Funkstown - Starting at Square 1

By Frank Leone

The 1792 map of the new City of Washington contained about 1,136 numbered blocks (called “squares”) and Square 1 is right here in Foggy Bottom. The square is supposed to be D.C. parkland, but it’s mostly vacant, over arched by highway ramps and used for highway equipment storage. It contains a large circular building (2701 Virginia Ave.) that resembles the Washington Gas gasholders that used to stand nearby, but is a Metro traction power station. The area may be developed as part of the National Capital Planning Commission’s Kennedy Center Cultural District, although it’s been suggested as a parking lot for Georgetown tourist buses.

Over the past 300 years, Square 1 hosted one of the first brick houses built in the City of Washington (by a noted architect), commercial wharves on the Potomac and Rock Creek, stone yards, lime kilns, carpentry shops, civil war encampments, the Briggs-Montgomery Elementary School for African American children, and numerous residents and corner stores. In 1996-1997, as part of Whitehurst freeway ramp construction, D.C. Department of Transportation consultants conducted archeological exploration in the area, including of the Peter House (b.1795) on Square 5 (between 26^th, K, 27^th streets and Virginia Avenue), and Native American artifacts on Square 1. Here’s what else they found out about Square 1.

In 1719, the area included a cornfield, a tobacco house, and a small dwelling. The land was later owned by Robert Peter (mayor of Georgetown) and in 1791, it became part of the City of Washington. By 1793, the square was divided into 22 lots around a central court, Reed’s Alley. The riverside lots fronted on wharves where construction materials – stone and lumber - were unloaded and worked before being taken to sites in the new nation’s capital.

 1883 “Birdseye View of Washington,” circled area is Square 1, containing industrial facilities at that time (Crane Fig. 6-8 from Sachse, A. and Co., The national capital, Washington City, D.C., 1883, Library of Congress).

Leonard Harbaugh was a “master builder and inventor” from Baltimore who started building “Federal Bridge” across Rock Creek at K Street connecting Georgetown and Foggy Bottom in 1792 – one of earliest government projects in Washington. Starting in 1793, he bought lots in Square 1 near the bridge and built a two-story brick house (which stood until 1908) and adjacent workshop (burned down in 1799). This location allowed access to the bridge which failed and had to be rebuilt several times. In the early 1800s additional residents included General John Peabody, a Navy clerk, printer, bricklayer, ship carpenter, boatman, grocer, and baker.

C&O Canal construction in 1830 did away with the wharves on the east side of Rock Creek. But Foggy Bottom’s location as the terminus of the Canal promoted increased industrial use of the area during the 1840s and 1850s. During the Civil War, Square 1 was near the Western Wharves which brought supplies to the City. The area was likely used as a makeshift camp for supply wagon trains. Archeologists found civil war bullets and uniform buttons at the site.

In the second half of the 18^th century, Square 1 supported industrial facilities including a stone yard, Cammack and Decker and other lime kilns (1870-1884), the A. and J.S. Frey Co. construction company, and the William H. Dyer (wood) Planing Mill (1875-1890) (manufacturer of “most anything in wood used in buildings”). In 1875, Square 1 hosted 20 houses – mostly occupied by Irish and African American migrants – one store and one restaurant.  

1884 Advertisement for Cammack and Decker Lime Works (Crane, Fig. 7-4, citing Barton, Elmer E., 1884 Historical and Commercial Sketches of Washington and Environs, our Capital City, the Paris of America. Published by the author, Washington, DC.1884).

In 1903, the HP Montgomery School for African American students from kindergarten to eighth grade was built. It was expanded in 1941 and 1954 and renamed Briggs-Montgomery. The population continued to grow to nearly 50 listings in 1920 City Directory, mostly African American, mostly laborers and laundresses, but also clerks and drivers. Reed alley did not contain a significant population like Snows, Hughes, and Green’s courts, but may have been used for informal housing for workers. In 1920, there were immigrant-operated grocery stores on 27^th Street, operated by a Russian Jewish family, an English/German couple, and a pre-prohibition Irish former saloon, now grocery/lunch/cigar/“soft drink” store.

The intersection of K and 27^th Streets, showing Square 1 – featuring Briggs-Montgomery School and Square 5 – the tall building is the Peter House (DC Dept of Transportation 1947).

After 1910, most of the industries closed (although there was still a gravel and sand yard). In the early 1930s, Rock Creek Parkway construction added 15 feet of fill dirt to bring Square 1 along 28^th Street up to grade. Whitehurst Freeway expansion and Potomac Freeway construction in the late1950s-early 1960s razed structures in Square 1. The Square has remained essentially undeveloped to the current day. In 2001, it was transferred from the DC Department of Public Works to the Department of Parks and Recreation for use as parkland but that hasn’t happened. The National Capital Planning Commission vision reimagines the area as part of a connection of the Foggy Bottom, West End, and Georgetown neighborhoods to provide a safe natural setting for pedestrians and bikers.

Sources: Crane, Brian, et al., Parsons & Versar, Inc., The Archeology of an Urban Landscape, The Whitehurst Freeway Archaeological Project, Volume II:  Historic Sites, prepared for the D.C. Department of Transportation, August 2006; Bob Arnebeck, Through a Fiery Trial: Building Washington 1790-1800, Madison Books, 1991; Foggy Bottom House History Map; FBA History Project.