Barney Circle Bed & Breakfast is situated a few blocks from the original Barney Circle community, but the history below serves as a special reminder of this close net community in Capital Hill.
:: Barney Circle History ::
The Barney Circle community is adjacent to the Anacostia River and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington. It is part of L'Enfant's plan for Washington. Many people wonder who is Barney Circle named after. During the Revolutionary War, Joshua Barney (1759-1818) led the new American Navy to many victories, capturing several British warships. In 1814, a British Army of 4,500 landed near Baltimore and began to march towards Washington. The British fought American militias and 400 sailors led by Commodore Barney, at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland. Although the American militias outnumbered the British forces, they fought poorly and the British overran the American lines. Barney's forces stayed behind to cover the Americans retreat, and delay the British advance on Washington. When the British reached Washington, they burned the Capitol, Treasury and the White House. In 1911 by act of Congress, the circle was named "Commodore Barney Circle" in honor of Joshua Barney.
On 19th Century maps of Washington, what is now the Barney Circle Neighborhood was open land. The first building in Barney Circle was a frame greenhouse constructed in 1907 for Charles P. Grose at 723 17th St. SE, opposite Congressional Cemetery. Grose had a florist business there in the 1920s. During the 1920s-1930s, he may have sold flowers to cemetery visitors. J. Elmon Shelton (1874-1940) operated a monument company at 729 17th Street, SE. He advertised in the 1929-1931 yellow pages that the monument company was "opposite Congressional Cemetery." He lived at 1241 E Street, SE, and is buried in Congressional Cemetery. The flats at 1622, 1624, and 1626 H Street, SE, now occupy the site of the former greenhouse and monument company.
In the early 20th century, the streetcar line ran along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, and the trolley cars turned around at Barney Circle for the trip west on Pennsylvania Avenue. The streetcar ran until the 1960s. Washington developers built rowhouses near the trolley lines. Barney Circle, convenient to the streetcar line on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, followed this development pattern.
:: A New Community ::
By 1930, all the rowhouses in the Barney Circle Neighborhood were completed. Barney Circle in the 1930s was home to many skilled and semi-skilled federal government workers, including clerks, stenographers, printers, drivers, guards, machinists, boilermakers, draftsman, nurses, and musicians. Other residents' occupations included police officer, fireman, teacher, motorman for the traction company (trolley), railroad worker, department store clerk, seamstress, laundress, milliner, cab driver, barber, construction worker (plumber, electrician, bricklayer) and two ballplayers. A few professionals (e.g., attorneys and clergy) also lived there. In 1930, the population was higher than in later years: a number of Barney Circle rowhouses held two generations, and sometimes boarders. A majority of families owned their homes.
Today, Barney Circle is a stable community (a number of residents have lived there for 30-50 years). New community members are welcomed and encouraged to participate in community traditions and begin new ones. Barney Circle has a proud history of community activism and community self-help. In the 1980s, the Barney Circle Neighborhood Watch Association (BCNWA) began an Orange Hat Patrol (neighborhood watch). BCNWA also holds community cleanups and cookouts. BCNWA has monthly meetings to discuss neighborhood improvement and plan community events.
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Paragraph excerpts from HILL RAG, MAY 2006, Capital Community News
Article by Beth Purcell
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