DC -- Capitol Hill -- Sewall-Belmont House and Museum:
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- SEW_161019_01.JPG: 2015 Alice Award Winners
- SEW_161019_04.JPG: Note the photo credit!
- SEW_161019_17.JPG: Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
Fiery Destruction
"[The British] put a slow match to the [Sewall] house … and those rockets burst until … they made the rafters fly East and West."
-- Enslaved African American diarist and eyewitness, Michael Shiner.
As the British marched along B Street (today's Constitution Avenue) on August 24, 1814, to burn the U.S. Capitol, they passed this house, owned by Robert Sewall. Suddenly shots rang out. Two British soldiers were dead, several were wounded, and Major General Ross's horse was shot out from under him. the British rushed into Sewall's house but found no snipers. In retaliation, they set fire to the house, one of the city's finest. When the invasion ended, Sewall's was one of the few private structures destroyed by the British. The family rebuilt here after peace returned.
Torching the Capitol
After burning Sewall's house, the British resumed their march to the Capitol. There they planted the Union Jack and set fire to the not-yet-complete structure.
British troops entered Washington from the east following their victory at Bladensburg. After burning the Capitol they continued west and burned the President's House. Their route is marked in red on this 1802 map. The map shows streets planned for the city, but not all of them existed in 1814.
In the summer of 1814 the United States had been at war with Great Britain for two years. Battlefronts had erupted from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. On August 24, following their victory over the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, British troops marched on Washington with devastating results.
The Star-Spangled Banner Historic Trail reveals sites of the War of 1812 in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland. Visit ChesapeakeExplorerApp.com or download the Chesapeake Explorer App.
- SEW_161019_24.JPG: National Park Service
US Department of the Interior
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
National Mall and Memorial Parks
144 Constitution Avenue NE
- Wikipedia Description: Sewall-Belmont House and Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, is a historic house and museum of the U.S. women's suffrage and equal-rights movements.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
It was built on a tract of land originally granted to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore by King Charles I of England. The property was divided several times, and it was Daniel Carroll who ultimately ceded much of the land to the United States as a site for the new capital. After Washington was laid out, Carroll bought a small parcel of land and in 1799 sold the property to Robert Sewall. According to his tax records, Sewall built the main house in 1800. He attached it to a small one-room farmhouse believed by some experts to date from 1750. Tradition has it that British troops set fire to the house during the War of 1812. It is believed that gunshots from or behind the Sewall residence provoked the attack.
The house has undergone several architectural changes and restorations. The house remained in the possession of Sewall descendants until 1922, when it was purchased by Senator Porter H. Dale of Vermont. In 1929, Dale sold it to the National Woman's Party, and it has been the party's headquarters ever since.
Today, the house is also a museum that houses many banners, documents, pieces of furniture, and other artifacts of the women's suffrage and equal rights movement, as well as sculptures and portraits of women involved in the movements.
The Sewall-Belmont House is located at 144 Constitution Ave., NE. It is open Wedneday through Sunday from noon to 4:00 pm. Guided tours begin at noon, 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm. The nearest Metro stop is Union Station.
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