In the Alley ,
in one of Washington’s remaining inhabited alleys,behind the buildings that front G,E (there is no F Street),Sixth,and Seventh streets.In the alley had tiny dwellings sheltering well over people.Today six remain,to the right of this sign across the alley on Archibald Walk and the adjacent alley. In Samuel A. H. Marks, Sr. ( - ) built his home at G Street with stables and work- shops on the alley behind the house.He practiced law and sold metal work crafted here from his hardware store at E Street,which backs onto the alley.His major client was the Marine Corps.A popular figure,Marks was known as the man who trained his dog to run between his two front coach horses as he drove Capitol Hill’s streets. By the prolific builder Charles Gessford and others had added the tiny brick houses on Marks Court (now the parking lot) and here along F Street Terrace. William A. Simpson ( - ) bought Marks’s properties around and expanded the stables for his Walker Hill Dairy, which delivered Frederick County,Maryland,milk to area doorsteps until . Eventually eight alley houses were razed for the warehouse across from this sign.The warehouse has served as Shakespeare Theatre’s set and prop shop and a woodworking studio.In ,after city authorities complained about squalid conditions, most of the dwellings were razed for the parking lot.The six survivors are now prized residences along Archibald Walk, named for long-time Capitol Hill resident Archibald Donohoe.
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