This is a fascinating account of the history of the Surratt Boarding House on H Street. Scroll down for pictures of the boarding house from all sides. I had trouble downloading the pdf. so Betty kindly did so for me. Thanks, Betty and thank you to Roger for uploading it to the forum server.

There are better interior photos on the Historic American Buildings Survey site from the Library of Congress. All eight photos of the Surratt House were taken in 1988 by Jack E. Boucher. Search for "Surratt" in the Search All Collections box on the top right; the link is "Mary Surratt Boarding House" in the Built in America Collection.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/

http://rogerjnorton.com/surratt.pdf

That historical background on the house was interesting (found some errors, however, in some general history). One thing I definitely had never heard nor read before was that John, Jr. was actually arrested for a short while upon being relieved of his postmaster duties at Surrattsville because of Southern sympathies. Sounds logical, but surely some researcher would have mentioned this before.

Also, John Lloyd rented the Surrattsville property for $500/year, not month as stated here. To our knowledge, he never did pay for the time he lived there. With everything that went down within five months of his moving in, I guess rent was the last thing on his mind. He did remember to file a claim against the government for destruction of some of the fences, stealing of crops, etc. Never got paid.

Thanks, Laurie. Page 2 of the Data section in the Historic American Buildings Survey site says that Mary was hanged but "later investigations indicate that she was innocent." Not according to The Assassin's Accomplice by Kate Larson!

OR many of us, either!!

Linda, those attatchments were sooooo interesting.

Does the historical importance and history of the building effect the current owners and changes they might want to make in the future to the restaurant?.

(04-27-2013, 09:43 AM)Gene C Wrote: Linda, those attatchments were sooooo interesting.

Does the historical importance and history of the building effect the current owners and changes they might want to make in the future to the restaurant?.

Good question, Gene. The answer from their website:

"From the Federal perspective (the National Register of Historic Places is part of the National Park Service), a property owner can do whatever they want with their property as long as there are no Federal monies attached to the property.

http://www.nps.gov/nr/faq.htm#modify

Here is the back of the boarding house with the room Lewis Powell stayed in marked.

I've never seen that photo before. Do you know when it was taken, Betty?

That study and photos was done sometime in the 1930s I think....but don't quote me. I'll have to go back and check.

Do you think the porches are original to the Surratt period?

How many flights up did Lew have to go to get to his room?

From the dining room, four....from the parlor, three...

I think Betty is right that the photo dates to the Depression era when the WPA was doing projects like inventorying historic buildings in order to put talented people to work. Another project of that era that has certainly been beneficial was the conducting of oral interviews with former slaves before the last of them passed away.