The Patterson Mansion

The Patterson Mansion

On this bike ride in northwest D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood, I stopped to take in the one of the last large mansions still remaining directly on the city’s most iconic traffic circle. Located directly northeast of The Samuel Francis Du Pont Memorial Fountain at 15 Dupont Circle (MAP), the Patterson Mansion (also commonly referred to as the Patterson House), is a historic mansion whose appearance harkens back to previous eras.

Designed by architect Stanford White and built by The George A. Fuller Company, the completion of the Neoclassical-style house with exterior Italianate decorative motifs was delayed by when paint cans in the attic of the north wing of the house caught fire.  After fire and water damage was repaired it was finally completed in 1903,. The house was built for Robert Wilson Patterson, who at the time was the editor of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, and his wife, Elinor “Nellie” Medill Patterson. Originally estimated to cost $85,000 (the equivalent of $2,599,556.98 in 2021 dollars), its final cost was actually $200,000 ($6,116,604.65 in 2019 dollars).

It was used by the Patterson family for entertaining when they were in the city, with the inaugural event being a gigantic cotillion ball for social debut of her daughter, Eleanor Josephine Medill “Cissy” Patterson.  The family would go on to hold numerous events over the years, a tradition which Nellie and her staff of livery-clad servants would continue after Robert’s death in 1910.  Over the years, however, Nellie spent less and less time at her D.C. mansion, instead preferring to be at the Chicago home her and Robert had shared.  She vacated the property for good in 1923, never to return, and deeded the property to her daughter Cissy that same year.  However, Cissy also chose to spend more time at her other homes and abroad, so she allowed her daughter, Felicia, and her new husband, Drew Pearson, to take up residence in the mansion.  But the house was only intermittently occupied from for the next several years, as the Pearsons left for Asia and never returned to the home.  

For a short period of time during these years, the Patterson Mansion was the home of President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace Coolidge.  In 1927 The White House needed extensive renovation, which rendered it unlivable while construction occurred.  So Cissy Patterson offered them the use of her empty home.  The Coolidges stayed in the house from March 4, 1927, to June 13, 1927.  But Mrs. Coolidge was not fond of the home, finding it cramped. So they spent the remainder of the time the White House was being renovated vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Just before departing the mansion, from June 10 to June 12, 1927, Charles Lindbergh and his mother, Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh, were guests of the president and first lady at the Patterson Mansion upon his triumphant return from France after his non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean piloting the Spirit of St. Louis.  During these three days the house was besieged by crowds.  And because of the crowds Charles appeared several times at the second floor balcony to wave and briefly speak to the crowds.  

Two years later, beginning in 1929, Cissy Patterson reoccupied the home full-time, where she remained and entertained until her death in 1948, when the mansion left the Patterson family.  Cissy originally willed the house to her daughter, Felicia. But after a family argument in 1942, Cissy changed her will and asked that the mansion be donated to the League of Republican Women of the District of Columbia.  She changed her mind again in 1946 and left it to the Red Cross.

After a lengthy legal dispute over the will, the Red Cross took possession of the Patterson Mansion.  But the organization had no practical use for the property,  They already the Neoclassical The American National Red Cross Headquarters building.  So the Red Cross put the building and its furnishings up for sale in November of 1949, with a $700,000 asking price ($7,735,705.88 in 2021 dollars).  But the property lingered on the market until the Washington Club, a private women’s club, bought the Patterson Mansion in January of 1951, for just $450,000 ($4,552,165.38 in 2021 dollars).  Subsequently, The Washington Club put the mansion up for sale in the summer of 2013 with a $26 million asking price.  After a pending deal with another company fell through, real estate development company SB-Urban, along with District-based real estate investment firm CBD LLC, bought the property and with the help of Hartman-Cox Architects, turned the Patterson Mansion into a multi-unit apartment building.

The Ampeer Oakwood Suites & Studio Apartments opened in 2017, consisting of 92 mini-apartments with shared living space, an on-site chef providing meals, meeting space, a private wine cellar, and a fully staffed private bar in the mansion’s ballroom.  Today the site is also host to A Landmark Venue, that can host up to 100 guests for both intimate or grand events.  The Venue is also home to the Patterson Mansion Social Club, which provides members with a daily continental breakfast, a 24-hour gourmet coffee bar, an exclusive bar with seasonal cocktail programs, high speed WiFi and cable TV as well as a library and business center with unlimited printing, and access to social spaces and exclusive discounts on hosted events.  

The Patterson Mansion is wholly or in part responsible for three listings on the National Register of Historic Places.  The mansion itself was added to the National Register on December 5, 1972, and is one of two remaining mansions on Dupont Circle, the other being the Wadsworth House.  It is also a contributing property to both the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District (added to the National Register in 1974), and the Dupont Circle Historic District (which was added to the National Register in 1978).

    
[Click on the thumbnails above to view the full size photos]

The Castle

The Castle (front)

One of the most iconic and recognizable buildings in D.C. is the Smithsonian Institution Building.  Colloquially known as “The Castle,” it is located just off the National Mall at 1000 Jefferson Drive (MAP).  I’ve passed by it during bike rides literally thousands of times over the years.  And I’ve visited some of the many gardens surrounding it, such as The Enid A. Haupt Garden, The Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden, and my personal favorite, The Mary Livingston Ripley Garden.  But I’ve never researched it or featured it in this blog.  But with it appearing to be so picturesque on this ride, I decided it was about time I did.

The Castle was designed by architect James Renwick, Jr., whose other works include St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, also in D.C.  It was the first Smithsonian building.  There are now 20 Smithsonian Institution museums and galleries, 11 of which are at the National Mall.  The Castle was designed and built in the Norman Revival style, a 12th-century combination of late Romanesque and early Gothic motifs, which causes it to stand out among D.C.’s other architectural styles.  And it is constructed of Seneca red sandstone from the Seneca quarry in nearby Seneca, Maryland, which causes it to further stand out in contrast to the granite, marble and yellow sandstone from the other major buildings in D.C.  Construction began in 1847 and was completed in 1855.  It was designated added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1965.

The Castle initially served as a home and office for the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Joseph Henry.  And until 1881, it also housed all aspects of Smithsonian operations, including research and administrative offices; lecture halls; exhibit halls; a library and reading room; chemical laboratories; storage areas for specimens; and living quarters for the Secretary, his family, and visiting scientists.

Currently, The Castle houses the administrative offices of the Smithsonian. The main Smithsonian visitor center is also located in The Castle.  In the visitor center you can get a grasp of the scope and scale of the Smithsonian with an exhibit entitled “America’s Treasure Chest”, that displays items from collections across the Smithsonian.  There are also interactive displays and maps, and computers that can electronically answer most common questions.  There are volunteers and in-house experts as well, who can answer other questions and provide information about what to see and do based on what’s currently going on at all the Smithsonian museums.  Additionally, docent tours highlighting The Castle’s 19th-century architecture and history are available.

The visitor center is also home to a museum store featuring a myriad of souvenirs, and the Castle Café, where visitors can enjoy specialty sandwiches, soups, pastries, organic salads, antipasti, a coffee, espresso/cappuccino bar, teas, bottled beverages, beer, wine and, when in season, ice cream.

Finally, just inside the north entrance of The Castle is a crypt that houses the tomb of James Smithson.  Smithson was an English chemist and mineralogist who never married and had no children.  Therefore, when he wrote his will, he left his estate to his nephew, or his nephew’s family if his nephew died before him.  If his nephew were to die without heirs, however, Smithson’s will stipulated that his estate be used “to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men”.  Smithson died in Genoa, Italy in June of 1829, at the age of 64.  Six years later, in 1835, his nephew died without heir, setting in motion the bequest to the United States.  In this way Smithson became the founding patron of the Smithsonian Institution despite having never visited the United States.

The Castle (back)

National City Christian Church

National City Christian Church

National City Christian Church is located on 5 Thomas Circle (MAP), in northwest D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood.  It is the national church of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ, often abbreviated simply as the “Disciples of Christ” or “Christian Church”), a mainline Protestant Christian denomination.  And during today’s lunchtime bike ride I visited the church.

The church’s neoclassical building was designed by John Russell Pope and completed in 1930.  It has a “monumental character” typical of Pope’s style and seen in his other works, such as The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration building and the West Building of The National Gallery of Art.  The church’s design was partly influenced by British architect James Gibbs’ Saint Martin-in-the-Fields church, built at Trafalgar Square in London in the early 18th century.   The National City Christian Church building, which is constructed of Indiana limestone, is a contributing property to the Greater 14th Street Historic District, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

The church building also features stained glass windows commemorating the two presidents thus far associated with the church.  The first is President James A. Garfield, who  preached there, and whose family pew is still displayed adjacent to the sanctuary. The other is President Lyndon B. Johnson, who along with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson worshiped there and mingled regularly with other parishioners in Fellowship Hall after services.

However, churches are more than the buildings in which they worship.  The congregation that eventually became the National City Christian Church was organized in 1843.  James Turner Barclay, a physician and pioneering Stone-Campbell Movement missionary, helped to organize the congregation.  In the 1950s and 1960s, the church had a congregation of some 800 regular Sunday worshipers.  However, in 2004, the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Alvin O. Jackson, resigned following a heated acrimonious dispute. The ouster of Jackson followed the resignation or firings of some two dozen church staffers, and the development of a deep intra-congregational dispute.  Attendance declined over time; in 2011, Sunday attendance was about 125, with mostly older congregants.

The church has experienced other recent troubles as well.  It’s chief financial officer, Jason Todd Reynolds, was discovered to have embezzled $850,000 in church funds from 2003 to 2008.  In 2011, Reynolds was convicted of 12 fraud-related charges, and sentenced to eight years in prison.  The losses from Reynolds’ embezzlement scheme caused serious damage to the church’s financial health.  It’s financial health was further exacerbated as a result of the magnitude 5.8 Virginia earthquake on August 23, 2011, which caused tens of thousands of dollars in structural damage to the church building.

Revitalization of the greater 14th Street neighborhood, thriving with an influx of new residents, hasn’t been significantly reflected in the church’s once-large congregation.  The rapidly aging denomination, which has experienced a membership crash of its own, no longer makes membership and attendance figures for individual congregations freely available. But the congregation’s recently released annual report is telling.

It’s financial troubles and declining congregation continued, and in 2017 National City was forced to sell the Campbell Building, a wing of the building that housed the educational  facilities of the church.  According to Church Moderator Jane Campbell, the building was “only partially used, had major maintenance issues, and would have cost millions to bring into usable condition – and then we would have had to find tenants as the activities of National City itself no longer fill the building.”

Currently the under-utilized building and diminished congregation continues to operate.  However, whether the National City Christian Church can reverse the overall decline it has experienced in the last half century remains to be seen.   Only time will tell.

The Original Founding Church of Scientology

The Original Founding Church of Scientology

Scientology is a body of beliefs and practices originally conceived and launched by American science fiction author Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, more popularly known as L. Ron Hubbard.  He initially developed a program of ideas he called Dianetics, which was distributed through The Dianetics Foundation.  However, the foundation quickly entered bankruptcy, and Hubbard lost the rights to the program’s foundational publication, entitled “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.”  He then rebranded the program as a “religion” and renamed it Scientology, retaining the same terminology, doctrines, the E-meter, and the practice of auditing from Dianetics.  Within a year, he regained the rights to the book and combined both under the umbrella of the “Church of Scientology.”

On this bike ride I stopped by Hubbard’s former residence here in D.C., located at 1812 19th Street (MAP) in northwest D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood.  Formerly the residence of Senator James Jones of Arkansas, and of Virginia Congressman Claude Swanson, the house is now officially known as the L. Ron Hubbard House and is listed that way on the National Register of Historic Places.  The house was interesting, and made me want to learn more about L. Ron Hubbard, and the “church” he founded.

The 19th Street house was not Hubbard’s first residence in the city.  He also lived in D.C. while briefly attending George Washington University in the 1930’s, before dropping out to focus on his career as a science fiction novelist.  But the house is where Hubbard lived in the mid to late 1950’s, during which he incorporated the Church of Scientology, and the house as its first official “church.”  It is also where the first Scientology wedding ceremony took place.

Additionally, the house was the site of a raid in 1963 by the Food and Drug Administration that resulted in the seizure of more than 100 electropsychometers, or “E-meters.”  These devices are used as part of the church’s “auditing” process in which auditors measure the electrodermal activity of a prospective new member, referred to as a “preclear,” in order to identify “engrams,” or detailed mental images or memories of traumatic events from the past that occurred when the person was either “partially or fully unconscious.”  According to Scientology, the auditing process “lifts the burdened individual from a level of spiritual distress to a level of insight and inner self-realization.”

The 1963 Federal raid at the house would be a sign of things yet to come.  Scientology is seen as one of the most controversial and secretive “religions” in the United States.  But its mysterious and paranoid character, combined with its connection to celebrities like Tom Cruise, make it an inherently intriguing entity.  The following are just a few of the beliefs, events, scandals, and other unusual and interesting facts about Scientology and its founder:

• According to L. Ron Hubbard, 75 million years ago an evil alien named Xenu was the dictator of the Galactic Confederacy.  Xenu brought millions of immortal disembodied spirits, or “thetans,” to “Teegeeack” (a.k.a. Earth), and placed them around volcanoes.  Thetans have had innumerable past lives, including in extraterrestrial worlds and cultures.  The thetans remained trapped on Teegeeack, and jumped into newborns’ bodies.  Xenu then implanted the newborns with false images of historical events, which Hubbard claimed never occurred like the death of Jesus Christ.  These thetans, according to Hubbard, are human souls.
• Scientologists believe mental illness doesn’t exist and, therefore, do not believe in psychology and are vehemently against using psychiatric medication.  Hubbard believed that psychiatrists were evil and even characterized them as terrorists.  According to Hubbard, multiple thetans crowded in our bodies are the source of our anxieties and fears.
• The Church of Scientology believes that there is no set dogma on God and everyone can have one’s own understanding of God. There is more of an emphasis on the godlike nature of people and to the workings of the human mind.
• Scientologists also celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and many other diverse religious holidays depending on other religious beliefs, as Scientologists very often retain their original affiliations with faiths in which they were raised.
• When Sara Northup, Hubbard’s second wife, threatened to leave him unless he got psychiatric help, he reportedly kidnapped their daughter Alexis. According to written accounts from Northup, Hubbard told her he “cut [Alexis] into little pieces” and dropped her in a river. Then he would call back and tell Sara that their daughter was alive.
• On July 8, 1977, the FBI raided Scientology’s Los Angeles, Hollywood and D.C. offices, which at the time was the biggest raid in the history of the Bureau.  The raids were part of “Operation Snow White,” in which Scientology operatives infiltrated, wiretapped, and stole documents from government offices, most notably those of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, in an attempt to protect their public image.  Eleven highly placed Church executives, including Hubbard’s wife and second-in-command of the “church,” Mary Sue Hubbard, pleaded guilty and were convicted in Federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.
• In furtherance of protecting Scientology’s public image, the church tried to censor Wikipedia by repeatedly attempting to remove information critical of it.  Because of this, the website has banned any organization affiliated with Scientology from editing its articles.
• The Church of Scientology engages in what’s called “Dead Agenting” to combat any negative comments about the Church of Scientology and Scientology itself. The church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, created the church’s “Dead Agent” Doctrine with rules on how to govern and retaliate against negativity.
• One of the Church’s longtime goals was to be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a fully tax-exempt religion.  It is alleged that in pursuit of this goal, Scientology members filed approximately 2,400 total lawsuits against IRS employees, and private investigators were sent to IRS conferences and conventions to dig up information.  Eventually, in October of 1993, the church and the IRS reached an agreement under which the church discontinued all of its litigation against the IRS and paid $12.5 million to settle a tax debt said to be around a billion dollars, and the IRS granted 153 Scientology-related corporate entities tax exemption as well as the right to declare their own subordinate organizations tax-exempt in future.
• Many other countries, including Germany, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have rejected Scientology and its applications for tax exemption, charitable status, and recognition as a religion.
• The Cult Awareness Network listed Scientology as the number one most dangerous cult. The Church of Scientology responded to this “label” by suing the Network into bankruptcy and now owns the Network. 
• Believing that if it gets celebrities to endorse Scientology then the public by and large will follow suit, the church has a long history of seeking out actors, writers, artists, and musicians, stating that it can improve their careers and lives.  Hubbard developed a program in 1955 called ‘Project Celebrity’ which governs celebrity recruitment and offers rewards to Scientologists who recruit targeted celebrities.  The Church of Scientology also runs special “celebrity centers,” with the main ones being in Los Angeles, Florida, Paris, and Nashville.
• Famous people who are or have previously been involved in Scientology include: actors Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, Anne Archer, Catherine Bell, Priscilla Presley, Jenna Elfman, Giovanni Ribisi, Bijou Phillips, Juliette Lewis, Alanna Masterson, and Laura Prepon; musicians Sonny Bono, Beck, Chick Corea, Isaac Hayes, Edgar Winter, and rapper Doug E. Fresh; TV show host Greta Van Susteren, and; cult leader and mass murderer Charles Manson.
• After L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986, a Scientology publication was released which stated that he invented music three million years ago, making him the original musician.
• Scientologists are obsessed with the apocalypse and are constantly preparing for it by building secret bunkers deep in the woods. These bunkers have huge vaults with footage and images of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, and nuclear-proof shelters.
• L. Ron Hubbard has written over 275 published books in topics ranging from science fiction to romance, making him a Guinness Book of Records holder for the most published and translated books by one author.
• The works of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, are protected in a huge vault built into the side of a mountain. His writings, engraved on stainless steel tablets, are safely stored in thousands of heat-resistant titanium boxes. The tablets are even playable on a solar-powered turntable. The mountainside where the tablets are stored, called Trementia Base near Trementia, New Mexico, is guarded by the Church of Spiritual Technology, a division of the Church of Scientology that manages the church’s copyright affairs. Hubbard’s other writings, films, and recordings are also archived here for future generations.
• L. Ron Hubbard claimed that he was many people before he was born on March 13, 1911. He told his associates he was once Cecil Rhodes, the British businessman and diamond mining magnate. Hubbard also once said, “You don’t get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.”  According to an estate filing after his death in 1986, Hubbard was worth $26 million.

The Original Founding Church of Scientology

Frelinghuysen University

Frelinghuysen University

If someone were to mention a university in northwest D.C. that was founded to serve African Americans, it’s likely that 99 or maybe even 100 out of every 100 people would think of Howard University.  But on this bike ride I visited the site of another, lesser-known university, named Frelinghuysen University, which beginning in 1921 was housed in a two-story residence located at 1800 Vermont Avenue (MAP), formerly known as the Edwin P. Goodwin House.

Frelinghuysen University was founded in 1906 when a group of local African-American educators and leaders met at the home of Jesse Lawson, a Howard University educated African-American attorney, educator, and sociologist, and his wife Rosetta C. Lawson, an advocate for temperance and low-income housing, to organize a branch of the Bible Educational Association, with Kelly Miller as president. They also established the Inter-Denominational Bible College, naming Jesse Lawson, as president.  Eleven years later the two groups were combined and renamed Frelinghuysen University, in honor of New Jersey Senator Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, who had worked to promote civil rights during Reconstruction with Senator Charles Sumner, for whom The Sumner School, one of the earliest schools for African Americans in D.C., was named.

Frelinghuysen University provided academic programs, vocational training, social services and religious education for working-class African-American adults.  It was accredited and conferred degrees from 1927 until 1937.  But after losing its accreditation, and with the racially motivated laws increasingly limiting the future of the institution, in 1940 the school became the Frelinghuysen Group of Schools for Colored Working People, and Anna J. Cooper became its registrar.  The institution finally dissolved in the late 1950s.

The historic building eventually fell into disrepair until it was purchased by it’s current owners in 1992 for $90,000, and subsequently renovated back into a private residence.  The Queen Anne-style home follows a triangular plan with an octagonal corner tower, and includes such architectural features as corbelling, a patterned slate roof, and intricate iron finials.  It was designated by D.C. as an historic site, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1995.

      
[Click on the thumbnails above to view the full size photos]

May Flowers

May Flowers

There’s an old saying that goes “April showers bring May flowers.”  Actually, the entire proverb goes something like, “March winds and April showers bring May flowers and June bugs.”  It is a lesson in patience.  It means that a period of discomfort can provide the basis for a period of happiness and joy.

Well, I can do without the early cold winds, and June bugs that come later on.  And I’m not all that fond of the rain either.  But I guess the traditionally rainy period in April is necessary to provide the water that nourishes the plants and allows them to subsequently bloom.  And based on the beauty and magnificence of many of the flowers I saw during my lunchtime bike rides during the past month, I’d say this year’s rains were well worth enduring.

As I rode around in some of the city’s various residential neighborhoods, a number of flowers and plants and private gardens caught my eye.  Some were at homes which are very large, and clearly belong to more affluent people.  Some of those homes are even on the National Register of Historic Places.  Others were located on the property of more modest houses.  A few were actually from abandoned properties.  And I even saw some plants and flowers in medians in the road,  or in plantings outside of small, local businesses.

Unlike the early season wildflower blooms I recently saw on a ride to the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month, all of these flowers were purposefully planted by the property owners.  And none were from places in D.C. where you would normally expect to find such beautiful blooms, such as the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, the Smithsonian’s Enid A. Haupt Garden, or other similar places.

The photographs in this blog post are some of the ones I took during the month of May.  And I took a lot of photos in the last month.  There are one hundred photos included in this post.  I chose them based on the photo itself, and not just the flower in it.  But I also tried to include photos of a variety of flowers so as to show the diversity and beauty of the gardens and grounds of many of this city’s homes.

I’d also like to remind you, however, that I am not a professional photographer and I do not have a fancy camera.  These photos, like all the ones in this blog, were taken with my cell phone.  I think they turned out fairly well though.  So be sure to click on the thumbnails for the larger versions so you can see the intricacy, complexity and the full beauty of the flowers.  And I hope you enjoy these photographs as much as I enjoyed riding around and taking them.

         

          

         

         

          

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

          

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
[Click on the thumbnails above to view the full size photos]

Captain Nathan Hale Statue

Captain Nathan Hale Statue

On this lunchtime bike ride I went to see a statue of Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, which is located outside of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, located at 950 Pennsylvania Avenue (MAP) in the city’s  Downtown neighborhood.  I went for two reasons.  First, to see the statue itself.  But the other reason I went to see the statue was to try to determine why it was located where it is.  As far as I know, Hale was not a lawyer or connected in any way to the Justice Department or the Federal government.  And he didn’t even have any known connections to D.C.  So I was curious why the statue was placed where it is.

Nathan Hale was born on June 6, 1755 in Coventry, Connecticut.  In 1768, at the age of 14, he attended Yale College along with his older brother Enoch.  Hale graduated with first-class honors in 1773 at age 18 and became a teacher in Connecticut, first in East Haddam and later in New London.

When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Hale joined a Connecticut militia unit.  His unit participated in the Siege of Boston, but Hale remained behind.  It has been speculated by some that he was unsure as to whether he wanted to fight.  On July 4, 1775, Hale received a letter from his classmate and friend Benjamin Tallmadge, and the letter was so inspiring that, several days later, Hale accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the 7th Connecticut Regiment.

In September of the following year, General George Washington was desperate to determine the location of the imminent British invasion of Manhattan Island. To that end, he needed a spy for the Continental Army behind enemy lines.  Hale was the only volunteer.

During his mission, New York City fell to British forces, and Hale was captured.  Hale was convicted of being a spy, and according to the standards of the time, was sentenced to be hanged the next day as an illegal combatant.  While waiting for the sentence to be carried out, Hale requested a Bible, but his request was denied.  Sometime later, he requested a clergyman.  Again, his request was denied.  The sentence was carried out the next morning, and Hale was hanged.  He was 21 years old.

Hale is best remembered for a speech that he gave just prior to being executed.  It is almost certain that his last speech contained more than one sentence, but it is for the following sentence that he is best remembered.  His last words before facing the gallows were famously reported to be, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”  Subsequent to his execution, Hale’s body has never been found.

The original statue honoring Hale was created by American sculptor Bela Pratt in 1912, and stands in front of Connecticut Hall where Hale resided while at Yale.  The statue located at the south façade of the Justice Department building near the corner of 10th Street and Constitution Avenue is a copy of this sculpture.  The D.C. statue is also part of the “American Revolution Statuary”, a group of fourteen statues in D.C. that are scattered across the city, mainly in squares and traffic circles.  They are listed as a group on the National Register of Historic Places.

Unfortunately, despite visiting the statue and researching it later, I still have no idea why it is located where it is.  So if you know why, or have a theory, please feel free to share it in the comments section below.

         
[Click on the photos to view the full-size versions]

The Brodhead-Bell-Morton Mansion

The Brodhead-Bell-Morton Mansion

On this lunchtime bike ride, as I was riding near Scott Circle in northwest D.C., I saw what looked like commemorative brass plaques on the side of a building.  Wanting to find out more about the plaques and the building, I stopped to look into it.  According to the plaques, the mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and once belonged to Alexander Graham Bell.  Whetting my appetite to find out more about the house, I researched it later when I got back from my ride.

Originally designed in the Victorian style by John Fraser, with construction finishing in 1879, the house was built for John. T. Brodhead and his family.  Based on a subsequent series of prominent owners, it has come to be known as the Brodhead-Bell-Morton Mansion, and is located at 1500 Rhode Island Avenue (MAP) in northwest D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood.

The Brodhead family did not live there long, however,  In 1882, just three years after construction was completed, Brodhead sold the home to lawyer and financier Gardiner Green Hubbard, the father-in-law of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.  According to the home’s National Register of Historic Places registration form, the Hubbards “offered the house to the Bells as an inducement to relocate from the Boston area, and Bell allowed himself to be persuaded.”

However, the original house was not large enough for Bell and his wife Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, so they added a two-story addition on the northeast corner and then a third floor with a steep slated roof.  Bell also made other changes to the house, the most interesting of which was the installation of the city’s first electric burglar alarm system.  It was composed of an elaborate system of wires and bells that connected every door and window in the house to a room Bell referred to as the “central office.”  Indicators in the central office would show instantly whenever a door was opened or shut, or only partially opened.  And if anyone tried to enter the house at night, bells would sound.

It’s too bad that Bell installed a burglar alarm system rather than a smoke detector, however, because a fire destroyed much of the building in 1887. Although it was insured, the damage from the fire was more extensive than what the policy covered.  Bell was able to have the mansion restored anyway.

Then in 1889, just a couple of years after the fire, Bell sold the mansion to Levi Parsons Morton just prior to Morton’s swearing in as Vice President under President Benjamin Harrison.  Morton immediately had the building enlarged with a new east wing, that was designed by John Fraser, the home’s original architect.  Some years later, Morton remodeled the house, converting it into the neoclassical Beaux-Arts architectural style that was all the rage at that time.  Under the hand of prominent American architect John Russell Pope, who later designed The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, The National Archives and Records Administration Building, and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, among other important buildings, Morton had the house transformed into its present-day form.

The mansion would go on to have a number of additional prominent owners and residents, including the Embassy of Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root, Massachusetts Congressman Charles Franklin Sprague, and Count Arturo Cassini, the Russian Ambassador to the U.S.  It then became home to the National Democratic Club, who sold it to the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association.  Finally, in February of last year, it was purchased by the country of Hungary, which moved the Embassy of Hungary there late last year.

I’m glad I noticed the house during this bike ride, and then looked into it later.  The house turned out to have quite a history.  Of course, D.C. is full of history and interesting stories, if you just take the time to look for them.

         
[Click on the photos to view the full-size versions]

Alexandria Market Square and City Hall

Alexandria Market Square and City Hall

On days when I want to go on a longer than usual lunchtime bike ride, one of my favorite destinations is Old Town Alexandria.  And that is where I rode to today.  And it was during this ride I visited the Alexandria Market Square and City Hall, located at 301 King Street (MAP).

The site of the Alexandria Market Square and City Hall originally began as a market beginning in 1749.  Then in 1752, lottery proceeds funded the building of a town hall and courthouse on the site. George Washington served as a justice in this court.  Later, in 1817, a new three-story brick building was constructed, including a town clock tower designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.  But an extensive fire in May of 1871 gutted the building.  Given the importance of the building, the townspeople raised enough money to pay for an exact replica of the former building.  And that building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March of 1984, is still standing today.

The current Second Empire-style building was designed by Adolph Cluss, was a German-born American immigrant who became one of the most important architects in the D.C. area, in the late 19th century.  He was nicknamed the “Red Architect” based on red brick being his favorite building material, and his early communist sympathies, though later in life he became a confirmed Republican.  Cluss is responsible for designing scores of major public buildings in the D.C. area, including at least eleven schools, as well as markets, government buildings, museums, residences and churches.  His designs include the Franklin School and the Sumner School, as well as other notable public buildings in the capital, including the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Building, Calvary Baptist Church, and two of the city’s major food markets, Center Market and Eastern Market.

The original city hall was something of a complex, containing the court facility, both the principal police and fire stations of Alexandria.  The Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge also had its headquarters located in the building until 1945, when it moved out of City Hall and into the new George Washington Masonic National Memorial on nearby King Street.  Today the City Hall building houses many of the Alexandria government offices, including the City Council Chambers on the second floor.

The Historic Town of Occoquan

The Historic Town of Occoquan

With traffic and transit changes anticipated in D.C. because of the long Columbus Day holiday weekend, for this bike ride I chose to go outside of the city.  For this excursion I chose the historic town of Occoquan, located approximately 23 miles south of D.C. in Prince William County, Virginia (MAP).  It is situated on the south bank at the fall line of the Occoquan River, and directly across the river from the Occoquan Regional Park and the Lorton Correctional Facility Beehive Brick Kiln.  With access available via road, river and the East Coast Greenway, it is accessible by car, boat, foot traffic, and by bike.

The town derives its name from an Algonquian Doeg Indian word, meaning “at the end of the water”.  And throughout its existence the river has been its lifeblood.  It was its location on the water which attracted and then sustained its original occupants, indigenous people who relied upon the river for fish and sustenance.  Similarly, for the British and subsequently American colonists who came after them, the river provided an ideal site to for transportation and trade.   A tobacco warehouse was built as early as 1736, and an industrial complex began in 1750.  Within the next several decades Occoquan had iron-manufacturing, a timber trade, quarrying, river-ice, shipbuilding, a bake house, saw mills, warehouses, and Merchant’s Mill, the first automated grist mill in the country.  It operated for 175 years until destroyed by fire.  Later, during the Civil War, the Occoquan Post Office passed letters and packages between North and South.  But eventually river silting and the shift in traffic to railroads reduced ship traffic to Occoquan and ended its days as a port.

Reflecting the rich history of Occoquan, a number of structures in town, including a number in the downtown commercial area, are part of the Occoquan Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  One of the more prominent examples of these structures is Rockledge, the former house of the town’s founder, which sits on an overlook above the town.

But the town has not only survived.  It has thrived.  Today, it is a restored artists’ community, with an eclectic collection of over one hundred specialty shops offering everything from antiques, arts, crafts, fashions, to unique gifts.  The town also offers a public park complete with a gazebo, a town boat dock, a museum, guided ghost walks, and a full array of dining choices, from ice cream and snack stands to a five star restaurant.  And everything is within walking distance, with much of it adjacent to the river.

It was still dark when I arrived this morning, but I found a place named Mom’s Apple Pie Bakery that was already open.  So I indulged in a piece of Shenandoah Peach Pie, which I took down to the waterfront and enjoyed for breakfast as the sun was coming up.  I also purchased a jar of locally-made fresh pumpkin butter to take home.   The bakery, the riverfront, and the entire town were all fun to explore, and a great way to begin Columbus Day, named after a great explorer.

          

         

         

           

         

         

[Click on the photos to view the full-size versions]