National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(B-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
CLEVELAND PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT
WASHINGTON D.C.
Section number 8 Page 32
APARTMENT HOUSES AND SHOPS ON CONNECTICUT AVENUE
Although the building of homes in Cleveland Park's central core was
largely completed by the early 1920's none of the support services along
Connecticut Avenue had been developed. The residents were largely dependent
upon the city for everything from jobs to groceries. The opening of the
Connecticut Avenue Fire Station in 1916 heralded the beginning of the
development of Connecticut Avenue. This Colonial Revival firehouse was
designed by Snowden Ashford. When it opened on December 1, 1916 this station
represented a new direction in the design of fire stations because it was
built to house motorized vehicles rather than horse-drawn wagons. It was
designed to accomodate a motor-propelled pumping engine and a motorized
combination chemical and hose wagon with a booster pump.
Snowden Ashford (1866-1927) was born and raised in Washington. He
attended St. John's College, Lehigh University, and Lafayette College. He
worked in the office of A.B. Mullett and served for a time as the City
Surveyor of Williamsport, Pa. He worked as a draftsman for two years with
John L. Smithmeyer on the plans for the Library of Congress. In 1895 he was
appointed Assistant Inspector of Buildings and in 1901 he became the head of
that department. In 1909 he was appointed the first municipal architect for
Washington D.C. and he continued in that position until 1921. "He was the
only man the Commissioners seriously considered to place in charge of public
buildings worth $20,000,000 and constantly growing in number and value."
*(Men of Affairs: History Makers of Today, compiled by R.L. Anderson,
published by the Washington Herald, 1912, p. 114)
The choice of the Colonial Revival style for this firehouse was
significant in that it established a domestic scale for Connecticut Avenue and
introduced the popular revival style which was to be dominant during the
1920's in the design of apartment buildings and shops. Snowden modeled the
firehouse on earlier 18th century public buildings such as the Old Colony
House of 1739-41 by Richard Munday or Peter Harrison's Brick Market of 1749-
54, both in Newport, Rhode Island. The similarity lies in the architects'
attempt to take a basically domestic building form and make it more impressive
through the use of monumental materials (the stone base) and more elaborate
ornamentation (the Swan's Neck pediment). The fire station represents the
finest example of this style along Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park
APARTMENT HOUSES
In the early 1920's apartment buildings began to appear and were soon
followed by a variety of shops and services making Cleveland Park like a
little village outside the city.
Harry Wardman constructed the first apartment building in Cleveland Park
shortly after his success with the Wardman Park residential hotel in 1917-18.
He built 3520 Connecticut Avenue in 1919 and in 1921 he constructed 10
rowhouses next door at 3500 to 3518 Connecticut. These are next to the fire
station and complementary to it in style. They both use classical details to