Lockkeeper's House (Washington, D.C.) Explained

Lockkeeper's House
Location:17th Street, and Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Coordinates:38.8918°N -77.0399°W
Area:less than one acre
Built:1835
Added:November 30, 1973
Refnum:73000218[1]

The Lockkeeper's House is the oldest building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1837 at what is now the southwest corner of 17th Street, NW and Constitution Avenue, NW, near Constitution Gardens.

The building dates to a period when the south end of 17th Street, NW was a wharf and Constitution Avenue, NW was the location of a section of the Washington City Canal, which connected the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. An eastward extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) met the Potomac River and the Washington City Canal at a canal lock.[2] [3]

The 350 square foot house served the canal lock keeper, who collected tolls, recorded commerce, maintained the canal and managed traffic. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]

History

The C & O Canal was extended between 1832 and 1833, to connect to the Washington City Canal.[2] The lockkeeper's house was built in 1837 for toll collecting and record keeping, only to be abandoned in 1855 with the demise of the canal 30 years after its construction - which by then had ceded transportation of heavy goods to the nascent railroads and deteriorated into an open sewer.[2]

In disrepair, the building became a squatters' tenement[4] and in 1903 was partially renovated as a headquarters for the United States Park Police, with a holding cell. The house was relocated west in 1915 and aligned in its original east-west orientation parallel to B Street, NW (now Constitution Avenue, NW), which had been constructed above former sections of the Washington Canal and of the C&O Canal Extension after the covering of the two canals. Changes made to the structure at the time included removal of the original brick chimneys and their replacement with shorter stone chimneys.[5]

On July 4, 1928, the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks installed a historical plaque on the building's exterior.[6] In 1940, the first floor of the building was used as rest rooms then used as storage.[7] It ultimately sat boarded up for forty years. As the intersection grew, street and sidewalk traffic encroached increasingly on the house until the traffic became adjacent to the house.

In October 2017, a National Park Service (NPS) contractor moved the building 36feet to the south and 35feet to the west (away from Constitution Avenue, NW, and 17th Street, NW) while retaining the structure's east-west orientation.[8] [9] The NPS restored the building's exterior to its pre-1915 modifications and replaced the structure's brick chimneys, thus restoring the building to its original 1800s appearance. The building reopened temporarily in late August 2018 and permanently on September 13 of that year.[5] [9] [10] The house now serves in its new location as an NPS education center as part of the first phase of a renovation of Constitution Gardens.[11] [12]

Pictures

2000s

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lockkeeper's House, C & O Canal Extension. National Register of Historic Places: NPGallery Digital Asset Management System. United States Department of the Interior

    National Park Service

    . January 17, 2020.
  2. Web site: Dillon. Helen, National Capital Parks. https://web.archive.org/web/20181218032507/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/73000218_text. December 18, 2018. Lockkeeper's House, C & 0 Canal Extension. National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form. United States Department of the Interior

    National Park Service

    . 1972-11-17. 2018-12-17.
  3. Web site: Why is there a Lockkeepers House on the Mall?. Mallhistory.org. 2018-07-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20180228034752/http://mallhistory.org/explorations/show/lockkeepers-house. 2018-02-28.
  4. Web site: Lock Keeper's House, Seventeenth Street & Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Library of Congress. 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20180706050255/http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/dc0170/. 2018-07-06.
  5. Web site: We're Moving the Lockkeeper's House. Lockkeeper's House: Phase I of the Rehabilitation of Constitution Gardens . Trust for the National Mall. 2017-07-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20170722235728/http://nationalmall.org/lockkeeper. 2017-07-22.
  6. Web site: Pfingsten, Bill. "Lock Keeper's House" marker. HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database. 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217154440/https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=111529. 2018-12-17.
  7. Web site: Lockkeeper's House. Washington, DC: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. National Park Service

    United States Department of the Interior

    . 2011-10-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120229223358/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc34.htm . 2012-02-29.
  8. (1) Web site: Constitution Gardens – Historic Lockkeepers House Relocation. https://web.archive.org/web/20190627170701/https://www.wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/project/constitution-gardens-historic-lockkeepers-house-relocation/. June 27, 2019. Wolfe House & Building Movers. October 2017. January 17, 2020.
    (2) Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20190627170917/https://www.wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/news/lockkeepers-house-moved-national-mall-dc/. June 27, 2019. Lockkeepers House Move at the National Mall in DC. October 16, 2017. Wolfe House & Building Movers. January 17, 2020.
  9. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20200117022001/https://www.nationalmall.org/news/2018/10/23/historic-lockkeepers-house-opens-on-the-national-mall-following-major-renovation. January 17, 2020. Historic Lockkeeper's House Opens on the National Mall Following Major Renovation. October 23, 2018. Washington, D.C.. Trust for the National Mall. January 17, 2020.
  10. (1) News: Michael E.. Ruane. 2018-08-29. 'No one famous lived here,' but the old stone house on the Mall has endured. Retropolis. Washington, D.C.. The Washington Post. 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20180903213010/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/29/nobody-famous-slept-here-but-the-old-stone-house-on-the-mall-has-endured/. 2018-09-03.
    (2) Web site: Palka. Liz. Historic lock keeper's house reopens to the public on the National Mall. 2018-08-30. WUSA9. 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217061245/https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/historic-lock-keepers-house-reopens-to-the-public-on-the-national-mall/65-589268096. 2018-12-17.
  11. News: Weiner. Talia. 181-Year-Old Lockkeeper's Tiny House Ready For Its Next Chapter. July 5, 2018. NPR. 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718092540/https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/625669691/181-year-old-lockkeepers-tiny-house-ready-for-its-next-chapter. 2018-07-18.
  12. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20181218060203/https://www.nationalmall.org/lockkeepershouse/. 2018-12-18. Come see the restored Lockkeeper's House. Lockkeeper's House. Washington, D.C.. Trust for the National Mall. 2018-12-18.

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