Set in Stone 42nd street and river road nw
sign 10 marks the west side of mount airy, a subdivision spanning Wisconsin Avenue laid out in the late 1890s. Mount Airy evolved into a dense, working-class neighborhood, where policemen and dairymen lived in modest houses. Among them were the Perna and Porto families, which eventually gave Tenleytown five genera- tions of building tradesmen. Stone mason Frank Perna arrived from Italy during the late 1880s to work on federal construction projects. Twenty years later brother Louis joined him. They formed Perna Brothers in Tenleytown, near both raw materials and the demand for new housing. Their sister Anna Maria married Benjamin Porto, also a stone mason. The Pernas and Portos, and descendants, worked in stone and construction, building entire houses, as well as fireplaces, walls, and foundations. The families’ handiwork is visible at 4619 and 4621 42nd Street and at 4112-4118 Chesapeake Street. They worked on the Washington Mon- ument, St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, and buildings at Glen Echo. The Portos constructed 4319 Ellicott Street, among other houses. Although Washington’s small Italian community centered downtown close to building projects on Capitol Hill when Frank Perna arrived, shoemakers Giovanni Errigo and Tony Bredice and barber Frank Errigo also found their opportunities in Tenleytown. Around 1912 builder, former Marine Bandsman, and second-generation Tenleytowner Frederick W. Parks built a double house for his family at 4115 Chesapeake Street. Three more generations enjoyed the sturdy frame structure until it was razed in 1962.
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