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Box #16
Box Location:
SW corner R & 21 Sts.

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From 1890 to 1910, some of the nation’s finest architects built  mansions at or near Dupont Circle in Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, Italian Renaissance or Colonial Revival style.

Wealthy couples living elsewhere built most of the early mansions. They sought a home in DC for the social season—January to April—because of a desire to socialize with the president, members of Congress, and foreign diplomats (especially if there was a daughter to marry off),and a realization that social status lacking at home could be attained here through lavish entertainment. The Phillips Collection (1600 21st St.), a partial exception, was built by a young family from Pittsburgh who felt the air was better here.

During the years 1916-1920, Lucy Mercer visited her divorced mother at the Decatur Apartments (2131 Florida Ave.), while Lucy’s “good friend,” Franklin D. Roosevelt, lived around the corner (2131 R St., left). At 2122 Florida Ave., the “horse door” on the right once led to a stables where in the 1850s African Americans fleeing the South—travelers on the Underground Railroad—could hide while awaiting passage further north.

This call box is sponsored by:
The Cosmos Club Historic Preservation Foundation

Arlette Jassel has lived, worked and exhibited in Washington, DC for years. Washington is the muse and inspiration for her painting and sculpture, which include bronze, steel and wood sculpture as well as document illustrations.

 More info: www.arlettearts.com

Fire Fact | July 2 1919

Truck Company 2 responded to 2132 R St. NW, residence of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, to remove portions of an anarchist’s body from treetops and roofs after an apparent bomb prematurely exploded.

FIRE ALARM BOXES such as this one (originally painted red) were installed in the District after the Civil War. Telegraphs transmitted the box number (on round topper sign shown above) to a fire alarm center. This system was used until the 1970s when the boxes were converted to a telephone system. By the 1990s, the callbox system had been replaced by the 911 system and was abandoned.
Truck Company 2

Fire Department information and images courtesy of Capitol Fire Museum
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Art on Call is a program of Cultural Tourism DC with support from DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development District Department of Transportation.

This community project is also supported by Dupont Circle Citizens Association and The Dupont Circle Conservancy, Inc. and generous donations from community residents and businesses.

©2005 Dupont Circle Call Box Project No reproduction or distribution of any site content without consent of author.Links to this or any other page on the site are permitted. No hyperlinks to pictures are permitted, query info@dupontcirclecallbox.com for copying permission.