Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-13
HOME OF POST OFFICE
Buzzard's Roost Was First
Quarters of Department.
LOCATED IN WASHINGTON
Many Moves Made in Course of
Century.
SPARED BY ENGLISH IN 1912
Fire Wiped Out City Post Office in
1S36-Models Burned Up
at Same Time.

The general post office, the transfer
| of the government to its permanent abode.
became a tenant. renting a house at the
northeast corner of 9th and + streets
northwest. and for ten years it was here
| located
| This was one of the three-storied brick
buildings which were standing few
years since and known as Buzzard 5
| Roost
BY the act of April 10, 1910. provision
was made for the purchase or erection OF
a building for the general post office and
the keeper of patents. Twenty thousand
dollars was appropriated therefor. This
act also directed that the city post office
and the offices of the superintendent and
the surveyor of the city should be re-
moved to such building
| Under this authority was the Great
| Hotel, on the north side of +. street be-
! tween 18th and Sth streets purchased for
| $4,000. The building was the project of
Samuel Blodgett. who came from Phila-
| delphla and was an early operator in
! Washington real estate. The corner stone
| of the hotel was laid on July 4. 1913. and
| through the proceeds Of lottery the work
was carried on.
But it was not finished through his
! agency. 1t was three-storied structure
of brick and OF ample size for the offices
! named. but parts of the building needed
| finishing, and over $4,000 was expended
| in repairs etc. to the rooms put to use
by the officers named and four rooms
| occupied by the superintendent general
| of military supplies during his tenure
1913 to 1917 The Washington Library,
| incorporated in 1914, was also here for
| several years, and the offices of the
| superintendent of the city We're vacated
| in 1914. when he and the surveyor were
| legisated out.
| Building Spared by English.
The escape of the building from de-
struction during the British invasion is
ascribed to the appeal of DIR. Thornton
the keeper of patents to the officer about
to give orders to fire it. He pleaded
| that this repository of the arts and
| sciences should not be destroyed with adj
| joining property. some owned by widowed
! ladies. The officer on reflection with
| drew.
| For the protection of the building fire
engine was bought in 1870 and located in
small frame building. The chief clerk
! Andrew Coyle. with other clerks and
| citizens. formed "a volunteer fire COM
| pany. taking the name of Washington
and until house and apparatus was burn
| ed some years after it efficient
| fire company The engine house was on
| 9TH street. adjoining the city post office
| of two stories, and in the upper one
| were kept the arms of the Washington
| Guards. Col. Seaton company. This
was much too small for meetings and
drills. for. composed of many of the
| clerks and citizens, it full COM
pany. and vacant ground used for
| drilling.
Such was the increase of business.
postal and patent, that an additional
building was provided in 1882. This was
was erected at about the southwest cor
ner of the present Interior Department.
| at a cost of over $4,000 and was largely
devoted to the exhibition OF models. For
| cases and fixtures over $4,000 was ex-
pended. This location suggested the
| name of Model House" for a neighboring
| tavern With the erection of the new
patent office noted below the government
| model house became thing of the past
Fire Destroys Building.
Early on the morning of December Is.
1886. from a fire said To have originated
in the cellar under the city post office
the old building was soon a mass of ruins
Much valuable material, patent models,
books and papers and painting by Full
ton of his steamboat, the Claremont, on
the Hudson was destroyed. 1t was bitter
cold weather and the heat so intense that
on the fronts of the houses opposite the
paint was blistered and blinds scorched
ana burning papers endangered houses by
cropping ROOFS. IL Is SAID thdt 1t
discovered by a butcher who was en-
route to market, and sending his wagon |
with the driver he turned to saving what |
books and papers he could reach. and he
was in "A few days rewarded by an APP
pointment in the office.
There was, of course, activity in look |
ing up new quarters and in few days |
business was resumed. The Postmaster |
General Mr. Kendall arranged with Col |
B. Ogle Taylor. the owner, and A. Fuller |
lessee. of q ut "a
property at the northwest corner of Penn |
sylvana avenue and 14th streets on the |
site of the New Willard, and the follow
ing day officials and clerks We're busy
with the postal business The city post
office found Judgment at the house of JON |
athan SeaVer, on the west side of 9TH
street between d and f streets. included
in the site of Lansburgh'S, but In a few
months moved to the Masonic Hall at the
southwest corner of AZ and ID streets |
Next it was on the northeast corner of
10Th street and the Avenue. occupied be- |
fore by the MadiSonian and later by the |
Irving House. the Kirkwood. and now in |
cluded in the site of the Raleigh.
The ground floor of Carusis assembly |
rooms at the northwest corner of 18th |
and c streets now the site of the Lyceum !
Theater then became the city post office, |
and was here till 1915. when the govern |
ment, having bought the remainder of the /
square between 18th and Sth and f. and r |
streets ii took one of the houses of Nc |
Leans row Ith street and occupied |
until the extension of the new general |
post office led to its demolition. The |
patent office on the invitation of the |
corporation occupied rooms in the west |
wing of the city hall or courthouse, as |
also d house on 9TH street opposite.
New Edifice Planned
Before the destruction of the post and |
patent office building in 1886 the erection |
of an edifce for the latter had been pro-
iected. By the act of July that year |
Congress directed that a fireproof struc-
ture, with the necessary cases and furni- |
ture. be provided at not exceeding a cost |
of S1Os.0OO The site selected was in |
reservation s, and in that Year but $4,000 |
was expended More money was voted in |
years following to 1912. and the building |
was then about completed at cost OF
over $l01otn. and the less than twenty
five employees, including laborers and |
watchmen, had home of their own |
fronting f street. with over four |
acres of ground in the lines of 7th G. and |
9th streets. Having been a child of the |
State Department. in turn it became the |
parent of the bureau of agriculture |
which. succeeded by the department., is |
numerically as large any branch of the |
executive. And the lineage of the Ma
tional Museum may also be traced to it, |
for the museum of natural history. ac-
cumulated by the national institute and |
the curios gathered by the Wilkes and |