Traces of a Forgotten Section of Georgetown
The name appears to have originated in the 1807 purchase of land at the northwest corner of what is now 35th and R Street, NW, by a man named Bryan Duffy. Duffy’s 1813 will refers to it as “Duffy’s Town, on Fayette street.” (Wesley Pippenger, District of Columbia Probate Records, 1801-1852)
Duffy was a contractor; at about the time of that 1807 transaction, he donated material for the plastering of the new Georgetown College. Duffy was later described as being the father of the builder of the second Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown (1851). He is also remembered in connection with excavation work on Analoston Island: “General Mason ordered a workman (Bryan Duffy) to cut through them.”
(John Threlkeld to Bryan Duffy, DC Liber S18, f. 113/93; Father McElroy to Father Stonestreet, Dec. 30, 1856, cited by Joseph Zwinge, S. J., The Novitiate in Maryland, Woodstock Letters, Volume XLIV, Number 1, 1 February 1915; David Bailie Warden, A Chorographical and Statistical Description of the District of Columbia, 1816, p.136); DC Wills, 1813, box 4)
“Anon. col’d child, 4 mos., found in Bryan Town.” (Holy Trinity Death Register, November 28, 1834)
The 1836 will of Dr. Charles Worthington mentions “sundry lots on Fayette St. in Duffy’s Town.” (DC Wills, box 13; Pippenger, District of Columbia Probate Records, 1829-1840, p.205)
In 1845 a mission school of the Methodist Episcopal Church was started at Bryantown, West Georgetown, but was discontinued in a few years. (History of Methodism in Georgetown, vertical file, Peabody Room, Georgetown Branch Library.)
The 1853 directory of Georgetown says Henry Angell lives “in Bryantown.“
“Fighting In A Grave-Yard.–– We are informed of a little affair that took place in a grave-yard, near what is called Pole Hill, beyond Bryantown, on Tuesday night.” (Georgetown Correspondence,” Evening Star, November 29, 1854, p. 2)
The Bear Pump––and previously the Bear Wallow Spring––at 7th and Fayette Streets (Reservoir and 35th) was specified by the city of Georgetown as being “at Bryantown”. (Georgetown Ordinances, July 1, 1865; Georgetown Courier, April 3, 1869)
“Wanted––A young, active girl––white or colored––to do housework in a small family. Apply at Duffies’ Cottage, 214 Fayette street, near 8th street, Georgetown Heights, D.C.” (Evening Star, February 28, 1866, p.3)
“That portion of our city, known as Bryantown, has also improved very much recently, and the residences of Messrs. Duffy & Morris Adler & E. A. Eliason, Esqs., situated here, are not among the least of the many beautiful dwellings with which our city abounds.” (“Georgetown and Alexandria,” National Republican, August 2, 1867, p. 4. Adler and Eliason were on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue, where the Safeway is now.)
“Affairs in West Washington. The Route of the New Water Conduit.––The projected new conduit strikes this place on the side of Fayette, between 8th street [R Street] and Madison street [Whitehaven Parkway], near Mrs. Duffy’s cottage.” The conduit passed under 35th Street at about S Street. (Star, September 17, 1883, p.1).
The 1865-69 assessment shows Miss Elizabeth Duffey owns considerable land between Frederick & Fayette around 8th, including a substantial frame dwelling on the east side of Fayette (apparently) on Square 1297.
Mid-century Georgetown directories and censuses show a mixture of white and black laborers living in Bryantown, but by the end of the 19th century the neighborhood had probably had more black residents. (Their descendants remember it as Brinetown): see Lesko, Babb, Gibbs, Black Georgetown Remembered, 1991). Predictably, news stories now concentrated on crime and disease. “Yesterday morning officers Bradley and Harry arrested Geo. Jackson, a well-known offender, for assaulting the Minor family in “Bryantown” and giving the members some facial decorations.” (Evening Star, June 29, 1891, p.8)
“Affairs in Georgetown. Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever Prevalent in Bryantown Section. A number of diphtheria cases in the northwestern part of Georgetown are reported, and the residents of the neighborhood are somewhat alarmed, The disease is prevalent in the belt north of Q street and west of 32d street, including a large portion of the town known as “Bryantown,” an old-established locality.” (Evening Star, August 27, 1898, p.3)
“Scott Butler, a colored resident of the section known as “Brinetown” went on a rampage yesterday.” (“Affairs in Georgetown,” Evening Star, August 6, 1898, p. 12)
Bryan Town Woods and Bryan Town Ball Ground
By the time that Edgar Farr Russell was writing A Short History of Burleith (1955), memory of Bryantown and its inhabitants had all but faded. Russell knew the term, and and connected it to the field in Whitehaven Park that he knew as B.T. Ball Ground (Russell refers to as “their own” ball field.)
Francis McKinley, who grew up in Glover Park in the 1940s, recalled that Whitehaven Park was called B.T. Woods, and that the name signified “Big Trees.”
“The area favored by many of the members is the field in back of the Glover Park development known as the “B. T. Woods.” Named for its “big trees,” the field has been used for baseball and football for a number of years.” (“Group To Present Playground Plea––Glover Park Citizens Vote to Sponsor Petition,” Evening Star, October 22, 1938, p. 4)
That B.T. Woods could also mean the present-day Hillandale is suggested by news items concerning a band of gypsies who were reported to have pitched their camp on the outskirts of Georgetown. The encampment, described as being “near Western High School”, can be located with greater precision because it was remembered––by a child, born in 1904 at 3416 Reservoir Road––as having been north and west of the intersection of 39th and Reservoir Road.
“We’d go out to what we called the “B.T.” woods where the big estate is now, which was right across from Georgetown Hospital, where the Archibald Estate [i.e. Anne Archbold’s Hillandale] is on this same location now. Every couple of years a big tribe of Gypsies in their wagons and horses and covered wagons would show up over night and they’d have big bonfires around with kettles of soup going.”
(That B.T. refers to Bryan Town, note T.T. Garage, in Judith Beck Helm, Tenleytown, D.C.: Country Village into City Neighborhood, 1981, p. 207. “Gypsy Band Quits Georgetown For Warmer Clime––Hungarian Wanderers Suddenly Leave For Virginia”, Washington Times, November 2, 1911, p. 13; Oral History, Raymond R. Brown, 1969, Peabody Room, Georgetown Branch Library)
Duffey’s Cottage
The location of “Mrs. Duffy’s cottage,” the landmark referred to in 1883, is uncertain. Per directories, Elizabeth Duffy, Brian Duffy’s widowed daughter-in-law, lived at 214 Fayette Street.
In other citations there is another house called Duffy’s Cottage, built as an investment property by Brian Duffy’s son Matthias, who was the designer and builder of the first St. Matthew’s Church (15th and H NW, 1838), and of the second Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown (1851). (The Republic, November 7, 1850, p. 3; “St. Matthew’s Marks Centennial,” Evening Star, November 30, 1940, p. 12.)
“A beautiful suburban Villa, in the modern Italian style, displaying a rich domestic character in its balconies, verandas, ornamented porches, terraces, projecting roof, windows, &c.” on “an acre of ground laid out in the natural style from one of Mr. Downing’s beautiful designs.” (“Heights of Georgetown,” Georgetown Advocate, October 14, 1845, p. 6)
“A beautiful and highly finished residence on the heights of Georgetown opposite Col. Robinson’s [i.e. 3308 R Street]. The grounds around the house are handsomely set with choice shrubbery, and attached to the premises are a carriage-house, stable, and all necessary outbuildings. In the yard is a pump of good water, and near the kitchen a hydrant. The whole establishment is arranged for comfort as well as elegance. The terms will be moderate, either to a purchaser or tenant. For further information inquire of M. Duffey, near the premises.” (“For Sale Or Rent,” The Daily Union, October 1, 1847, p. 2)
Matthias Duffy died in 1853, in a house at 17th and I Street that he completed in 1851, but he may also have lived in Georgetown. “Sale. By E.S. Wright, Auctioneer. I shall sell without reserve, at the late residence of Mr. Duffey, in Bryantown”. (Evening Star, May 30, 1854, p.3)
Duffy’s Cottage is the likeliest candidate for the house described in 1865-69 assessments describes as a “Fine Large Cottage Dwelling” facing (west to) Frederick just above 8th (where the 1859 Boschke map shows a substantial building). At that time it was owned by Maj. John Daniel Kurtz (1820-1877), Assistant Engineer in the defense of Washington, who lived at 10 8th Street in 1865. In 1869 Kurtz advertised his house, on an acre and a half on the “north side of Eighth street, between High and Frederick streets,” for rent. Besides a parlor, dining room, morning room, and five chambers on the second floor, it had a stable, a carriage house, and a greenhouse, as well as a “Vegetable Garden, grass lot, fruit, grapes, and berries, shade and evergreen trees, lawns, shrubbery, and flowers.” Kurtz, transferred to Philadelphia in 1870, was a landlord after that. “The Japanese minister, with some of the attaches of the legation, drove around the heights yesterday, with the purpose of seeing if they could secure a desirable place for a residence here. They alighted and inspected the residence of Col. R. S. Cox, as also the property of Col. John D. Kurtz.” Kurtz died in Georgetown in 1877.
“Died,” Evening Star, June 14, 1865, p. 4; “For Sale, On The Heights Of Georgetown,” National Intelligencer, March 4, 1869, p. 1; “Georgetown,” Evening Star, May 10, 1871, p. 4; “Sudden Death Of An Army Officer,” The Evening Star Tuesday, October 16, 1877; Philadelphia Inquirer, October 18, 1877.
“3309 U Street, Georgetown Heights, fourteen rooms, modern improvements, villa known as Duffy’s Cottage; lot 150 x 250 feet, with nice stable and pasture.” (“For Rent,” Evening Star, September 21, 1885, p.2)
“The Property Known As “Duffy’s Cottage,” on Georgetown Heights, opposite Burleith. It contains about 45,000 feet of ground, fronting on two streets, and affords a fine opportunity for desirable investment.” (“For Sale,” Evening Star, October 11, 1887, p.2)
In 1898 the land on the triangle bounded by Wisconsin, 34th and R Streets (Square 1298) was subdivided by Susan P. Okie, who built 3315-3317 R Street in 1902, (possibly) at the site of Duffy’s Cottage. (“Current Events In Georgetown,” Evening Times, December 15, and 16, 1898)
(With thanks to Brian Kraft and Jerry McCoy.)
The Schott House
“We will sell, on the premises, on Fayette street, opposite 8th, (first lot north of the Cedars,) the new Frame Dwelling lately erected by A. Schedd, Esq. The House is built in the best style; contains 11 rooms; is very convenient. The grounds are ornamented with choice fruit trees and flowers, and command a beautiful view of Washington ant the Potomac shores. The property is only sold because the proprietor has removed from the District.”
Schott house at 1710 35th Street shows up very near Bryan Duffy’s 1807 purchase on Boschke map of 1859. It has been described as a farmhouse, but the 1859 advertiser, Andrew Schad, was a music teacher, and the buyer, Arthur C. V. Schott, was a cartographer, botanist, and geologist.
(“Beautiful Residence On The Heights Of Georgetown At Auction,” Evening Star, April 16, 1859, p. 2; Lost Farms and Estates of Washington, D.C., Kim Prothro Williams, 2018; Gretchen Gause Fox, “Arthur Schott: German Immigrant Illustrator of the American West”, M.A. thesis, George Washington University, 1977)
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Carlton Fletcher
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