WHEREAS, the History Committee of the Tenleytown Neighbors Association, Inc., and the Tenleytown Historical Society have filed an application to designate as a Historic District the 4400, 4500, and 4600 blocks of Grant Road, N.W., as a largely intact and excellent example of a late 19th and early 20th century rural postal village comprising not only the road, in use from at least 1858, but also the oldest surviving commercial building in Tenleytown and 13 residences constructed in the vernacular American Folk style of the Victorian worker’s cottage by local artisans, some of whom lived in these houses, Landmark Case No. 01-09; and

WHEREAS, ANC 3F is affected by this application because (a) the connection between the 4400 and 4500 blocks of Grant Road, now obscured by the intersection of Nebraska Avenue and Albemarle Street which overlies it, runs through a corner of ANC 3F, and (b) several of the residential properties subject to this designation are within 200 feet of ANC 3F; and

WHEREAS, ANC 3F has a special interest in this application because of its shared social heritage with the proposed district:

•  until the early twentieth century, land that is now within the boundary of ANC 3F was farmland belonging to properties proposed to be designated;

•  the western part of ANC 3F was within the Tenleytown postal district of which this is an example;

•  before the urban grid of streets was superimposed on the country roads of this area of Northwest Washington in the early part of the 20th century, much of Grant Road ran through what is now ANC 3F;

•  vestiges of old Grant Road still exist within ANC 3F, part of which one section is already landmarked:  (a) the 3700 block of Grant Road between Cumberland and Davenport Streets, (b) the 3000-3200 blocks of Grant Road, a fragment of the southern fork of the road, called “Grant Road” at the time of the Civil War, but shown on some late 19th century maps as “Military Road”, (c) the 4900-5200 blocks of 36th Street, N.W.,  part of the northern fork of the road , sometimes shown on maps at the turn of the 20th century as “Grant Road” and sometimes as “Chappel Road”, now included in the Fort Circle Park Historic District, and (d) the extension of the northern fork to Broad Branch Road, now known as the 3400 block of Chappell Road;

•  during the Civil War, Grant Road connected the Fort Reno area of Tenleytown to military fortifications in and around Broad Branch and Rock Creek, traces of which can still be found in ANC 3F; and

•  designation of this section of Grant Road taken in conjunction with the recently-landmarked Owl’s Nest, which borders the 3000  block of Grant Road in ANC 3F, will show the spectrum of late 19th century architecture and styles of living in this community of Northwest Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, ANC 3E, at a duly–noticed meeting on November 8, 2001, with a quorum present, voted 5-0 to support this application;

NOW THEREFORE, ANC3F:

1. Joins ANC 3E in recommending that the HPRB designate the 4400, 4500, and 4600 blocks of Grant Road, along with the fourteen late 19th and early 20th century properties that border it, as a Historic District, and

2. Designates Commissioner Catherine J. Wiss to represent ANC 3F before the HPRB and any related proceedings.

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Approved by a vote of 6-0-0 at a duly-noticed meeting on November 19, 2001, with a quorum present.
 
 

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David J. Bardin, Chair                                    Robert V. Maudlin, Secretary