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Tour Of Duty: Barracks Row Heritage Trail
Stop #13: In The Alley:
F Street Terrace, SE
You are standing in one of Washington's remaining inhabited alleys, behind the buildings that front G, E (there is no F Street), Sixth, and Seventh streets. In 1897 the alley had 22 tiny dwellings sheltering well over 100 people. Today six remain, to the right of this sign across the alley on Archibald Walk and the adjacent alley.
In 1841 Samuel A. H.Marks, Sr. (1818-1885) built his home at 630 G Street with stables and workshops on the alley behind the house. He practiced law and sold metal work crafted here from his hardware store at 641 E Street, which backs onto the alley. His major client was the Marine Corps. A popular figure,Marks was known as the man who trained his dog to run between his two front coach horses as he drove Capitol Hill's streets.
By 1900 the prolific builder Charles Gessford and others had added the tiny brick houses on Marks Court (now the parking lot) and here along F Street Terrace.
William A. Simpson (1864-1948) bought Marks's properties around 1900 and expanded the stables for his Walker Hill Dairy, which delivered Frederick County, Maryland, milk to area doorsteps until 1929.
Eventually eight alley houses were razed for the warehouse across from this sign. The warehouse has served as Shakespeare Theatre's set and prop shop and a woodworking studio. In 1952, after city authorities complained about squalid conditions, most of the dwellings were razed for the parking lot. The six survivors are now prized residences along Archibald Walk, named for long-time Capitol Hill resident Archibald Donohoe. |