Built in 1921, the University Club of Washington, DC, is a still-standing testament to the ever-evolving social scene of Washington. Originally constructed for the Racquet Club (organized in 1919), and a prime example of the Classical Revival style, the University Club was designed as an athletic club for men and included state-of-the-art athletic facilities, such as a swimming pool, bowling alley, and squash courts. Over the years, the Racquet Club – and later, the University Club, following a merger in 1936 – would see many prominent members, including General John G. Pershing, honorary member President Warren G. Harding, honorary member Vice President Calvin Coolidge, and William Howard Taft when he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Private clubs, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, were established to improve the social standing and physical appearance of American cities. At the time, most of them were exclusive to wealthy white men, many of whom were prominent figures in politics, government, business, and the military.
Private clubs offered them space for conversations that centered around social and civic reforms, as well as science, literature, and art. The first social club that formed in Washington was the Metropolitan Club, which was established in 1863, and others followed shortly thereafter: the Washington Club (1872), the Cosmos Club (1878), and the Alibi Club (1884). Members of clubs were also provided with lodging.
The Racquet Club was organized in 1919 as a professional club that offered athletic opportunities for businessmen. At an organizing meeting in February 1920, 200 men became lifetime members for a due of $1,000. This, as well as the membership fees of the following year’s new members, enabled the construction of the current clubhouse at 1135 16th Street NW. Chartered in January 1920, Col. Henry May was elected as the first President of the Racquet Club, and his vice president, Jules Henri de Sibour, would be the one to design the new club building. De Sibour is known for other major commissions in Washington, such as the McLachlen Building, McCormick Apartments, and Hamilton Hotel.
The building, when planned, was estimated to cost approximately $500,000. It was constructed by Harry Wardman, a prolific developer in early twentieth century Washington. His notable accomplishments included the construction of over 400 apartment buildings, numerous rowhouses, and the Carlton (1925) and Hay-Adams (1927) hotels. Completed in 1921 at a sum of $1,000,000, the Racquet Club’s new building was considered one of the finest clubhouses in the United States.
In 1936, amidst financial troubles during the Great Depression, the University Club merged with the Racquet Club, moving into its current location in December 1936. The University Club had been founded in 1904, when 40 university and college alumni organizations in Washington, DC, came together to create a clubhouse for college-educated men to socialize with one another. Its first president was future president and chief justice William Howard Taft, then the Secretary of War. The University Club’s first building was designed by famous local architect George Oakley Totten Jr. and completed in 1912. It still stands today on the west side of McPherson Square, and later served as the headquarters of the United Mine Workers of America.
In a moment of outreach and to acknowledge the suffragette movement, the University Club allowed women to dine in the main dining room (only on Sundays). In 1929, women were invited to participate in educational programs. Prominent members of the University Club included Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Melville Fuller, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute Charles Walcott, and Totten Jr.
In the mid-1980s, a round of renovations were proposed to provide facilities for women, who were allowed to join the club beginning in 1984, following a vote to amend the bylaws. The first female member was Jo Anne Murphy, an architect, and the daughter and granddaughter of club members. The club would elect its first female president, Susan Neely, then Special Assistant to the President and the Director of Communications for the Department of Homeland Security.
Designed in a Classical Revival style, the University Club building on 16th Street NW includes many key details, such as the limestone string courses, overhanging cornice, and engaged columns. Its facade is clad in red brick and includes limestone detailing. At the center, above the entrance marquee, is a large room that is faced with paired ionic pilasters supporting an entablature. Above the limestone entablature is a medallion adorned with the letters “UC” for University Club.
DC Inventory: January 25, 2024
National Register: April 4, 2024
]]>Designed by noted local architect Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938), the Beaux-Arts style Hamilton Hotel opened in 1922. The eleven-story limestone and terra cotta building offered out-of-town guests and locals meeting rooms, a gracious dining room, and a cocktail lounge known as the Rainbow Room. The generous public spaces became important gathering places for a larger community of union labor leaders, such as William Green (1873-1952), president of the American Federation of Labor from 1924 to 1952, who lived at the Hamilton. The Hamilton Hotel has undergone several major renovations to keep with the demands of a modern hotel. Despite the hotel’s numerous renovations, the building maintains its architectural integrity and historical significance.
DC Inventory: November 29, 2012
National Register: April 17, 2013
]]>Erected in 1912, the Riggs or Albee Building and the adjoining theater were built on a site formerly occupied by the Riggs House, a large hotel demolished in 1911. Originally, the building was known as the Riggs Building, and the adjoining theater as Chase’s. However, after the building was sold to the Claremont Theater Corporation, the name of the office building was changed from Riggs to Albee.
The theater came to be known as Keith’s, a notable vaudeville and motion picture house, prominent in the entertainment industry in DC. The Keith-Albee Theater was a part of the B.F. Keith vaudeville circuit, which became a part of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum chain, and then RKO Pictures. President William Howard Taft attended the opening in 1912, and President Woodrow Wilson regularly attended. Entertainers at the theater included: Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallée, Laurel and Hardy, and ZaSu Pitts.
Designed by Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938), the distinctive Beaux-Arts facade of the office building and theater forms a strong architectural unit with the adjacent National Metropolitan Bank Building and complements the nearby Treasury Department.
The movie theater closed in 1978. The rear portion of the building and the theater were demolished in 1979, as part of the demolition of Rhodes’ Tavern and redevelopment of the block. It is now part of the Metropolitan Square office building.
DC Inventory: November 2, 1977
National Register: September 7, 1978
Within Financial Historic District
]]>The U.S. Public Health Building, now the Department of the Interior South building, was built as the first headquarters of the U.S. Public Health Service. The building is set back from Constitution Avenue on a raised terrace, with its primary elevation facing Constitution Avenue, approached by a formal walkway that leads to the main building entrance and crosses a lawn terrace slope that continues around the east and west sides of the building.
Although its name and purpose has changed, the building retains much of the same architectural fabric that characterized it when it was constructed in 1933. Ceiling heights and lighting in the main corridors have changed, which included adding a dropped ceiling with fluorescent fixtures. In the elevator lobbies on each floor, partition walls and doors have been added to separate the lobby from corridors. Despite these changes, the Interior Department South building retains a high level of historic integrity in its public spaces and exterior arrangement.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
National Register: July 5, 2007
]]>Established in 1889, the stock brokerage firm W. B. Hibbs & Co. was the only member of the New York Stock Exchange headquartered in DC at the time. By 1908, W. B. Hibbs & Co. moved into this new office space. Architects Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938) and Bruce Price (1845-1903) designed the building in the Beaux Arts style. The Beaux Arts style is closely tied to the era’s popular City Beautiful Movement, which promoted harmonious social order through urban beautification. Although the building has since undergone a series of modernizing renovations, the exterior facade and many interior features have been well preserved over the years. The organization continued to operate under the name W. B. Hibbs & Co. until 1953, when the firm merged with Folger, Nolan & Co. At the time of the merger, Folger, Nolan & Co. operated out of the American Security & Trust Building across the street. In 1989, the merged firms, now known as Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Inc., celebrated their 100th anniversary. The firm still occupies the building to this day. DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)National Register: March 19, 1991
]]>Following the merger of two banks, this building operated as the headquarters for the new Federal-American National Bank. The bank building was designed by architect Alfred C. Bossom (1881-1965), in association with Washington’s leading Beaux-Arts practitioner, Jules Henri de Sibour (1872 -1938). Built between 1925 and 1926, the bank has an unusual plan, with the banking room on a raised main floor and retail space at street level (as illustarted by the shoe store that once operated on the lower level, below the bank). This architectural design is unique to DC bank buildings in the early 20th century, in that it utilized the second floor to separate internal financial business from the cacophonous noise of the street. The building features a monumental Classical Revival façade in limestone, with large arched windows, engaged columns, sculptural embellishment, and a bronze vestibule. The banking room is designed in the Renaissance Revival style and has a marble entrance stair, mezzanine, elaborate polychrome coffered ceiling, chandeliers, ornamentation in classical motifs, and an innovative open counter design. In October 1930, Federal-American merged with Merchants Bank and Trust, and operated four branches in the city — in addition to its central office. Despite this apparent success, the banking crisis of 1933 and the ensuing financial turmoil of the Great Depression rendered the bank insolvent. Thus, it did not receive a government license to resume operation. Part of this closure was due to the Federal-American building itself, an impressive and costly structure that constituted the majority of the bank’s financial reservoirs during a time of crisis. This type of investment is not easily liquidated, and was a major factor in the closure of banks, which precipitated the Great Depression. Federal-American was just one of many bank casualties across the nation. The federal government established Hamilton National Bank out of seven local banks (including Federal-American) and the central office was operated out of this building. In 1954, Hamilton merged with the National Bank of Washington and retained residence at this stunning building on 14th Street NW. The building then sat vacant for a number of years, awaiting a new use. In recent years, the original bank building has undergone an extensive restoration and renovation, and now operates as office, retail, and restaurant space. The building now includes a rooftop deck, fitness club, and terrace gardens. An 11-story office building facing G Street has also been added to the building’s rear elevation. Both the bank building’s exterior and interior are historically designated. DC Inventory: July 18, 1990
National Register: December 29, 1994Within Financial Historic District
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