Who Can You Believe

[Linda Anderson]

(07-30-2014 04:27 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I definitely agree about saving the Seward house, especially because it had rich history dating before the Sewards moved in. Philip Barton Key's murder, the Taneys living there, its history as the Old Club or Clubhouse.

It's unbelievable that the government didn't step in to save such an historic building. It had a terrible reputation in Washington due to the violent acts that took place in and around it so it was hard for the owner to rent. The government leased it for the Office of the Commissary General for a number of years. Secretary of State James Blaine bought it after the Commissary General left for new quarters. He died in 1893 and his widow decided to lease the property to a Chicago syndicate who razed it to build the Lafayette Opera House.