History

Lost Washington: Hudson Taylor House

by Kent Boese   •   November 6, 2009 1:42 pm

This Greek Revival house, built for Hudson Taylor in 1850 at the northeast corner of 9th and D Streets, NW, existed for only 17 years. The chief reasons for its demise were that the neighborhood quickly changed from residential to commercial after the Civil War and the owner sold both his business as a bookseller and his house in 1867 when he retired to Poughkeepsie, New York. The house was quickly razed to reclaim the three city lots it was on for a large structure that would house the city's primary auditorium and the YMCA.

Kent Boese posts items of historic interest primarily within the District. He's worked in libraries since 1994, both federal and law, and currently works on K Street. He lives in the Park View neighborhood, and is the force behind the blog Washington Kaleidoscope.