Mrs. Henderson’s Legacy 16th street and florida avenue nw
one of those who saw the potential of bring- ing city life to the hills of this area was Mary Foote Henderson.A wealthy and powerful figure, she was married to Missouri Senator John B. Henderson,who introduced the 13 th Amendment abolishing slavery.Beginning in 1887 ,Mrs.Hen- derson created a new community here for her peers.On the corner of 16 th and Florida (now the Beekman Place development),she built herself a castle-like mansion. Then she tried unsuccessfully to persuade the U.S.Government to build a new White House or the Lincoln Memorial atop the hill.The government declined,but it did accept land for Meridian Hill Park (also known as Malcolm X Park).Henderson also hired noted architects to design elaborate mansions and lured the French,Spanish,Mexican,Cuban,and Polish embassies to move in.Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes was a neighbor at 2100 16 th,and many embassies remain today. After Mrs.Henderson’s death in 1931 ,her castle became apartments and later a noisy “after- hours”club.A sleepless neighbor, Washington Post publisher Eugene Meyer of 1624 Crescent Place, bought the castle and eventually razed it,but left behind a memento: the brownstone walls lining the Beekman Place development. Across the street is the Roosevelt,constructed in 1919 as a fine apartment-hotel.Its name honors President Theodore Roosevelt.Mrs.Henderson successfully fought to limit the building’s height,so it wouldn’t block views of the city from the park.
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