History – Truxton Is In Shaw

Truxton Circle Population by Race 1880-2020

This is an updated post from an older one that ended with the 2010 Census. The population increased, but was lower than what was in Census district 46 in 1990. Truxton Circle is still, by this measurement, a majority minority neighborhood. As the population fluctuated, the Black population continued to decrease and since the lowest number in 1970, the non-Black population has increased.

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2020
Year	Total	Black	White	Other/Asian	Note
1880	1511	678	832	0
1900	4723	2438	2281	4
1910	6801	2232	4565	4
1920	7234	3008	4221	6	4-Chinese 1- Japanese 1- White/Chinese
1930	6175	4455	1712	6	All Chinese
1940	8244	6519	1718	4	Note: 3 Japanese 1 Chinese Total also 8244
1950	7720	6186	1511	23
1960	6789	6716	58	15
1970	5830	5768	21	41	2 yrs post riot
1980	3349	3249	61	39
1990	3623	3347	189	87
2000	2997	2713	103	181
2010	3028	1964	816	248
2020	3543	1530	1462	551	Note: 177 Asians and 260 bi-racial

Source: US Census; DC Office of Planning Table 9: Census 2020 Population, Voting Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Housing Data – District of Columbia: Census Tracts

WSIC- James B. Evans of the Colonial Investment Company

Who was James B. Evans (1895-1977) one of the three main participants in the WSIC sell off scheme?

James Beatty Evans was born January 24, 1985 to Charles Noble Pumphrey Evans and Clara May Barker in Washington, DC. His father was paperhanger, or one who hangs wallpaper. He had six siblings, of those that survived to adulthood they went into the family occupation of wallpaper and interior design. His maternal grandfather owned a hardware and plumbing business in DC.

He lived with his retired grandfather in 1910 (just him, not parents or siblings) working as a 15 year old stenographer for an office. He continued to work in an office into WWI, doing secretarial work in a government office with a window washing business on the side. In 1920 he was a messenger for a trade journal.

He married Carmen Louise Mayer (1897–1983), the daughter of a German born military doctor, in 1924. Together they had three children, James B. Evans Jr., William Joseph Evans, and Patricia A. Evans.

The family lived west of the Park in different residences from 1930-1960. First, the family was a little south of Cathedral Heights, in Westchester. Then they moved to Dexter St. NW in Berkley, a neighborhood west of Westchester.

With the exception of a few articles about charitable organizations and wedding announcements, James B. Evans doesn’t show up much in the newspapers. In the Times Herald, Jan 1, 1951 Evans was noted to be the treasurer for all three of the Colonial Investment firms. The 3 being Colonial Construction Company, Colonial Investments Company and Colonial Mortgage Corporation.

As a side note, it appears he was some sort of Protestant. And that’s all I have about the man. He kept a low profile.

Memory Lane: 37 Bates Street NW 2007

37 A & B Bates Street NW. Taken May 28, 2007.

This is a Washington Sanitary Improvement Company home, so I’ve written about it before. It’s one of the few that has kept the two flat set up. Many WSIC homes, when eventually coming under the ownership of one household, was renovated into one residence.

20 years ago- Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood

There are things I wish I had done. Like write a date on my paper “Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood“. Apparently, I wrote in in 2005.

I was looking around my October 2005 posts and spotted the ‘Come and listen to the world’s most boring history paper‘ where I was going to present at the DC History Conference.

I seriously did not know when I wrote this paper. I had copies of copies and different versions on my computer, so I did not know when I wrote it.

Now I know, and you know.

For Sale: Original 1919 Baist Neighborhood Map $350

I’m doing some cleaning around the house and I have this map.

It’s from 1919. I believe it has a cloth backing. It’s been professionally framed and I just can’t find a wall in my current house to hang it. I’m an archivist, and I can’t put it anywhere that I think will harm this 126 year old map. I have too many windows in the house. But this might be great in your townhouse.

The detail is amazing and I have used it to look for lots when the Library of Congress website has been uncooperative. This map is the same as the LC’s 1919 map.

Accepting that I’m not going to hang it up, I figured I should sell this bit of history. Free shipping (I’d just put it in an Uber) for anyone between Beltsville, MD and Logan Circle, DC.

If interested, submit a comment.

Sq. 519 and the Glorius family 1922-1944

I was curious, and wondered when the Glorius family disappeared from Truxton Circle. At one point, the patriarch, George Glorius owned the whole block that was the 1700 block of 4th and 3td Streets.

The first question is who are all the Glori. Let’s start with George (1824-1909) and his wife Margaret/Mary (1823-1917), they had eight children, George Glorius Jr., Sophia Glorius, Mary C. Glorius, Andrew Glorius, Andrew G. Glorius, Barbara E. Glorius, Ignatius Glorius, and Ignatius George Glorius. When you see a double name, the first died young. And several of those children had children who were Bernard A. Glorious; George T. Glorious; Edwin G. Glorius; Frederick C. Glorius; Phillip J. Glorius; Bernard J. Glorius; Harry Andrew Glorius; Annie M. Glorius; Blance M. Glorius Torrillo; Ellanora R Glorius; Margerite E. Glorius; Francis J. Glorius; Mary R. Glorius O’Meara; and Gertrude Glorius.

Around the time George Glorius Sr. died their property was being developed by Harry Wardman. The DC Recorder of Deeds online records don’t really start until 1921, so that’s where I’ll start.

7/10/1922 Mary C. Glorius transferred/sold lot 47 to Phillip I. Glorius.
11/19/1923 Mary C. Glorius sold lot 46 to Harry and Nannie E. Smallwood.
10/1931 Phillip and wife Katherine Glorius transferred/sold lot 47 back to Mary C. Glorius.
04/1937 the executors of Mary C. Glorius’ estate sold lot 47 to Barrington and O Mae Henry.
03/1940 Leo and wife Louise F. Glorius sold/transferred lots 9, 26, 45, 67 and 68 to Louise Townsend, who immediately sold/transferred the properties to Minnie Louise C. Glorius.
06/1942 Bernard(Mabel E.), George T(Mabel S.), Minnie Louise C. Glorius, Margaret/Marguerite C. Klugh/Kluh, Elizabeth Gertrude Yetter, and Mary R. O’Meara sold lot 68 to Eleanore and William N. Thompkins.
12/1942 devisees under George Glorius Jr’s will Bernard(Mabel E.), George T(Mabel S.), Minnie Louise C. Glorius, Margaret/Marguerite C. Klugh/Kluh, Elizabeth Gertrude Yetter, and Mary R. O’Meara sold lot 67 to Alice C. Harris.
10/1944 heirs in-law of Frances Josephine Glorius, Bernard A.(Mabel E.), George T.(Mabel S.), Minnie Louise C. (Leo V.-divorced 1926) Glorius, Marguerite C. Kluh, Elizabeth Gertrude Yetter, and Mary R. O’Meara sold lot 26 to Jacob and Sadie B. Feldman.

And that’s the end of the Glorius.
Lot 9 might have been 309 R St NW
Lot 26 might’ve been 316 FL Ave NW
Lot 45 was 315 R St NW
Lot 47 is 319 R St NW
Lot 67 is 312 Florida Ave NW
Lot 68 is 310 Florida Ave NW

Looking at the census, the Glorius seemed to have left by the 1930 census. I don’t have anyone in 319 R St in 1930. 315 R St NW in 1930 had Black renters and someone claiming to be an owner. 310 & 312 FL Ave NW also had Black renters.

Memory Lane: 210 P St NW

So this house got renovated and updated.

I posted about the open house of the new and improved 210 P St NW back in 2018. I’m going to throw a few of the photos from that post below.

210 P St NW obviously ate the neighboring house in order to get the lovely interior.

Eloyce Gist Talk Rescheduled to November 6th

Whelp.

The Federal Government closed today due to the shutdown. So the National Archives Assembly who was hosting the event, has rescheduled it to November 6th….. even if the US government miraculously opens tomorrow morning.

If you emailed the NAA for an invite link, then you should have gotten an email about the new date.

So just to recap it, October 2nd is off and the new date is November 6th.

Random Eloyce Gist thing- 1953

Sometimes the problem with catalog searches will point you in the direction of a haystack and say, ‘it’s over there.’ I plugged Eloyce Gist on the Library of Congress and got a big haystack. But then I looked back and found that it did pinpoint it to the image of hundreds.

From Image 45 of Mary Church Terrell Papers: Miscellany, 1851-1954; Clippings; Unarranged; 1 of 1

Eloyce Gist attended the Bloomingdale function in 1952.

Revisiting Shiloh Fighting Liquor Licenses

So while I do other things, like prepare for the presentation on former Truxton Circle filmmaker Eloyce Gist, on October 2nd, I’m fishing through my old posts.

September 26, 2005 I posted about a Washington City Paper article (link in post is dead) about Shiloh Baptist Church‘s opposition to a business across the street getting a liquor license. It could have been “Shaw’s Main Drag” by Arthur Delaney written September 23, 2005. Yes, 20 years ago, now making this about Shaw History. You whippersnappers have no idea how much fighting went into making Shaw what it is today.

Anyway, the business Shiloh was fighting was the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant. It appears that QoS has closed and has been replaced by the Silk Lounge. Eventually, QoS won and got its liquor license as reported in the 2007 WCP article Queen of Sheba Toasts End of Liquor License Battle.

I understand the issue with QoS as it was right across the street from the church’s entrance and was near the church’s child care center. But Shiloh also opposed the liquor license for an upscale and very nice vegan restaurant Vegetate up on the next block.

As I mentioned in a previous post this month, Shiloh fought against the development along 9th instead of leaning into it. I wonder if the church had figured out a way to remain true to its principles and partner with local business if the church would have been flourishing instead of floundering?