page_title: Sixteenth Street Historic District
section_title: 1900s-1910s
hierarchical_section_title: Sixteenth Street Historic District / History / 1900s-1910s
caption_attribution_description: English: The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry's House of the Temple at 1733 16th Street, NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: The Sixteenth Street Historic District is a 1.25 mile linear historic district in Washington, D.C. that includes all structures along 16th Street NW between H Street and Florida Avenue. The district's southern boundary is bordered by Lafayette Square, just north of the White House, and Meridian Hill Park on its northern boundary. It includes an eclectic mix of architectural styles on one of the city's most historic and important numbered streets including single and multi-family residential buildings, embassies, hotels, churches, and office buildings. Most of the district's oldest structures are religious and residential buildings, while many of the commercial buildings were built in the early to mid-20th century. The stretch of 16th Street between Scott Circle and Florida Avenue was recognized as a historic district in 1978 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2007 it was expanded to include buildings south of Scott Circle to H Street. The historic district is also listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.
  The street was laid out in the 1791 plan by engineer and architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
context_section_description: Development on 16th Street increased after the turn of the 20th century, most notably after the McMillan Plan was issued.  Architectural taste changed following the World's Columbian Exposition and that was represented in the transition to Beaux-Arts and neoclassical buildings constructed along the street.  The early 20th century also saw the construction of apartments, institutional buildings, hotels, and churches along 16th Street, along with additional houses.  There were almost as many empty lots facing 16th Street in 1903 as there were buildings, but during the next 20 years, a large amount of buildings were constructed creating an almost united line of structures facing 16th Street.
  Mary Foote Henderson played a large role in the development of the northern stretch of the historic district and has been described as the "dominant figure in the development of Sixteenth Street in the first quarter of the twentieth century."  In 1888 she and her husband, Senator John B. Henderson, had built a massive house on 16th Street just north of Florida Avenue nicknamed Henderson's Castle.  The couple had purchased dozens of lots in the area and were vocal advocates of the City Beautiful movement, encouraging politicians and foreign governments to build monuments, houses, and embassies near present-day Meridian Hill Park.  One of the first luxury apartment buildings built in this newly popular stretch of 16th Street was The Balfour at 2000 16th Street, designed in the Renaissance Revival style by George S. Cooper in 1900.  Mary continued to monitor development in the area by serving as president of the Sixteenth Street Improvement Association.  
  The 1900s saw the first large scale residential building erected south of Scott Circle.  The Beaux-Arts Warder Apartment House on the southeast corner of 16th and M Streets was built in 1905 and designed by Jules Henri de Sibour and Bruce Price.  These early apartment buildings were designed to resemble large mansions.  Private residences built that same decade include a Georgian Revival mansion for Senator Simon Guggenheim, located on the northeast corner of 16th and M Streets, that was built in 1906 and also designed by de Sibour and Price.  A Parisian type Beaux-Arts house at 1227 16th Street, designed by William Penn Cresson and Nathan C. Wyeth, was built in 1907 for wealthy widow Carolina Caton Williams.  An elaborate Beaux-Arts home at 1218 16th Street was built for Alonzo Bliss in 1907 and designed by Albert Goenner.  Another prominent house in this area that was designed by de Sibour and Price, 1128 16th Street NW, was built in 1909.  This decade also saw the construction of an institutional building, the National Geographic Society's (NGS) Hubbard Memorial Hall at 1156 16th Street, built in 1902 and designed by Hornblower & Marshall.  The NGS would later select Arthur B. Heaton to design Renaissance Revival additions completed in 1913 and 1932.
  North of Scott Circle in the 1900s there was another church constructed, the Gothic Revival Foundry United Methodist Church at 1500 16th Street, built in 1904 and designed by Appleton P. Clark Jr..  An example of the Arts and Crafts architectural style is the Charles L. Marlatt House at 1521 16th Street, built in 1909.  The Alturas at 1509 16th Street is a small Italianate apartment building constructed in 1909.  It was followed by mid-size and large apartment buildings constructed along 16th Street north of Scott Circle.
  During the 1910s several apartment buildings were constructed along the street.  The Howard at 1842 16th Street, built in 1913 and designed by Frank Russell White, and the Somerset House at 1801 16th Street, built in 1916 and also designed by White, are two of four apartment buildings in the historic district by local real estate developer Harry Wardman.  He would eventually build between 400-500 apartment houses throughout the city.   This type of multi-family residential building would become extremely popular with local real estate developers during the next decade.  Between 1919 and 1929, 741 apartment buildings were 
caption: House of the Temple, built in 1916
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