Decatur House

Last updated
Decatur House
Decatur House north side.jpg
North side of Decatur House as restored 2006–2008.
Location map Washington, D.C. central.png
Red pog.svg
USA District of Columbia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location748 Jackson Pl., NW.
Washington, D.C.
Coordinates 38°54′0.2″N77°2′17.4″W / 38.900056°N 77.038167°W / 38.900056; -77.038167
Area< 1-acre (0.40 ha)
Built1818
ArchitectBenjamin Henry Latrobe
Architectural styleFederal
Part of Lafayette Square Historic District (ID70000833)
NRHP reference No. 66000858
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 19, 1960 [2]
Designated NHLDCPAugust 29, 1970

Decatur House is a historic house museum at 748 Jackson Place in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It is named after its first owner and occupant, the naval officer Stephen Decatur. [2] The house (built, 1818) is located at the northwest corner of Lafayette Square, at the southwest corner of Jackson Place and H Street, about a block from the White House.

Contents

In 1836, new owners built an outbuilding on the property at the back which was in part used for slave quarters. Until the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, weekly auctions of enslaved black persons were held in the house's backyard, now a wedding venue. [3] [4] [5] The building currently houses a museum, as well as the National Center for White House History, operated by the White House Historical Association.

History

Decatur House is one of the oldest surviving homes in Washington, D.C., and one of only three remaining houses in the country designed by neoclassical architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Completed in 1818 for naval hero Stephen Decatur and his wife, Susan, the Federal Style house is prominently located across Lafayette Square from the White House. It was successively home to Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren and Edward Livingston, who collectively made Decatur House the unofficial residence of the Secretary of State from 1827 to 1833, each renting the house while they served in that post.

The foyer of the Decatur House, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, shown in its restored state. DecaturFoyer1.JPG
The foyer of the Decatur House, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, shown in its restored state.

In 1836 the wealthiest man in Washington D.C., John Gadsby and his wife Providence moved into the house and brought their house slaves. [6] They built a two-story structure at the back to house the home's kitchen and serve as quarters for those Gadsby had enslaved, who previously lived in the main house. This structure is one of the few surviving examples of urban slave quarters. It is also one of the only surviving pieces of physical evidence that African Americans were once held "in bondage [within] sight of the White House." [7]

Following John Gadsby's death, the home was again rented to a series of prominent tenants. In order, these were Vice President George M. Dallas, publisher and former Mayor of Washington Joseph Gales, Congressmen and brothers John A. King and James G. King, Rep. William Appleton, Speaker of the House James Lawrence Orr and Sen. Judah Benjamin. During the Civil War it was used as Army offices and then sat empty for six years.

Decatur House was purchased in 1872 by Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a frontiersman and explorer who later became a rancher and diplomat. [8] Beale's daughter-in-law, Marie, bequeathed Decatur House to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The house was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976. [2] [9]

Decatur House, now a museum, is located at 748 Jackson Place, N.W., on President's Park (Lafayette Park). The lower floor is kept in the style of the early 19th century while the upper floor was renovated in the early 20th century.

Because of the centrality of its location, the status of its residents, and the fact that urban slaves worked there across from the White House, the house now contains much material interpreting African American history. Among the stories is that of Charlotte Dupuy, who in 1829 sued her master Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, for her freedom and that of her two children. While she lost her court case, Clay finally freed Dupuy and her daughter in 1840, and her son in 1844. A special exhibit on African American history through 1965 has recently been added to the museum and its website. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's Park</span> United States historic place

President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashland (Henry Clay estate)</span> Historic house in Kentucky, United States

Ashland is the name of the plantation of the 19th-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, located in Lexington, Kentucky, in the central Bluegrass region of the state. The buildings were built by enslaved African Americans, and enslaved people grew and harvested hemp, farmed livestock, and cooked and cleaned for the Clays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadsby's Tavern</span> Historic commercial building in Virginia, United States

Gadsby's Tavern is a complex of historic buildings at 134 and 138 North Royal Street at the corner of Cameron Street in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Virginia. The complex includes a c.1785 tavern, the 1792 City Tavern and Hotel, and an 1878 hotel addition. The taverns were a central part of the social, economic, political, and educational life of the city of Alexandria at the time. Currently, the complex is home to Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant, American Legion Post 24, and Gadsby's Tavern Museum, a cultural history museum. The museum houses exhibits of early American life in Virginia, and the restaurant operates in the original 1792 City Tavern dining room, serving a mixture of period and modern foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Square (New Orleans)</span> United States historic place

Jackson Square, formerly the Place d'Armes (French) or Plaza de Armas (Spanish), is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, for its central role in the city's history, and as the site where in 1803 Louisiana was made United States territory pursuant to the Louisiana Purchase. In 2012 the American Planning Association designated Jackson Square as one of the Great Public Spaces in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Octagon House</span> Historic house in Washington, D.C., United States

The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is a house located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was built in 1799 for John Tayloe III, the wealthiest planter in the country, at the behest of his new family member, George Washington. In September 1814, after British forces burnt the White House during the War of 1812, for six months the Octagon House served as the residence of United States president James Madison and first lady Dolley Madison. It is one of only five houses to serve as the presidential residence in the history of the United States of America, and one of only three, along with the White House and Blair House, that still stand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette Square Historic District, Washington, D.C.</span> Historic district in Washington, D.C., United States

The Lafayette Square Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in Washington, D.C., encompassing a portion of the original L'Enfant Plan for the city's core. It includes the 7-acre (2.8 ha) Lafayette Square portion of President's Park, all of the buildings facing it except the White House, and the buildings flanking the White House to the east and west. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark Mills Studio</span> Clark Mills first sculpture studio, Charleston, SC (1837-1848)

The Charleston, South Carolina, studio of sculptor Clark Mills, was his first—he worked there from 1837 to 1848, when he moved to Washington, DC. The Charleston studio was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1965. Before it became Mills' studio, the building, located at 51 Broad Street, Charleston originally served as a tenement house, and now houses professional offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Place</span> Street in Washington DC

Jackson Place is a Washington, D.C. street located across from the White House and forming the western border of Lafayette Square between Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street, NW, beginning just south of Connecticut Avenue. Facing the street are mostly 19th century town homes which are now generally used for government offices of other official functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Executive Office Building</span> U.S. federal government office building

The New Executive Office Building (NEOB) is a U.S. federal government office building in Washington, D.C., for the executive branch.

Charlotte Dupuy, also called Lottie, was an enslaved African-American woman who filed a freedom suit in 1829 against her enslaver, Henry Clay, who was then Secretary of State. The case went to trial 17 years before Dred Scott filed his more famous legal challenge to slavery. Then, living in Washington, D.C., Dupuy sued for her freedom and that of her two children based on a promise by her previous enslaver. The case was one of the many freedom suits filed by enslaved people in the decades before the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C.</span>

Being the site of military battles, deadly duels, assassinations, untimely deaths, and other associated tragedies, there are a number of reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutts–Madison House</span> Historic building in Washington, D.C.

The Cutts–Madison House is an American colonial-style historic home, now used for offices located at 1520 H Street NW in Washington, D.C. The house is best known for being the residence of former First Lady Dolley Madison, who lived there from November 1837 until her death in July 1849.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.</span> Urban park and square in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park located within President's Park in Washington, D.C., directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsylvania Avenue on the south. It is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and hero of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and includes several statues of revolutionary heroes from Europe, including Lafayette, and at its center a famous statue of early 19th century U.S. president and general Andrew Jackson on horseback with both of the horse's front hooves raised.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House</span> Federal-style house located at 21 Madison Place NW in Washington, D.C.

The Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House is a Federal-style house located at 21 Madison Place NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The house is on the northeast corner of Madison Place NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, directly across the street from the White House and the Treasury Building. Built in 1828 by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, son of Colonel John Tayloe III, the house became a salon for politically powerful people in the federal government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (Washington, D.C.)</span> Equestrian statue by Clark Mills in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Andrew Jackson is a bronze equestrian statue by Clark Mills mounted on a white marble base in the center of Lafayette Square within President's Park in Washington, D.C., just to the north of the White House. Jackson is depicted dressed in military uniform, raising his hat with his right hand, while controlling the reins with his left hand as his horse rises on its rear legs. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette (Washington, D.C.)</span> Statue by Alexandre Falguière in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette is a statue in the southeast corner of Lafayette Square, in Washington, D.C., near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Madison Place, across the street from the White House. The statue was erected in 1891 to honor Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and his contributions in the American Revolutionary War. The square, originally part of the President's Park, was named in honor of the Marquis in 1824 during a visit he made to the U.S. The statuary was made by Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié, and the architect who designed the marble pedestal was Paul Pujol. The monument comprises a bronze statue of the Marquis de Lafayette about 11 ft (3.4 m) high, standing on a French marble pedestal with four faces decorated with classical mouldings, accompanied by seven additional bronze statues, all larger than life size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gadsby (tavern keeper)</span>

John Gadsby was an English tavernkeeper in Alexandria, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedman's Bank Building</span> United States historic place

The Freedman's Bank Building, previously known as the Treasury Annex, is a historic office building located on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It sits on the east side of Lafayette Square, a public park on the north side of the White House, and across from the Treasury Building. The adjoining properties include the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building to the north and the former Riggs National Bank to the east.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Decatur House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  3. Bishop, Jim (2013-10-22). The Day Lincoln Was Shot. Harper Collins. p. 18. ISBN   978-0-06-137487-6.
  4. "Make History Your Story". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  5. "Triumph and Tragedy at Decatur House". 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  6. "Triumph and Tragedy at Decatur House". 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  7. "The Slave Quarters" Archived 2009-05-02 at the Wayback Machine , Decatur House, accessed 21 Apr 2009
  8. Gerald Thompson, Edward F. Beale and the American West, University of New Mexico Press, 1983.
  9. W. Brown Morton, III (February 8, 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Decatur House" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying three photos, exterior, from 1971  (32 KB)
  10. 'The Half Had Not Been Told Me': The African American History of Lafayette Square (1795-1965), accessed 21 Apr 2009 Archived 2009-05-02 at the Wayback Machine