Existing comment:
Sheridan Kalorama
Call Box Restoration Project
History of Sheridan-Kalorama
The area known as Sheridan-Kalorama was patented to John Langsworth by King Charles II in 1668. It was later sold to Anthony Holmead who in turn willed it to his nephew. in 1791, as L'Enfant laid out his plans for the boundaries of the new federal city, this area was not included. It would remain rural and isolated for nearly a century.
In 1807 Joel Barlow, a Connecticut native and friend of President Thomas Jefferson, bought the property (essentially all of present-day Sheridan-Kalorama) for $14,000 Barlow remodeled and expanded an existing house and named it Kalorama, from the Greek for "beautiful view."
Development north along Connecticut Avenue did not begin until after 1890. Then a new American elite -- tycoons of mining, banking, shipping and railroads - triggered a building boom in Kalorama. Soon bridges were built across Rock Creek Valley on Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues. New Beaux-arts style apartments began to line Connecticut Avenue and California Street, lending a distinctive architectural cachet to this area. By the 1920s, elites built elegant row houses and enormous mansions along Massachusetts Avenue and interior streets.
During the 1920s and 1930s many of these mansions became embassies, making Sheridan-Kalorama the most international section of the capital city.
The neighborhood was also home to five presidents (before and after their presidencies), three chief justices of the Supreme Court, and numerous other influential persons. History, power and prestige converge here. We invite you to enjoy and learn more about Sheridan-Kalorama by using this call box locator map as your guide.
Art on Call
Art on Call uses the remaining antique fire and police call boxes to create public art across the city. A committee of residents began working together in 2003 to implement the project here in Sheridan-Kalorama, focusing on three themes: history, architecture and personalities. In the effort to transform these relics of another day into permanent sentinels of beauty and historical significance, the committee benefited immensely from the talents and creativity of several Washington artists and historians and the financial support of many friends of the project.
Art on Call, a program of Cultural Tourism DC is funded in part by the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, the Department of Transportation, and the Office of Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Fire Call Box
In early times leather buckets filled with water or sand were the first defense against a dreaded fire. By the early 1900s fire alarm boxes such as this one alerted the fire department to the need for immediate assistance. When the lever on the box was pulled, a signal was transmitted to central headquarters. There a paper tape was punched with the box number's location. Units such as the horse-drawn fire wagon shown here then raced to the fire. Three fire companies served Sheridan-Kalorama: Engine Co. 9. 1624 U Street NW (from 1693); Ladder Truck F, 1338 Park Road NW (from 1901): and Engine Co. 21, 1763 Lanier Place NW (from 1908).
Police Call Box
By 1885 Kalorama had been surveyed and platted. As the city expanded into this neighborhood -- slowly due to isolation from street car lines and high land values -- the need for police services followed. This original police call box depicts a footman on patrol calling the precinct house. Each call box connected directly to the precinct switch board. A light above that board showed the location of the call. The patrol officer reported hourly from one of the seven neighborhood boxes. A rule of the job was never to call twice from the same box, for that the told the sergeant that the beat was not being walked. These call boxes remained in use into the 1960s.
About the Artist:
Michael K. Ross, artist is a sculptor and painter in the realist style.
www.sheridankaloramacallbox.org |