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F. Leone, 2022

2637 I Street NW

YEAR BUILT:

1879

HISTORY

Following the construction of the Potomac River Freeway, the three isolated row houses (2635, 2637, 2639 I St.) are all that remains of the once-thriving neighborhood west of 26th Street. The houses were included in the original proposal for the Foggy Bottom Historic District, but omitted from the final designation, so they lack historic protection. The highway construction has left the houses difficult to access.

Nos. 2635 and 2637 were constructed in 1879 by Peter McCartney for owner Gilbert Cannon. The houses are relatively simple and are two stories and three bays wide. The facade features a box cornice with soffit, frieze, and dentils painted white, although slightly different from No. 2635.

RESIDENT(S)/ OWNER(S)


1890 - Algernon White
1900 - Thomas Brooks, cook (CD)
1910 - Lucy Harris, Rachel and Thomas Johnson, James Jones (CD, Census 1910)
1920 - 1950 Allen Coates (b. 1876), widow working at government barbering office. His children of two sons who work as laborers, and two daughters. Ruth Phoenix and her daughter and son-in law and two grandchildren. (Census 1920)
1983 - Harold L. Boutin

RECOLLECTIONS

SOURCE MATERIAL

FBA History Project, Foggy Bottom Historic District Walking Tour, "Highway Overlook - Lost Foggy Bottom." https://theclio.com/entry/142862
Frank Leone, Funkstown, "The Highway that Ate Foggy Bottom." Dec. 3, 2022, https://www.foggybottomassociation.org/post/funkstown-the-highway-that-ate-foggy-bottom
City Directory
Census
EHT Traceries, historic area house survey, 1983

GALLERY

DOCUMENTS

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