This community park on the south bank of the Patuxent River was once the site of the Avondale Mill, a large textile mill constructed in 1844-1845. It produced cotton fabric, running 1500 spindles. A decade after the stone structure was built, it became a gristmill, and in subsequent decades produced both lace and tractors. The mill was significant in a region known more for its agriculture than its industry, and was the longest-surviving nineteenth-century mill in Laurel. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the building in 1979. A fire destroyed the mill in December 1991, after which the ruins were demolished to create a park.
Bowie Station was a stop on the new railroad between Baltimore and southern Maryland built after the Civil War. Now occupying the site is the Bowie Railroad Museum, which commemorates the railroading history in Bowie and the surrounding region. It consists of three buildings, all restored: the single story freight depot, the two story interlocking tower, and the open passenger shed. The tower houses the National Railroad Historical Society’s Martin O’Rourke Railroad Research Library. It contains around 1,800 books, manuals, maps, publications, vintage magazines and other railroad related materials. A 1922 Norfolk and Western Caboose is displayed next to the tower. The city of Bowie maintains the station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Once, this brick works created bricks for major Washington, DC buildings, including the National Cathedral. Production of bricks began here in 1909 and continued until 1976. At the time of its founding, there were over 100 brickyards in the capital. The bricks were made out of clay from the local river. In 1930, the United Brick Corporation acquired the brickyard, expanding it and building the 12 beehive-shaped kilns still standing on the site. After the site's closure due to technological obsolescence, it was closed off. The National Register of Historic Places has recognized the brickyard. The brickyard itself is closed to the public but it is visible from the street.
The Samuel Gompers House was once the residence of the first president of the American Federation of Labor. It is located in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C. From 1902 until 1917, Samuel Gompers lived in this humble rowhouse, which occasionally also served as an informal meeting place for Gompers and other labor leaders. It was designated as a National Historical Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Dorsch's White Cross Bakery, located in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C., is a building complex that provides office, retail, and event space. Formerly a bakery complex, the buildings represent the Districts's once prominent baking industry. Featuring craftsman-style elements, the S Street structures are amongst the most notable examples of industrial and commercial architecture in the city.
The George M. Barker Company Warehouse is a historic structure, located in the Logan Circle-Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Designed by A.M. Poynton and built in 1906, it once served a a lumber, coal, and wood distribution warehouse. It is notable as one of the few examples of such buildings in a city that was never heavily industrial. Today, the structure is used by Bread for the City, a local organization which provides vulnerable D.C. residents with various social services.
The American Federation of Labor Building is a seven-story building in Downtown Washington, D.C. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974, this building once housed the American Federation of Labor, which Samuel Gompers described as "the strongest, best organized labor movement of all the world." The facade the AFL/Pipefitters Union Building of was incorporated into the Washington Marriott Marquis hotel, which opened in 2014. The hotel primarily serves the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The Bulletin Building is a historic structure in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown, located across the street from the Verizon Center. Built in 1928, the building is distinguished by the four Art Deco bas reliefs decorating its front face. The reliefs depict scenes from the printing trade, reflecting its original owners—the United Publishing Company. Following a 60-year run as a print shop, the building now houses the Bar Deco restaurant. The Bulletin Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
The Textile Museum in Washington was established by George Hewitt Myers in 1925. Myers founded the museum by donating his personal collection of 275 rugs and 60 other related artifacts. Myers was an active supporter of the museum until his death in 1957. Thanks to his efforts, the museum collection had grown to include examples and exhibits that offered visitors a view of the importance of textile arts and production throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Myers' time, the museum was open by appointment only and received several hundred visitors annually. Today, The Textile Museum is one of the world's leading museums of its kind, with 25,000 to 35,000 visitors touring the museum each year.
Also known as the Washington Lime Kilns, the Godey Lime Kilns are a historic ruin located in the neighborhood of Foggy Bottom. Built in 1864, the kilns produced calcium oxide, "quicklime," until their closure in 1908. Quicklime is a key ingredient in cement, and is also used an a variety of other ways. This Georgetown area complex included four ovens as well as a variety of associated buildings.
This important vestige of Alexandria’s early railroad history, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad Hooff's Run Bridge can be found across Hoff’s Run at Wolfe Street. Built in 1856 as part of the first railroad to serve Northern Virginia, Hooff's Run Bridge is the oldest extant bridge in Alexandria.
Built by the bricks made by its inmates, the District of Columbia’s Workhouse opened in the summer of 1910. The site was initially created as an experiment to determine if hard labor and an open-air environment would help reform short-term prisoners charged with drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and other crimes. A notable contribution to the importance of this place was its involvement in the women’s suffrage movement and the women known as the Silent Sentinels who were treated deplorably during their stay at the prison. The Workhouse has served several purposes and has changed hands several times throughout its history. The site has been used as a workhouse, a maximum-security prison, and is currently used to house the Workhouse Arts Center and Museum to name a few. Today, the Prison Museum provides visitors with an overview of the history of the prison with a greater focus on the suffragists and the torture, hunger strikes, and force-feeding that they had to endure.
The Lorton Reformatory, previously known as the Occoquan Workhouse, was established in 1910 as part of the Progressive Movement's effort to reform the penal system. The prison is best known for its deplorable treatment of women who were sent to Occoquan in 1917 following their arrest for participating in protests for women's suffrage at the nation's capital. Lucy Burns, Alice Paul and other prisoners launched a hunger strike in order to protest their arrest and publicize incidents of violence and sexual abuse. Prison guards force-fed the protesting prisoners. On the night of November 14th, 1917, the guards severely beat some of the women. News of the abuse galvanized support for women's suffrage and led to investigations into the treatment of prisoners at the workhouse and other prisons.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour highlights a variety of American industries, such as textiles, rail, printing, as well as workhouses and sites relevant to the American labor movement. For a shorter tour within Washington, DC, visit sites #4-10.
