2505 I STREET NW
Year Built
1892
History
Nos. 2503-2507 were designed in 1892 by Thomas Francis Jr. and built by George W. Dove for T.B. Harrison. They feature large projecting bays and a strong vertical brick cornice. No. 2507 is currently being extensively renovated, while keeping the façade (more or less) – the one next to it (No. 2505) is in dire need of renovation (as of January 2023).
No. 2505 has a long double-hung window above the door in 1982 (in place of the oculus at No. 2503). A metal hood supported by brackets appears over the front door. (EHT Traceries) The house has been in poor conditions since before 2020 - its windows and doors are currently boarded up and the house continues to deteriorate.
Resident/Owner
1894 - Maurice J. Soule, inspector (City Directory)
1897 - May, Maurice and Catherine Colbert (Catherine died Dec. 2, 1898) (City Directory and Evening Star, Dec. 3, 1898, p. 7)
1901 - Mary Connor (Evening Star, Sept. 25, 1901, p.10)
1908 - Dennis MCarthy, conductor (City Directory) , Edwin McCarthy, sign painter (City Directory, 1909)
1911 - William Witt, newsboy, witnessed a murder (Evening Star, Jan. 17, 1911, p. 2)
1912 - Daniel Wrenn family. Their sons, William and Frank and their friends were picked up by a police boat on the Potomac for floating on a hand-made raft made of driftwood. (Evening Star, June 28, 1912, p.22)
1917 - Samuel W. and Lillian Armstrong, Samuel A. Armstrong, 9 years old, and his young friend, Victor Sullivan, were caught "trying to gain entrance into a big department store at 8th and Penn. Ave by the simple method of smashing with a brick at the windows of the revolving door." (Wash. Post, Nov. 24, 1917)
1925 - Charles E. Cooley and William O. Cooley, developers (Deed May 5, 1925, No. 206)
1925 - J. E. Bigger purchases the house from the Cooley brothers (Times Herald, Aug. 8, 1925, p. 16; DC Deeds)
1925 - 1931 Deed transfers from Norman and Mary Shipley Ryon to Herbert and Mattie Smith, and back (DC Deeds)
1926 - Henry and Cornelia Harris. Henry dies at home in February 1926. (Evening Star, Feb. 27, 1926, p. 7)
1930 - John Powell
1934-1991 - Raymond T. Brown shown as owner (DC Deeds)
1937 - James Watson, He has his drivers license revoked for speeding. (Times Herald, Mar. 15, 1937, p. 17)
1937 - Daisey Baltimore, resident, dies at age 50 (Evening Star, Mar. 19, 1937, p.42), David Johnson, (colored) age 49 dies at this residence. (The Afro American, Mar. 27, 1937, p. 31)
1939 - Estelle Greene, celebrates her 14th birthday here on Valentine's Day. (Wash. Afro American, Feb. 4,1939, p. 20)
1940 - Perry Wenzer, works at government hospital. His wife, Lucy, lives elsewhere and filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. (Wash. Afro American, June, 14, 1941, p.3.)
1940 - Frederick Thomas Ellis (age 21) and Lillian Jones (age 22) apply for marriage license. (Evening Star, Jul. 3, 1940, p. 26)
1945 - Clifton Barnes (Evening Star, Nov. 13, 1945, p. 2)
1954 - Mrs. L. R. Wenzer (see 1940-?) (City Directory)
1955 - James Duffin, dies in Georgetown Hospital, age 54. (Evening Star, June 7, 1955)
1960 - listed as vacant
1963 - Robert S. Crawford and Frank L. Beese, Jr.
1970 - Richard F. Benson (City Directory)
1991 - Melissa Charron (DC Deeds)
Recollections
Source Material
Boyds City Directory, 1914
Foggy Bottom News, June 1963, FBA member directory
EHT Traceries, historic house survey and photo, 6/1982
FBA History Project, "Rows with Spacious Front Gardens." Clio: Your Guide to History. https://theclio.com/tour/2098/10
DC Property Quest
2505 I St. (Foggy Bottom News, Feb. 1960)
Street view (D. Vogt, May 2022)
Backyard view (D. Vogt, May 2022)
2507-2505 I St., 1983 (EHT Traceries)
Facade in 2005. (DC Property Quest Image)