Evening star., 1940-07-28

government as part OF It's them:
proposed Municipal Center for $780,
600 and shortly afterward it was
turned over to the National Guard
as its temporary headquarters, and
the Guard has occupied it ever
since.
The history of this hotel building
Is rather an extensive one and dates
back to 1926, when it was built, by
the Calvert estate and opened to
guests on Washington's Birthday of
that year, with a grand ball pre-
ceded by parade.
The first proprietor Of the Ma
tional was John Gadsby, who for
merlv ran the Indian Queen Hotel
in Baltimore and at one time the
City Tavern in Alexandria. He had
come here in 1919, to conduct the
ONeale hostelry, known as the
Franklin Hotel, but later he decided
upon a change of location and the
National was erected especially for
him. He took a long lease of the
property and it was during his pro-
prietorship that 1t was known as
Gadsby's Hotel
There is little doubt that the
present structure has been added to
and modified since the hotel was
first erected, but in the main it is
the same building. In 1874, When
Samuel S. Coleman took charge of
the place, John Gadsby having
given up direct control of the buSi-
ness and moved to the Decatur resi-
dence, which he had bought, it un-
derwent what was called "a thor
ough repair" At the time it was
built, it was the first building
erected in the city for strictly hotel
purposes and not designed along the
. same lines as a private house.
The carpentering on the building
was done by Mr.. Van Coble and the
brick work by Mr.. Bender. A list
of prices of building materials and
labor at this period may be inter-
esting: Removing earth, II cents
a cubic yard furnishing building
stone, s120 a perch, measured in the
wall; laying same, 80 cents a perch.
Bricks then sold for SIS thousand,
delivered, and the laying cost,
Sle712 with outside arches extra
Sand was II cents a barrel and
= painters charged 18 cents a square
yard for three-coat work, including
material Plastering, including ma
. terial, 29l2 cents yard. and the
slater for his work got Sl150 a
square. Window sills, 5 feet long,
51a inches thick, cost S475, door
sills, feet long, inches thick,
SLIP each, and circular doorheads,
6 feet wide, S18 each.
Described in 1880.
A writer in 1880 describes Gadsby's
as follows: The edifice fronts 1913
feet on Sixth street, 1875 on G street
and l40 on the great Avenue. Un-
der the same roof are bank, a stage
Office, a wine store and a lottery
office; in the parallelogram is COM
prised an open area of 140 by 80
feet. with a perennial fountain of
spring water and grass plots. and
wide piazzas are attached inside to
the several stores. There are 240
apartments altogether, of which ITO
are lodging rooms and l3 private
parlors."
1t is also said that, following John
Gadsby, the hotel business was con-
Quoted by Gadsby & Newton, then
by William Gadsby, son of the
former proprietor, to be followed by
Mr.. Coleman.
After this came a Mr. Blackman
and for time after 1849 it was con-
Quoted by Calvert & Co., who we're
soon succeeded by Dexter & Willard,
and then came Guy & Briggs, who
ran it until 1857.
p, The Willard referred to was Ed
win S. Willard, a brother to the
Willard who for so many years
successfully conducted the hotel
business at the corner of Pennsyl-
vania avenue and Fourteenth street
NV. 1t was while he was interested
In the National, in 1855, that he in
troduced the first gas cooking stove
known in this city and referred to
by one of the daily papers under the
title,"G Cooking" as follows: "One
OF the most labor saving and money
making expedients ever introduced,
and especially valuable for persons
of scanty means, is the cooking with
gas. What a world of labor and
trouble and time it saves! Mr.. Will
lard brought one of his sheet iron
broilers to our office some days ago,
and having attached gutta percha