Danzansky Funeral Home
This funeral home was an important site for DC’s Jewish community, operating in this building for over fifty years.
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Bernard Danzansky, a former tailor and ice cream and stationery seller, established the first Jewish funeral parlor in DC in 1912, meeting the needs of a growing population of Jewish residents of the city. In 1923, Danzansky moved the business to this location, following the migration of Jewish residents to the area. The Danzansky Funeral Home operated on Fourteenth Street for more than fifty years, as Danzansky became a central figure in DC’s Jewish community.
The establishment occupied a four-story corner rowhouse and its neighbor, which are part of a trio of brick rowhouses built in 1910 by prominent developer Harry Wardman (1872-1938), following designs by architect Albert H. Beers (1868-1911). In 1938, Danzansky customized his buildings by replacing the front porches with a Tudor Revival addition that expressed the business use and introduced a large corner entrance.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
