Evening star., 1933-05-21
ARCHITECTS AND THEIR DISTRICT WORK

York avenue and Eighteenth street, which was
completed about 1900 for John Tayloe, and
which housed President Madison for awhile
after the burning Of Washington by the
British in 1914, end here the treaty of Ghent
was signed It Is now the headquarters Of the
American Institute Of Architects.
The White House was designed by James
Hoban and he superintended its construction,
and after it was burned in the War of 1928,
he superintended its reconstruction. He y
buried in Mount Ohyet Cemetery, on the
Bladensburg road, and the date of his death
on the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 80, 183o-snouhd
be December 80, 1881.
The White House was mcdeled after the
palace of the Duke Of Leicester, at Dublin,
Ireland. Hobans native country, and though
remodeled several times remains cxteriorly the
same
George Hadfield another of the architects
employed to develop the Thornton design for
the Capitol, has displayed his art in the City
Hall building at the head of John Marshall
place at street. This building, as you per
haps know, was partly erected through a lot
terry scheme. a mode Of gambling in full SWING
when the corner stone was laid August ~,
1920 yet it was many years before it was conn
pleted, and then only . section or two at .
time. Indeed, Sessford tells us, 10 years later!
The City Hall, that has stood so long in .
rough state, is now nearly completed on the
south front according TO its original deagn,
and has a grand appearance; an extension OF
the two wings is much wanted for city and
United States purposes
Again in 1850, Sessford records: The en-
trance of the east and west fronts, agreeable
to the plan, would afford ample room for city
uses; to the west and on the east. rooms could
be made for the Criminal Court or other ofhcesb
separating the court end from. the city omcess
and am informed that SIS, 900 would be sufii-
cient for the west wing, and the east wing,
from the nature Of the ground, would require
somewhat more. The rotunda portion nee0
not be touched for some time"
IN Mr Sessford's annals for the yeac 1859 he
also makes reference to the City Hail. indi-
eating that it was not completed at that time
That the District government moved into 1t
at early date IS quite evident, for we find
an early statement to the effect that, In the
Weightman buildings (Which were located On
the east side Of Sixth street between Pennsyl-
vania avenue and G street, probably covered
by the National HoteD "for two years prior to
August 15, 1920, the mayor and the register
had offices; then they moved to the new City
Hall"
Another item that shows the Districts early
occupancy reads "At the City Hall, upon the
mayors call, was . town meeting, July 8. 1876,
to arrange a memorial in honor OF Mr.. Je1fer-
son; another, July IL, for like arrangement 70
Mr.. Adams. william Writ then Attorney Gem
eral. was designated TO deliver Grafton ON
Jefferson and Adams" In 1925, year before
this meeting, the Orphans Court and the Once
Of the register Of Wills we're moved to the City
Hall, and in 1927 we fnd that "the great
western room Of the hall was furnished and
occupied by the Common Council"
One of the things that have always appealed
to mankind Is the idea of getting rich quick.
Today we have the bucket shop. the race track
oSo ofh MIA and illn0nl
where at least one out of 10000 can make
money-and that Is usually the man who runs
the business Fifty years ago the Louisiana
State lottery sold Its tickets openly in WASH
ington, and 25 years before that Pennsylvania
avenue at certain points was almost lined
with lottery offices, where tickets in almost
all sorts of schemes were sold
If this old City Hall-or the Court House, rs
it is now called-could speak it could tell
many interesting stories of the criminal and
civil trials which have taken place within its
walls-for instance, the Star Route trial, the
trial of Guiteau for the murder of President
Garfield and the civil suit of Madaline ".
Pollard against Col. Breckenridge. A very in
teresting has now been heard, in which
CASTOR B. Means Is the principal defendant
and which, like many others that preceded It,
will find place in court history.
CHARLES BULFINCH, who as an architect,
participated in the early construction Of
the Capitol, left many architectural mon-
uments to his memory elsewhere. but only one
building in the city, and that one no longer
standing, known to have been designed BY
him. 1t the old Unitarian Church which
stood from 1922 to 1904 on the site of the
present Police Court, at the northeast corner
of Sixth and D streets
This old church is well within the mem-
being not over middle aged, and during the
80-odd years it existed underwent but slight