LeDroit Block (F Street, NW, South Side of 800 Block)

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The LeDroit Block was built after the completion of the large-scale municipal improvements undertaken by the Board of Public Works ibetween 1871 and 1874. It illustrates the renewed civic aspirations of the post-Civil War era with rich, animated facades that introduce a congenial human scale that enhances the monumentality of the L'Enfant Plan and the nearby General Post Office and Old Patent Office. The block includes one of the city's oldest office buildings and work by noted local architects; the buildings date from 1875 to 1892.

DC Inventory: August 28, 1973 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: April 2, 1974
Within Downtown Historic District and Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site

LeDroit Building
800-10 F Street
This commercial office building was erected in 1875 by A.L. Barber & Co., builders of the suburban LeDroit Park. The building is a rare example of pre-elevator office building design and is a major work of noted local architect James McGill, who held an office in the building until 1882. Located on a corner site, the LeDroit Building features three stories with a raised basement of storefronts, as well as three main entrances. As a free Italianate adaptation of classical detail, the LeDroit Building has a bracketed cornice with alternating triangular and curved pediments, and applied lettering.

812 F Street
This is a commercial row building with the stories, a pressed brick facade, and a bracketed and pedimented cornice. The building was built 1875, probably by architect James McGill, and was occupied in 1877 by stationer J. Bradley Adams, a former tenant of the LeDroit Building.

Adams Building
814 16 F Street
This is a commercial row building erected in 1878 by stationer J. Bradley Adams. It was used as store by Adams until 1888 and a residence until 1892. Like other buildings on the block, it was likely designed by James McGill.

818 F Street
Owner J. Bradley Adams erected this three-story commercial row building, possibly designed by James McGill, in 1881.

Warder Building
527 9th Street
This early elevator building was erected in 1892 by B.H. Warder, a wealthy Ohio manufacturer of farm implements, who moved to Washington to invest in real estate. He intended to use the building as offices, apartments, and stores. The Warder Building was designed by architect Nicholas T. Haller and built in 1892. The building housed Haller's office in addition to those of several patent agents, labor unions, and the DC Communist Party during the 1940s.