Greenback Saloon.

[L Verge]

I had my D.C. expert, Joan Chaconas, searching her 1864 D.C. Directory today (thanks, Betty, for putting it on her work computer!), and neither the Star Saloon nor the Greenback Saloon are listed - at least under those names. Under people, there are lots of Fergusons, but she found no James listed. Peter Taltavull is listed, but at his residence on Eighth Street. We already knew that because he lived only a short distance from the Herold family.

Does anyone know how long Ferguson and the Greenback were in business? It is possible that the material for the 1864 Directory was gathered in 1863, and Jimmy hadn't arrived in town yet? A wide leap, but a possibility...

Joan also said that the street numbering was supposed to run upwards from Pennsylvania Avenue, but it was done rather haphazardly, and we question whether or not the numbers even appeared on the buildings. The house numbering today seems to be random sometimes. For instance, Surratt House Museum is at 9110 Brandywine Road - our Visitors' Center is about 100 yards away on the same property, and its address is 9118 Brandywine Road. The only thing we can figure is that the "planners" years before expected three more houses to be built between Surratt House and the 1937 home that became our Visitors' Center. Talk about passing sugar between windows!