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Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Mrs. B.L. O'Leary house." The 2009 F Street N.W. residence of one Mrs. Bessie Lawton O'Leary, born Bessie Stanton Lawton, mother of Edwin Lawton O'Leary. The sign by the door reads "Stonestep -- Rooms, Meals." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
This is along what's now the southern boundary of George Washington University. There are lots of dorms around and many of the apartments are occupied by students. I recently graduated from GW and often wondered what the area was like before the school consumed it.
For a dollar, that word "special" worries me.
Where to Dine
THE STONESTEP
2009 F St. N.W.
Special Chicken Dinner
Served 1:30 to 2:30, $1.
Advertisement, Washington Post, May 17, 1925
It is a nice neighborhood, with the sun shining and the trees, providing a welcome shade. You can almost hear the kids breaking the silence as they charge out of 2007 with a push on the old screen door and the spring groaning back in resistance. There also looks to be lower flats, what I knew as Polish flats growing up in Milwaukee.
[2007, like 2009, was a boardinghouse in the 1920s. It was owned for a time by a couple whose young son, a lawyer, drowned in a canoeing accident. - Dave]
What a peaceful, charming neighborhood. How I'd love to step off the streetcar, go up the steps and get a room (with meals by Mrs. O'Leary!). I wonder if boarders had access to that lovely balcony or the bow window below.
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