Massachusetts Avenue in the Gilded Age: Palaces & Privilege

by Mark N. Ozer

Overview

Welcome to Millionaire's Row, where the Gilded Age mansions and clubs of high society still exude a faded elegance. It was here that fiery Martha Wadsworth—avid sportswoman and social maven—and wealthy hostess Nellie Patterson mingled with the likes of famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell and miner-turned-millionaire Thomas Walsh. From the Union Station Plaza and Embassy Row to Dupont Circle and the Washington National Cathedral, author Mark N. Ozer examines the extant Beaux-Arts architecture of Massachusetts Avenue mansions and tells the tales of socialites and politicians who lived and played behind their grand façades.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596299221
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	03/03/2010
Series:	Brief History
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	618,535
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Dr. Mark N. Ozer is a former professor of neurology at Georgetown University Medical School, and he currently holds the position of lecturer for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University. Dr. Ozer has self-published several books on the history of Washington, D.C. He remains active in the capital's history community as a member of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society; the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.; the Organization of Oldest Inhabitants (of D.C.); the National Association of Olmsted Parks; and the McLean Gardens Community Association. Mark has also provided consultant services to the governments of Brazil, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

Introduction 13

Chapter 1 The Gilded Age 15

Reconstruction in Washington 17

The Development of Massachusetts Avenue 20

Chapter 2 The Union Station Plaza 24

The McMillan Commission 25

The Development of the Mall 28

The Union Station Plaza 29

Chapter 3 Mount Vernon Square 31

The Carnegie Library and the Gospel of Wealth 31

Chapter 4 Thomas and Scott Circles 34

General George Thomas 34

Martin Luther 36

General Winfield Scott 36

Alexander Graham Bell and the Bell Family/The Morton House and the "Wise Men" 37

Dr. Samuel Hahnemann 40

Daniel Webster 41

Chapter 5 Millionaires' Row Becomes Embassy Row 42

The Wilkins House and the Washington Post 42

The Moore House and the Titanic 43

The Stanley McCormick Apartments and Andrew Mellon 44

The Wads-worth House and Martha Blow Wadsworth 47

Chapter 6 Dupont Circle 51

The Dupont Memorial 51

The Stewart Castle and the Chinese Legation 53

Heurich Mansion: The Last Castle 55

The Blaine Mansion and the "Plumed Knight" 57

The Patterson House: A Media Dynasty 60

Chapter 7 To Twenty-first Street 67

The Gaff House and the French Renaissance 67

The Alice Roosevelt Longworth House: The Last Aristocrat 68

The Phillips Collection and Its Aesthetic Millionaire 70

The Walsh-McLean House and the Hope Diamond 71

Chapter 8 To Sheridan Circle 83

The Anderson House and the Society of the Cincinnati 83

Mahatma Gandhi 85

Thomas Masaryk 86

The Townsend Mansion and the Cosmos Club 86

Chapter 9 Sheridan Circle 91

General Philip Sheridan 91

The Barney House and Alice Pike Barney 93

The Beale House and Glenn Brown 95

The Everett House: The House of me Bottle Cap 97

Chapter 10 To the Glover Bridge 99

The Hauge House and George Oakley Totten 99

Robert Emmett 100

The Wilson House: The Dying President 101

The Islamic Center 102

The Glover Bridge 102

Chapter 11 To the Washington National Cathedral 103

The Robert McCormick House: The Home of Fiery Kitty 104

Embassy of Italy 105

Kahlil Gibran 106

The Embassy of Great Britain: The House that Harry Built 106

Winston Churchill 108

Chapter 12 The Washington National Cathedral 110

The Washington National Cathedral and Bishop Satterlee 110

The National Cathedral School for Girls and Phoebe Apperson Hearst 112

The Bishop's Garden and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. 114

Conclusion 119

Works Consulted 121

Index 123

About the Author 127