DCPL Commons

Those are the North and West facades (elevations) of the Old General Post Office (currently Hotel Monaco) as the U.S. Patent building (now Smithsonian Portrait Gallery) sits North of the Old Post Office. Because the Patent building is twice as wide as the Post Office, the photographer standing near its grounds keeper is viewing the North and West facades as she/he looks in the southeast direction.

The exact date that this photograph was taken was on June 13, 1916 when the iron fence surrounding the northeast #1 boundary stone was dedicated by the Mary Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The barn in the background sits on the estate "Silver Spring," residence at the time of the dedication of Maryland Senator Blair Lee. The stone disappeared around September 1952. A bronze plaque marking the stone's location was dedicated on January 12, 1961 and set into the sidewalk in front of the business at 7847 Eastern Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland. Additional photographs of this particular boundary stone appear in "Historic Silver Spring" by Jerry A. McCoy (Arcadia Publishing, 2005).

Northeast Boundary Stone 1 – Then and Now (90 years later)

As sshistory wrote, above, this is (likely) not the "North boundry [sic] stone" as originally captioned, rather it likely was "Northeast Boundary Stone 1". (A 2005 photo of the actual "North Boundary Stone" is included below.)

As the original stone was accidentally bulldozed and removed during the construction of the storefront in September 1952, this photograph of the original Northeast boundary stone is historic.

To see a Google map with photographs of 38 of the original 40 boundary stones, and GPS coordinates, click here.


"DC Northeast Boundary Stone 1 (2005)" by Mark Zimmermann

Plaque marking the location of DC Boundary
Stone Northeast Mile 1, in front of a small store,
7847 Eastern Avenue (northwest of intersection
with Georgia Avenue) in Silver Spring, Maryland.


"North boundry stone near Silver Spring, Maryland (c.1916)" by E.B. Thompson



[Actual] "DC North Boundary Stone (2005)" by Mark Zimmermann

This photograph is part of the Indicommons.org post Photo Contest: D.C. Then & Now. Best of luck to all the entrants -- wish I could be one too!

Congrats on Explore! ⭐ January 15, 2024

Congrats on Xplore!!

I passed those gates everyday on my way to work. I always wondered what they were! Google maps link: maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF8&q=fl...

As kids in the In the late 60's on into the early 70's, my siblings and I used to play on what the neighborhood dubbed as "Castle Hill." We never saw the castle as it was torn down long before we were even born. It was literally a walk in the woods as it had become overgrown with foliage to the point that except for the wall, you couldn't tell a castle was ever there. Trees, weeds, and small animals lived on the property. We used to catch garter snakes and played amongst the fallen trees, wild mushrooms and other fungi growing there. The soil was rich and some neighbors got buckets of it for their backyard gardens. Scary tales were told about the woods, which made us scared to go up there at night, but we outgrew the fear as we got older. The current townhomes standing there (Beekman Place) were built in the late 1970's, during my high school years. I used to stand in the park across the street and watch the construction and knew I would miss the woods. I'm glad to see a photo of how it used to look; it all makes sense now.

Your story is identical to my own experience on Meridian Hill. It was fabulous. My grandmother would take us there, and as you said, turn us loose. Henderson's Castle, I once climbed over the wall and ran up to the main building which was condemed by now, but I do have vague memories of someone living there when I was really little. Meridian Hill, There was also the secret hedge trail that ran along the lower walls. The memories sitting with my grandmother in Merian Hill Park and eating mayonaise sandwiches, huh, was great. I loved those mayonaise sandwiches, She would buy a jar of mayonaise and a loaf of bread, and sometimes water melon. I got to carry the watermelon. fabulous! I read that the Castle was demolished in 1949, but the mail structure was still there in the late 50s, early 60s.

friendofman I used to live there.

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