The Congressional Club received a charter in 1908 from the United States Congress as a non-partisan social club for the wives of members of the House of Representatives and Senate. This Beaux-Arts/Classical Revival clubhouse was built in 1914, designed by George Oakley Totten, Jr. under the guidance of Mary Foote Henderson for an invigorated 16th Street district. Annually the club hosts a luncheon in honor of the First Lady of the United States. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the clubhouse in 2011. Sitting at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue NW and U Street NW, the building is a contributing property to the Sixteenth Street Historic District.
This location is the site of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity's Washington Alumni chapter which, in 1949, worked with undergraduate chapters at Howard University and Miner Teachers College to build what the call the "Kappa Kastle". This became a popular center for social activity, activism, and philanthropy for African Americans. Kappa Alpha Psi is a current collegiate Greek-letter fraternity known mostly for its predominately African American membership. Kappa Alpha Psi was founded January 5, 1911, at Indiana University. It has over 160,00 members and 721 undergraduate chapters. It also has international chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Japan, United States Virgin Islands, Nigeria, and South Africa. The fraternity's motto is "Achievement in every field of the human endeavor."
The Belmont mansion built in 1909 by famous French architect Eugene Sanson for Perry and Jessie Belmont, is now known as the International Headquarters for the Order of the Eastern Star. The Order of the Eastern Star (also known as OES) is a philanthropic international organization to give a part of their time to many projects that benefit mankind and that also holds its members to a very high standard much like the Freemasons. This mansion was previously used by the Belmonts to host parties and special events, and at one point in time hosted the Prince of Wales, until its closing in 1925. When it was purchased by the General Grand Chapter in 1935 it was purchased for 1.5% of the original construction price and is not used not only as the headquarters but as the home of the Right Worthy Grand Secretary and their family.
The Cosmos Club is a private club located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1876, the Cosmos Club states that it is dedicated to the intellectual advancement of science, literature, and art among its active members. Through the years since it was established, the Cosmos Club has held numerous high-profile denizens of Washington, DC, and continues to do so today. The club’s current clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3rd, 1973.
The Sulgrave Club is a private women's social club, similar to New York's Colony Club. It is headquartered in a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by George Cary near Embassy Row in Washington, DC. It has also been known as the Wadsworth House. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the building in 1972.
The Alibi Club is a private gentleman's club located in Washington, D.C. The Club itself is an exclusive, private affair, whose members consist largely of prominent men in Washington, D.C. society. Originally located on 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, the current building, merely a few blocks away from the White House, served as the Club's active location beginning in 1886 up until the present.
The Metropolitan Club is a private club headquartered in Washington, DC. Founded in 1863 by six members of the United States Treasury, the Metropolitan Club was established in an effort to create Washington, DC’s, “first literary and social club.” The current residence of the Club was constructed in 1908 and was placed on the national Register of Historic Places in March of 1995. The Metropolitan Club is still active and is as exclusive as it was at the time of its founding.
The Cleveland Abbe House (also known as The Monroe House, or the Caldwell-Monroe-Adams-Abbe House) is a red-brick row house in the Federal style, completed by businessman Timothy Caldwell in 1808. It first became historically significant as the house in which Secretary of State and War (and future President) James Monroe lived from 1811 to 1817. After Monroe was inaugurated as president, while the White House was still being restored, it became the presidential residence for several months. Charles Francis Adams, Sr., the son and grandson of presidents, also lived in the house in the early 1860s. Its final private resident was the scientist Cleveland Abbe, who founded the U.S. Weather Bureau (now known as the National Weather Service), and who lived there from 1877 to 1909. After Abbe's death in 1916, the house was purchased by the newly-formed Arts Club of Washington. The club still owns the house nearly a century later, and holds many arts-related events at the site. The house was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1975.
The City Tavern Club is a private social club in Washington, DC’s Georgetown area that is housed in a building of the same name, the City Tavern. Constructed in 1796 as an inn, the City Tavern building changed hands many times throughout its history until it became the home of the City Tavern Club after it was restored in 1962. In January of 1992, the City Tavern was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the City Tavern is still the hosting clubhouse of the City Tavern Club, and it continues to host some of the elite of Washingtonian high society.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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You may not be able to get into these buildings, but you can view each of these sites of private meetings and secret history and imagine what took place inside. To make this an easier walking tour, visit sites 1-5 separately or take the D6 or 42 bus between the Sulgrave Club and the Alibi Club. The 38B bus will connect you from the Cleveland Abbe House to City Tavern.
