Then and Now: 477 H Street, NW

Then: The International Exhange Bank ca. 1920.
Now: Home to the Blinded Veterans Association.
Below is another image of the bank ca. 1920.

Then and Now: The Toronto Apartment Building

The Toronto, located at the southwest corner of 20th and P Streets, NW, began life in 1908. An April 12, 1908, article in the Washington Times described the beginnings of the Toronto in this manner.

Work was commenced last week on the six-story apartment house to be erected at Twentieth and P streets northwest, by Thomas H. Pickford. The architect, A. H. Beers, has also submitted final designs, which have been accepted, for a structure to cost $125,000.

The building will face eighty feet on Twentieth street and ninety feet on P street, with the entrance on the latter street. The materials to be used are gray brick ad stone, while the frame will be of steel.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the building and the one that will most quickly attract the attention of apartment hunters is the abundance of light afforded by the unusual number of windows. On the P street front the plans provide for twenty-five bay windows, with three windows each, and thirty-eight other windows. The Twentieth street front has a corresponding number.

There are to be six apartments on each floor, of four, six, and eight rooms each, an arrangement not found in many Washington apartment houses.

Mr. Pickford expects to have the building ready by the first of October. This is one on the largest pieces of private building now in progress in the District, and will afford employment to a large number of men through the summer. Its completion will add another high-grade apartment building to the already large number constructed in recent years.

Other than being painted, the exterior of the building hasn’t changed that much over the years, as you can see from the images below. It does appear that a decorative cornice has been lost over the years.

Two close up details of the bay window decorations are after the jump

Then and Now: Selling Gas at Florida Ave & P Street, NE

Then and Now: The corner of Florida and P has been providing gas for automobiles for over 80 years. The photo on the left was taken in 1929 when the Penn Oil Company was doing business there. Today the corner is operated by BP.

Then and Now: The Investment Building

Then (left): The Investment Building ca. 1925. Now (right): The same location today.

The Investment Building was scheduled for occupancy on July 1, 1924. Situated on the northwest corner of 15th and K Streets, NW, the building was designed by Washington’s premiere Beaux-Arts architect, Jules Henri de Sibour.

According to the Washington Post of the time, it was considered to be in the Italian renaissance style with the entire frontage finished in limestone. The facades were broken up with fluted ionic columns, the bays emphasized by spiral cut stone and rusticated quoins.

Many novel and interesting features were included in the Investment Building, chief among them the provision for parking in the basement. The Post claimed the building was the first office structure in the East to adopt this feature with parking for 200 automobiles. Other modern conveniences included six high-speed elevators, with express service for the upper floors of the eleven story building. There was also a separate freight elevator.

A public information bureau was also installed in the main lobby which furnished data regarding trains, theaters, hotels, current events, etc., to the general public. This was unique to the Investment building in 1924.

Fast forwarding to 1999, with the exception of the southern and eastern facades, the entire building was razed and replaced by Cesar Pelli. The new Investment Building opened in the fall of 2000. Some consider the new interior space among the best in the city. The upper floors are currently occupied by Sidley Austin LLP.
(Image from March 9, 1924, Washington Post)

Then and Now: 824 Varnum St., NW

824 Varnum as it looked ca. 1920 (left) and as it appears today (2009).

Then and Now: Armored Vehicles

Then: The Postmaster General examines a new bandit proof truck ca. 1925.

Now: a Dunbar Armored vehicle located at the corner of K St. and Connecticut Avenue, July, 2009.

Then and Now: the Congressional Club

Then: A 1914 architectural drawing of the Congressional Club, located on the northeast corner of New Hampshire Avenue and U Street, NW.

Now: Founded in 1908, the original purpose of The Congressional Club was to provide a non-partisan setting for friendships among the spouses of members of the House and Senate in Washington, D.C. Although the scope of the Club and the breadth of its activities have increased over the years, its purpose remains the same.

Then and Now: Gate to Henderson Castle

Then: 1st Division grade school pupils on a field trip in front of the gate to the Henderson Castle ca. 1899.

Now: Still recognizable, though altered, the wall surrounding the Henderson Castle is all that remains of the former estate.

The DC Public Library Commons contains the following information and image of the estate.

Built in 1888 for Senator John Brooks Henderson, the castle stood at the intersection of Florida Avenue and 16th Street, NW (northwest corner). Henderson was a skilled politician and was the man who drafted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In 1949 the house was razed, with only the great stone entrance gate posts having survived the wrecking ball.

Then and Now: 1222-1232 Irving Street, NW

Then: Pictured in the March 3, 1907, Washington Times, the paper had this to say about 1222-1232 Irving Street, NW. The homes are built by L. E. Breuninger, after plans drawn by Architect N. R. Grimm. A radical departure has been made in the building of large front porches to the houses. The idea of course not new, having been a popular one years ago, but its revival now shows a return to a feature in house building which is most desirable through the long summer of this area.
Now: Other than many of them being brightly painted, the chief difference I noticed was the missing balustrade along the roof line.

Then and Now: Southwest Corner of Park Road and 14th Street, NW

Then: Photographed ca. 1920, the Arcade Market at  14th Street and Park Road opened for business on December 12, 1910. It was scheduled to be razed in 1948.

Now: The northern half of the $150 million DC USA complex, which opened in March, 2008, is now on the site.