F Street and 7th Street shopping districts explained
Parts of F Street and 7th Street, N.W. and nearby blocks have historically been the heart of the Washington, D.C. Downtown shopping district. In the first half of the 20th century there were numerous upscale large department stores along and near F Street, while 7th Street housed more economical emporia and large retail furniture stores.[1] [2] The F street corridor stretches west from Downtown's Penn Quarter and Gallery Place towards 15th Street, while the 7th Street corridor includes the neighborhoods of Penn Quarter, Chinatown and Mount Vernon Square, and extends up to the border of Shaw.
History
Center Market, the city's largest public market, opened in 1872, operating until 1931 on the site of today's National Archives Building. Its northern end faced Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets. Transportation by Washington, D.C.'s streetcars, first horse-drawn, then electrified, notably the busy transfer point at F and 9th, helped solidify this area as D.C.'s most popular shopping district during that time.[3]
Current retail
Although Macy's is the only traditional department store left, the district is home to four discount department stores, three small malls or shopping centers, and many on-street retail stores, including H&M, Anthropologie, and others.
From north to south and east to west:
- from Gallery Pl. (G St.) to H St., from 6th to 7th, Gallery Place, a small urban power center with Bed, Bath & Beyond, Urban Outfitters, and Regal Cinemas
- on D from 8th to 9th, south side, site of the former Kann's department store (1893–1975); original store was on the NE corner of 8th and Market Space (now the north side of Navy Memorial plaza)[4] [5]
- on the block bounded by H, I, 9th and 10th streets, CityCenterDC shopping center, housing luxury boutiques (Hermès, etc.)
- on the block bounded by F, G, 10th and 11th streets, former flagship of the Woodward & Lothrop department store chain (1887–1996), reopened in 2003 and currently houses H&M, Forever 21 and Zara.[5]
- on E from 11th to 12th, District Center with Nordstrom Rack and Saks Off Fifth discount department stores
- on F from 12th to 13th, north side, T.J. Maxx discount department store
- on G from 12th to 13th, north side, Macy's department store (was a Hecht's, built to replace the flagship, operated 1985–2006)[6]
- on F from 13th to 14th, south side, Marshalls discount department store at The Shops at the National Press Building
- on Pennsylvania Avenue from 13th to 14th, The Shops at National Place, formerly a small urban mall, now with a few retail shops and a food court
Sites of department stores and other notable stores
From north to south and east to west:
- on F from 6th to 7th, south side, the former flagship of Hecht's department store[6]
- 1316–1324 7th St NW (W side north of N), Harry Kaufman's Stores department store
- 7th and K (SW corner, 706 K St NW): site of Hahn's shoe emporium, flagship of a regional chain
- 7th Street both sides of K: Goldberg's department store (912–928 7th St., 706 K St.)[7]
- 7th Street at United States Navy Memorial Plaza, site of the first Saks and Co. stores (1867, larger store built on same site, 1887)[8]
- on E west of 8th, south side, former Lansburgh's department store (1882–1973)[5] [9]
- SW corner I and 7th, 814 7th St. NW, site of King's Palace department store that operated 1860s through the 1930s. 1914 renovation by Frederick B. Pyle[10]
- on the block bounded by F, G, 10th and 11th streets, former flagship of the Woodward & Lothrop department store chain (1887–1996) reopened in 2003 and currently houses H&M, Forever 21 and Zara.[5]
- 11th and G, site of the second (1893) location of the Palais Royal department store
- Pennsylvania and 12th, northeast corner, site of the original (1870s-1880s) Palais Royal department store, the Centennial Building, at times also home to Bureau of Pensions and the Raleigh Hotel.
- on F, NW corner of 14th, former flagship of Garfinckel's (1930–1990)[11] [5]
7th Street furniture retailers
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 7th Street north of F, as far as O Street in today's Shaw district, was home not only to several of the more economical large department stores such as Goldberg's and Harry Kaufman's, but to the city's concentration of furniture retailers. These included (from north to south):[12]
- 1015 7th Street – Alperstein's Furniture, 1904–present
- 932 7th Street – John Rudden's New Furniture, 1880s
- National Furniture
- 921 7th Street – House & Herrmann, 1886
- Marlo Furniture, 1963
- 915 7th Street – Jackson Brothers, 1903
- 819 7th Street – Samuel W. Augenstein, pre-1891
- Peter Grogan's Furniture Company, 1891–1933
- Peerless Furniture Company, 1935–1968
- Home Furniture and Appliance Company, May 1969 – 1972
- 801 7th Street – John Rudden's New Furniture, 1899
- 718 7th Street – Anton Eberly & Sons, 1868
- Mayer Dodek, Dodek's Furniture & Clothing, 1898
- 515 Seventh Street – Hecht's Department Store
- 7th and D, southeast corner – The Hub Furniture Store, 1855
Map
*site
References
38.8978°N -77.0218°W
Notes and References
- News: Downtown Washington Greets Shriners . Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) . June 10, 1935 . F Street is perhaps the principal shopping and theater district of Washington...included in the general F Street shopping district is G Street.
- News: Coolidges shop and make calls . Evening Start (Washington, D.C.) . March 1, 1921.
- Book: Transportation by street cars, at first horse drawn, then electrified, hastened the trend and made this street Washington's fashionable shopping district. By the 1920s the intersection of F and Ninth Streets was the busiest 19 transfer point . Washington, D. C., Architecture: Market Square. . 1969 . Urban Design and Development Corporation and the Historic American Buildings Survey, United States Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service . 7 .
- Web site: S. Kann & Sons, Market Space, between Seventh & Eighth Streets, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC . Library of Congress.
- Book: Niemeyer, Daniel . 1950s American Style: A Reference Guide (Soft cover) . 2013 . 9781304201652.
- Web site: The Hecht Company, last of DC's department stores .
- Book: Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia for . R.L. Polk & Company . 1913.
- News: Now Forty Years Old: Saks Firm to Celebrate Anniversary This Week: History in the Making: House Has Kept Pace with Washington's Growth: From Johnson's Time to Now: Souvenir Booklet Distribution the Feature of Quiet and Dignified Birthday Celebrations . Washington Evening Star . September 30, 1907 . 10.
- Web site: Lansburgh's Department Store, 420-426 Seventh Street, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC . .
- Web site: Lost Washington: King's Palace on 7th Street in Chinatown .
- Web site: 15th and F Streets NW and the "Bon Ton" Shopping District .
- "History of 7th Street shopping", Penn Quarter Living
- Web site: Lost Washington: The old Palais Royal department store .
