December 2, 2024  

Then & Now: The New Raleigh Hotel Washington DC, 1912

Some of the city’s oldest hotels not only have a long history of storied visitors and impressive tales, but they’ve shaped the city’s landscape for decades and perhaps centuries. However, for every Hay-Adams, Willard Continental and Morrison-Clark, there’s a hotel like the the Raleigh Hotel that’s either been converted and or destroyed entirely.

Raleigh Hotel (THEN): Along with the Willard, the Raleigh Hotel was one of the largest and grandest hotels in Washington in the first part of the twentieth century. It held a commanding position on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the Old Post Office Building and was famous as a Mecca for patrons of the performing arts. In 1911, the building was razed and rebuilt as a 13-story Beaux Arts hotel.

Raleigh Hotel 1912

The recently completed Raleigh Hotel at Pennsylvania Ave and 12th Street NW, built on the site of the previous Raleigh Hotel. Photo taken by Lewis Reed, ca. 1912

Raleigh Hotel (NOW): The hotel closed in 1963, its furnishings were sold off, and it was demolished a year later. Its replacement, a 14-story office building at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, was completed in 1968, and it still stands on the site today.

Raleigh Hotel

The site of the Raleigh as it appears today.

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About Reed Brothers

I am a co-owner of the former Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, Maryland. Lewis Reed, the founder of Reed Brothers Dodge was my grandfather. We were a family-owned and operated car dealership in Rockville for almost a century. I served in the United States Air Force for 30 years before retiring in the top enlisted grade of Chief Master Sergeant in July 2006. In 2016, I received the Arthur M. Wagman Award for Historic Preservation Communication from Peerless Rockville for documenting the history of Reed Brothers Dodge in both blog and book format. This distinguished honor recognizes outstanding achievement by writers, educators, and historians whose work has heightened public awareness of Rockville’s architectural and cultural heritage, growth and development.

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