Evening star., 1945-07-29

The EUening Star Building
in 1858. This WaS later the
site Of the Franklin Fire En-
gine Company, D street be-
t1Deen TWetth and Thirteenth
streets.
TO the Van Ness house is the old Frank
lin Engine House. This building was
erected in 1857, and was from this date
the site of the Franklin Fire Co. The
building which was removed to be re-
placed by this structure was one of the
first buildings occupied by The Star,
and was its home from May, 1853, to
September, 1854 1t was, according to
an early account, erected by Everett &
Bro, and was used as a blacksmith shop
and coach factory. A writer who was
contemporary with the time observed
that it was a quaint building for
newspaper Office, but quite suitable for
making coaches" Entrance to the
ground floor was by way of two large
doors, wide enough for a wagon or
carriage to go through And the early
writer further adds:
The Office of The Evening Star, up
stairs, was compact. Business man
ager, editor, reporters, compositors were
all thrown together in one room. Happy
family it was. Three windows in front,
the sashes of which extended down to
the floor, gave plenty of light. The
old single cylinder press, with a ca
pacity of perhaps not more than a
thousand impressions an hour, per-
formed its daily mission in shed ad-
joining the building in the rear, and
manpower was utilized in place of
steam, which was not adopted until
several years later"
First Police Precinct
Down Twelfth street, midway of the
block, can be seen a low building with
little windows near the roof. This is
the site where later was erected the
old first police precinct. Next to the
south, and the last house in the picture
on Twelfth street, is the old Night Lodg-
ing House, which upon frequent occasions
proved a Godsend to many person in
distress. There should be many just
such places in Washington today.
Looking toward the incompleted
Washington Monument we see the sign
of the lumber yard of Nathaniel B.
Fugitt, and looking this gentleman up
in the city directory for 1878 We find he
was not in the lumber business at that
time, but was collector and solicitor
for the National Republican. However,
at an earlier date he was in the lumber
business at Sixth street, south of Penn
sylvania avenue, which would probably
mean Sixth and Constitution avenue
Evidently his lumber yard was located
as indicated by the sign in the picture
From this it is quite evident that the
photograph was taken around, or prior
to- 1870, and the condition of the mon
ument would seem to sustain this ap-
proximate date.
Early Shopkeepers
On the south side of the Avenue, be-
tween Twelfth and Thirteenth streets,
in 1888. Louis Goldman kept a clothing
store at the corner of Twelfth street,
next to which was Paul Bonavires, the
tonsorial artist. At No. 1906 was Francis
H. Finley, the bother; at 1908, John
H. Hicks barber. Then came in order
Ada Franklin, who sold cigars; James
E. Bromwell silver platter; Howard
South, who sold harness, ETC.; Edward
Donally. who made harness, and at
1922 Julius Baumgarden, the engraver.
William E. Spalding 2s Co., painters,
were at 1924; Williams H. Woolls, eat
ing house, 1926; A. McGleish g. Son,
cabinetmakers, 1928, and J. H. De Alley
kept an appetizing restaurant at 1880,
where steamed oysters were served to
perfection. Steinem Bros, the pawn
brokers, were at 1882 Gibson Bros
were at the corner of Thirteenth
street, upsairs, and on the lower floor
were Easton & Rupp, stationers.
But the most notable place on this
side of the block was Hancocks restau-
rant, at 1884," by. which designa-
ton it was referred to. This restaurant
had its birth just los years ago, and
it probably went out of business even
before February Is, 1919, when the
Reed "bone-dry" rider, prohibiting the
bringing of liquor into the District of
Columbia, went into effect.
For the first few years of its existence
it was probably not a tavern, but rather
what its name implied until 1846-the
Star Coffee House. Andrew Hancock
was its first proprietor, and by 1850 it
was evidently serving its celebrated
liquors, for in that year we find it called
the Bald Eagle House, its house num-
Der then being under the old system
339 Pennsylvania avenue.