The Place to Shop
on Mount Vernon Square in ,small businesses soon followed.By they catered to everyday needs and formed a bargain district in comparison to downtown’s fancy department stores. Many stores were owned by immigrant families who lived upstairs.It was not unusual to find side- by-side an Irish funeral home,a Chinese restaurant, a German hardware store,a Jewish delicatessen,and an Irish saloon.In the s,Henrietta Zaltrow’s father ran a small grocery next to a Chinese laun- dry.“My father used to borrow money from them all the time,”she recalled.Shopkeepers frequently extended credit and more to their clientele. The commercial section here and closer to F Street attracted so many Jewish business people that by three synagogues – Washington Hebrew,Adas Israel,and Ohev Sholom – were located just south of Mount Vernon Square. German immigrants Henry and Charlotte Boegeholz opened their saloon and restaurant at Seventh around . The Census count- ed five adults,six children,and a servant,all living on the two upper floors.In K.C.Braun retired as head butler of the German Embassy and bought the business. The descendants of hardware store founder Henry Ruppert have operated businesses continuously on the block of Seventh Street since . The hardware store closed in ,a casualty of Metro construction and changes in hardware retailing. Most of the blocks to the north were devastated in the riots of .They remained a sad reminder for nearly a decade until nearby churches collabo- rated with the federal government to build the apartments you see today.
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