by Mr..
John E. Norris In 1S47 and he made his
residence there. There had previously
lived in these houses John g. Devlin,
clerk in the fifth auditors office. and
John F. Hartley, a trustee Of the schools
and Treasury clerk for many years. and
later assistant secretary. Early In the
forties. on lot Q was a row Of several
small two-storied brick dwellings erected,
which are yet standing and shops Of vari-
GUS kinds in them. They were known as
Plants row from the fact that John Plant
Mr.. Plant became prominent In the
building world as the inventor few
years after of the first automatic blind
hinge. Among the early occupants was
a Hoffman family Mrs. Richardson and
John Gather.
Col. II. Hungerford bought the west
half of lot in 1s47. and long resided in
the large frame house erected thereon.
There were on New York avenue also
Jesse E. Dow and Charles 8. Jones. both
uya1I-knnun mr. Erifora Ia
mer on the Union: James F. Halliday and
Marsh. printers. and Mrs. Thaw.
Sixty years ago there were q number OF
colored families on the e street 'front.' and
on 18th street the Hutton family, promi-
nent in bricklaying. was living.
A Place for the Boys.
With good porch at the grocery store
the shoemaker's shop-a favorite gather
ing place for the craft-and east a wide,
open space. flanked by few pavements,
the boys of the neighborhood were provid-
ed with facilities for sport. in which the
cellar under the shoemaker's played an
important part. An old gentleman was
known far and wide as "All Over" and
he resented being so called beating his
tormentorS when he could catch them
One day he was seen approaching, and
the boys, seeing that number Of people
were In the shop prepared for him. by
SoiilS oOWH the anu IeLtl09 GOWN
the door to within a few inches. As the
old gentleman came opposite the boys
volley of calls OF "All Over. etc,
greeted him and the door was closed.
No one being in his sight but the men in
the shop. he soon was heard on the door
pouring a TRADE on them. and not being
rfoice in his language. he narrowly es-
capped good drubbing at the hands of the
shoemakers. the BOYS in the meantime
enjoying the battle of words.
One of the wOrkmen in the shop was
first known as Lame joe" but when his
penurious habits became known he was
called "Miser." Close Fist etc. He
made his home in the shop. sleeping on
boards laid on his bench. and his meals
were of dry bread. bologna or dried fish,
After some years he suddenly left the city
and in few weeks the shopmates learn
ed that he had returned to his old home
several hundred miles away and had paid
Off an Indebtedness left by his parents on
the old home, having earned and saved
sufficient funds by his self-deniaI. This
news caused a revolution of feelings
toward the old man, and his tormentors,
who had known of his mode OF living,
spoke of him after as hero with an iron
constitution.
Stones for Oysters.
often made raving maniac by the boys
pranks and the latter had some narrow
escapes. The boys once had an oyster
roast and sending him on an errand
promised to leave his share in the stove
When he pulled cut his supposed oysters
he found hot stones. That the bows Rof