Evening star., 1936-12-27
By John Clagaft Proctor.

the city; and the person who has re-
sided here for a considerable time
can hardly believe his own eyes as he
compares the Washington of today
with the one he knew years ago.
Take for instance Fifteenth street
from Constitution avenue northward,
and we find from an old picture but
three houses standing between D and
E streets, one being the magnificent
home of Mr.. Ulke, erected during or
prior to the Civil War. Below this,
between Constitution avenue (along
which ran the old canaD and D street,
there were probably no early buildings
of consequence. But regardless OF
their Importance, all have given way
in recent years to the mammoth De-
partment of Commerce Building.
Between E street and Pennsylvania
avenue. as ever so many will recall,
stood Albaugh's Grand Opera House,
which had its premier performance In
November, 1884, with Emma Abbott
and her English opera company in the
opera "Semiramide. The theater was
q pdII VI lliC UuuOuls CICStSo Wy VIC
Washington Light Infantry as an
armory and portion of the building
was used by this well-known military
organization for drill purposes and for
entertaining its friends.
At the southwest corner of Fifteenth
street and Pennsylvania avenue stood
the Regent Hotel. This triangular
y,1ot ~ oro,rpJ ,ol1ro horod COE
Is now a public park.
A picture accompanying this story,
published in the London Pictorial
News, 1853, shows the Willard Hotel
then known as the City Hotel-and in
the distance can be seen the northeast
corner of Fifteenth street and Penn
sylvania avenue, appearing as vacant
ground and covered with a cluster of
trees, and which appear as extending
across Fifteenth street to the ground
where later was erected the south wing
of the Treasury Building, and which
was completed in 1861.
IRON what has been said by early
residents of the city, the trees here
shown might be some of the same
ones the roots of which were dug up
when the ground in front of the
Treasury was being lowered in 1871.
j. Goldsborough Bruff, member Of
the Association Of the Oldest Inhabi-
tants, who was present while the work
was in progress, related that these
trees were "hale and green many
years after the original Treasury
Building was destroyed" which prob
ably refers to the fire of 1888. They
were also recalled at that time by
Fielder Dorset, veteran Of the war
Of 1925.
Today some folks refer to the horse
and buggy days of yore with derision,
but views showing the erection Of the
Treasury Building indicate even an
earlier period, for here we see being
used oxen, instead of horses, as beasts
Of burden.
To the south of the Treasury, where
stands the Sherman statue, stood for
many years the old Photographic gal
lery of that department. 1t was a
picturesque cottage-like looking build
ing, and remainded there well up into
the COS. It is said that the Sher-
man statue was erected or the spot
where that general stood in May, 1865,
and witnessed the grand review. Carl
Rohl Smith was the sculptor of the
statue, but he died on August 20, 1900,
before the work was finished, and five
other sculptors added their skill to
the work before it was completed.
Perhaps the first big private i'm
provement on Fifteenth street was the
Corcoran Building, flve-story struc-
ture, which stood at the southeast cor
ner of F. street and extended south
ward nearly to the avenue. It was
erected in 1847 and designed for Gov
ernment purposes and used as such for
many years.
After it was given up by the Gov
eminent, the upper floors were rented
for private purposes and the street
floor for stores, except the corner,
which for many years was the West
ern Union Telegraph Office, and No.
533 was occupied by Bateman & Co.,
bankers, and $50 for like purpose
.
conducted plumbing and gas-f1tting
business at 531, Frank K. Ward had
one of his dairy lunch rooms at 527,
Francis j. Heiberger, military tailor,
was at 535. and Bell g. Co., bankers,
occupied the corner at Pennsylvania
avenue. The Hotel Washington now
takes in all the Fifteenth street side
of this square, between Pennsylvania
avenue and F street.
IN THE square to the north there
= stood for many years only four
buildings-Rhodes old hotel building,
believed to have been erected by Ben
edict Fenwick shortly after 1897, be-
ing at the northeast corner of F and
Fifteenth streets. It is building
covering the history OF the entire life
Of the Federal Capital, and in which,
in some particulars, it has played
an important part, as it did during
the War of 1925, when it was con-
Quoted by Mrs. Barbara Suter Of
Georgetown as boarding house, and
st was from this point that the Brit
fish commanders, on the night Of Au-
gust "a, 1914, extinguished the lights
in the house and ate their supper by
the blaze of the burning buildings. It
later became the home Of the Bank
of the Metropolis, now known as the
National Metropolitan Bank, and still
located in this square. Here was also
an early banking house Of w. w. Cor
.coran. later known as Corcoran &
Riggs. and at present the Riggs Ma
ftional Bank.
Bryan & Co., mems furnishings
store, was located at this corner for
o number Of years. Williams & Son,
brokers, and the United Press Asso-
ciation (before 1t moved to Fourteenth
street, were in this block, and nat
'urally many will recall McMahon's sa-
loon, where eggnog and Tom and
Jerry were always served during the
holiday season, and the most conspic-
A...r - tNa