Evening star., 1939-01-15
Porter Home
On Site
Land Once Worth
Only 10 Gents
A Square Foot
By John Clagetf Proctor.

By John Clagetf Proctor.
The writer has only a slight idea
as to what the local Scottish Rite
Masons paid for the ground upon
which they have begun to erect
their building at 1922 Sixteenth
street NV, but he does recall when
it could have been bought for 10
cents square foot, back in the
early '80s. OF course, at this time
there were few buildings in this
subdivision, known as Meridian Hill,
but of those then there at least one
half were one-story shacks, occupied
by colored people.
However, it happened to be a
white man named Harry Hunaker,
a plasterer, who lived on the site
where the Scottish Rite building is
now being constructed. In a few
years Mrs. Henderson, whose hus-
band, John B. Henderson, built the
Henderson Castle. in buying up the
property in this vicinity, especially
the lots facing Sixteenth street.
D.. bought the ground where Mr..
Hunaker lived, when he and his wife,
Miss James before her marriage,
moved to Crescent place, where they
conducted store for while.
A Jewish slaughter house then oc-
cupied the ground where is now All
Souls Church, at Sixteenth and
Harvard streets, and where the CAL
vary Methodist Church stands, at
Sixteenth street and Columbia road,
, was for many years the home of
Charles A. Stewart, a brother in
law OF Columbus Eslin, whose es-
tate on the west side of Columbia
road extended southwark from
Mount Pleasant street nearly to
Quarry road, part of which is still
IN existence. Skirting this road on
the north side was narrow strip of
ground that extended from Colum-
bia road nearly to Rock Creek, and
about midway of this strip was the
Quarry road spring and springhouse.
where the boys going to Rock Greek
to swim in the summertime would
always stop to refresh themselves,
v,
1t also furnished cool drinking water
for the neighborhood during the
warm months of the year.
About 1890 this strip of land was
bought by Duane C. Turner for
song-or maybe it was two songs
and he built nice home on the
ground and beautifed the place.
Within the last year the writer
met the widow of Mr.. Turner and
asked her what became of this CO.
pious spring, and she said that it
still is in existence and is furnish
Ing the water for the bathing pool
IN the apartment house built on the
site where the old spring stood for
ever so many years.
When the writer moved to Me-
ridian Hill, in 1887, no improve
ments were to be seen-no side
walks, no Potomac water, no sew
ers and no gas-and it was years
before the residents enjoyed what
we look upon now as the necessities
of life. 1t was real pioneering in
those days, when the Fourteenth
street cars stopped at w street,
especially during the winter months
and in rainy weather, when it was
only with the most careful maneu-
vering that one could avoid being
almost submerged to his neck in
mud. There was no occasion for the
ashman then, since ashes were in
great demand for making walks
Indeed, it is quite probable that but
few persons Of the younger genera
ton now living in this city ever saw
rain barrel or tadpole, though the
former was quite necessary thing
to have in nearby suburban Wash
ington so years ago.
Speaking OF the muddy condition
that once existed in this neighbor-
hood, last summer the writer met
Mrs. Archibald NJ. McLachlen at
Atlantic City, an early resident of
Lanler Heights, an adjoining sub
division to Meridian Hill, and in
remlniscing over early conditions in
this part of Washington one of the
things she mentioned was the yellow
clay near her home that stuck to
the feet like Aunt Jemima's plaster.
Her husband was probably respon-
sible for the laying out of Lanier
Heights.
But things look much different to-
day from what they did a half CEN
tury ago, and the old-timer can
hardly recognize it as being the same
place. Indeed, even the names of the
>streets have been altered, per-
haps to make the place seem more
up to date. Huron street is
now Fuller street; Erie, to the
south, is Euclid; Superior, down
which ran Slash Run, is Kali
Drama; Columbia avenue is now
Fifteenth street, Meridian is Six
teenth, Messmore is Mozart place.
Central is Seventeenth street
Prospect street is Belmont place,
and Crescent place. Champlain
avenue and Ontario road retain
their original names. Some of the
names Of those living in this SUBJ
division were Edward Blummer,
Samuel ]. Haislett, John Seibel, Gus
Kneas, Benjamin F. White and his
sons, George and John c., and his