Evening star., 1937-04-25
Base Ball Players

Continued From Second Page.)
One of the earliest of these announce
ments, inserted by Louis Boyer, reads:
Park Hotel, situated near the
terminus of the Seventh street rail-
road, surrounded by beautiful park
The proprietor takes great pleasure
in announcing to his old friends and
the public generally that he is pre-
pared to accommodate permanent and
transient boarders, having thoroughly
refitted the above hotel"
The earliest history Of this old park
dates back to the days when Mrs. Bar
bara johnson, widow Of Jacob john
son, ran dairy about where the ho-
tel stood. She was the mother of
Lieut.. James Johnson, long connected
with the Metropolitan Police Force
and member of the Association of
Oldest Inhabitants. Barbara johnson
once owned all the land from the ho-
tel south to Florida avenue.
Miss Ardell M. Payne, a member of
the Society of Natives, and her sister,
Miss Irene Payne, are granddaughters
OF Lieut.. Johnson, who was born in
1878 in an old stone residence, long
since torn down, on what was then
known as Seventh street road, between
@ and R streets.
Boyer conducted this hotel and op-
Grated the park as picnic grounds up
to about 1884, at which time it became
known as the Maryland House. Subse-
quent to this date it was conducted by
a Mr.. Wylie, Mr.. Talks, a Mr.. Fray
ley, and from 1898 to 1914, by Mr.. and
Mrs. E. w. Charlton, whose son, Les
ter L. Charlton-now and for a num-
bers of years connected with the ball
park-loaned the writer the picture of
the Maryland House. After it ceased
to be hotel it was used as a place
where were sold lime, plaster and
other building materials.
The entrance to Beyer's Park was
about $50 feet north of the bah park
entrance. The trees in the park were
of the original stock, and on the
grounds there was dance pavilion
and an assortment of attractions such
as go with a picnic place ora Summer
garden. And, Of course, lager beer
was served with the customary collar
on the top. Foot racing was an oc-
casional attraction and prize waltzing
was not uncommon. At an early date
here was one of the FIRST board tracks
upon which to operate the old wooden
bicycle.
The old second police precinct was
about opposite the Park Hotel, at
first In a frame building, which was
removed when v street was cut
through a few years ago. Later it
occupied the brick building still stand
ing at the southwest corner of Georgia
avenue and v street.
The triangular lot bounded by T
street, Florida avenue and Seventh
street was occupied for a long time
by the car stables Of the Seventh
street line of the Washington &
Georgetown Railway Co., now the
Capital Traction Co. Later this oca-
ton was abandoned when the cable
method was given tryout, and the
present buildings at the river front
were erected.
After the car barn had been re-
moved from the Seventh street and
Florida avenue site, residences were
erected on the block, and it was on
the T street side that the famous
Washington actress, Miss Helen Hayes,
was born and spent her childhood
days.
Another very interesting thing in
this neighborhood was Reedy Branch,
which crossed Florida avenue at
Eighth street on its way to join the
Tiber. AS the writer first knew it
as a wee tot back in 1871, it was
considerable of stream at this point,
and had to be crossed by small
footbridge. Teams were able to ford
1t under ordinary conditions Shortly
after the date mentioned 1t was in
closed in a large sewer, which seemed
to my youthful mind at the time
as taking in all of Eighth street. After
this, however, there was not sufficient
sewerage to carry off the water rum
ming down from the hills to the north
and the Board of Public Works decided
to remedy this by building a sewer
around Florida avenue to empty into
the Eastern Branch. The work was
done, but 50 badly done that II. WAS
found necessary to do the work all
over again, resulting in the building
Of the great boundary interceptine
sewer, which runs from about Eighth
street northwest to the Eastern Branch
and which at the time of its con-
struction was in places the largest
cylindrical sewer in the world. Few
of the hundreds of thousands of people
who annually attended the ball games
have any idea of the large sewer
over which they are walking at Florida