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Hilleary's Smiling Corner
Welcome to "Hilleary's Smiling Corner," named for Albert and Flora Hilleary, who ran the corner grocery store here from about 1919 to 1961. Like many other corner stores in Georgetown, this was a gathering place for the neighborhood. Children played marbles on the sidewalk, barbershop quartets sang in the store, and hunters met here almost every Friday night to discuss their triumph and smoke cigars.
"Pops" Hilleary was small of stature, but large of heart. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, he gave away groceries to neighbors in need with little expectation of payment. Many people credited Albert and Flora Hilleary with getting them through the Depression.
The store was originally built around 1805, shortly after the Federal government moved to Washington. The exterior remains largely unchanged from the days of "Hilleary's Smiling Corner," but it is now a private home. |