Meridian of Architecture

A look at our evolving neighborhood, and the buildings still standing throughout the years. DC is rich with architectural history and beauty, U Street and Meridian Hill are no different. Catalogued below are just a handful of some of the historic buildings in the area.

First is the Manhattan Laundry Building in Florida Ave. It’s actually comprised of three different buildings, the first of which dates all the way back to 1877 and it was built by the Georgetown Railroad Company. The Manhattan Laundry bought it the building in 1905, and it got its Art Deco facade in 1936. By 1979 the building was damaged by a fire and faced demolition until it was saved by a group of artists.

Manhattan Laundry, 1326 Florida Ave, N.W. (circa 1935, restored 1987)

The oldest building of the three Manhattan Laundry Buildings, 1348 Florida NW is now Franklin Hall Beer Hall and Columbe Coffee Shop.

The True Reformer building at 1200 U St was the first building in DC designed by an African American architect John Anderson Lankford. The building was commissioned in 1902 by the Grand United Order of True Reformers association.

A lot of the Palatial architecture around Meridian Hill was commissioned by Mary Foote Henderson, the wife of Senator John B. Henderson, who was once referred to as the “Empress of Sixteenth Street.”

George Oakley Totten Jr. was her architect of choice, so he’s designed several buildings in the neighborhood including the Pink Palace. It is now the Inter-American Defense Board headquarters.

The mansion’s first tenant tragically died in the Titanic. Franklin MacVeagh later took up residence. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President William Howard Taft.

Another building commissioned by Mary Foote Henderson and designed by Totten in 1923, right across from Meridian Hill Park, is The Art of Living Foundation, once called Meridian Hall it used to serve as the Embassy for Egypt.

In 1927, the Foote and Totten duo also built 2437 Fifteenth Street NW together, which you can see below. It was originally the Embassy for Hungary, it is now the Josephine Butler Parks Center.

Established in 1858, St. Augustine Catholic Church was the first Black parish in DC. You’re sure to notice it from Meridian Hill Park, it’s located at 1419 V St NW. See how the church looked originally after it’s revival.