Evening star., 1945-06-10
BY John Clagett Proctor

~ oO41A1 S1OsCGt l OSUOl
perfect condition, fact which evidently
had reached the ear Of Charles Burial,
the Assistant Postmaster General, for
we find him writing from Philadelphia,
under date of June "a, 1893, to the city
postmaster, Thomas Johnson, jr, as fol-
lows:
The contractor who carries the mail
from Baltimore to Alexandria has rep
resented to me that the road which
leads past your house is not so good as
the old road. and also that it is con-
siderably farther Be pleased to inform
me particularly of the state of the two
roads, and the difference in distance
between them. Should the new road at
any season of the year be so bad as to
impede the progress of the mail. trust
the commissioners for building the city
will make the necessary repairs. as any
obstruction to regular conveyance of
the mail upon the main line will be at
tended with great injury to the public"
"Coglan's Tavern, at the American
Arms" according to the Maryland Jour-
nal of August 8, 1894, was the first hotel
on this street. It is also stated by good
authority that upon this same lot
James Hoban erected the Little Hotel
which was in use as early as 1895 OF
course, it is possible that Mr. Hoban
erected this building prior to August g.,
1874, and leased or rented it to William
Coglan, who conducted it at least for
awhile from that date on, and that it
subsequently became the Little Hotel
but that it was one of the first buildings
in the block there is no question.
The Little Hotel
Mr.. Bryan further tells US: The first
reference to the Little Hotel is on June
10. 17e5. On that date appears in the
columns of the Impartial Observer. the
first newspaper published in the City of
Washington, notice of celebration by
the Masons of the festival of ST. John
the Baptist" The bretheren," the
notice states. will walk in procession
from the lodge to the Capitol, where
divine services will be performed At
the close Of the service, it is stated, the
brethren will return in procession to the
Little Hotel for refreshments
This hotel is spoken of three years
later as the lodgeroom of Federal Lodge,
No. Is, and it may have been thus used
at the earlier date"
The building at the northeast corner
of Fifteenth and streets, which is
probably the original one, was erected
about 1901, by Bennett Fenwick, and
about this year became Rhodes Hotel,
and later the Indian King Tavern, when
1t was leased to Joseph M. Semmes.
In this same block. on the north side
OF F street, even down to recent years,
stood in the rear of the present struc-
lures building which for a while was
occupied by the city post Office, soon
after the Government departments were
moved here from Philadelphia. Thomas
Monroe, jr., was then the postmaster,
and his home was in the same build
ing, which was on lot 3. This afterward
became one of the Willard properties.
Early Dwellings
An account of the houses standing
in blocks facing F street in the year
1900 includes in the square in which are
the Willard and the Washington Hotels,
two frame houses, two-story and a
one-story, one being occupied by Mr.
Hutchinson. 1t was in this block that
James Kearney, IAN Irishman by birth
and an architect" built in 1900, hand
some three-story double brick residence
This property was sold to the Willard
brothers about 1853, and Is now occu-
pied by the F street side of the New
Willard Hotel as is the site of the Will
lard Hall, which was in its day one of
Washington's landmarks.
This hall, originally the Street
Presbyterian Church, was sold to the
Messrs. Willard in 1859, who immedi-
ately began fitting it up as ballroom
The congregation then united with the
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church,
where Lincoln attended divine services
and which was erected about this same
year, replacing an earlier building. The
F street church was dated back to 1903,
and here the Rev. DR.. Laurie labored
for so years as pastor.