While the business originated in Baltimore in the 1860s, where the Kanns had settled after immigrating to the United States from Germany, Solomon Kann (with his three sons, Louis, Simon, and Sigmund) found new opportunities in the nation’s capital.…

Immigrating to Baltimore in 1860, the Lansburgh brothers, Gustave, Mark, and James, all contributed to the future success of what would become one of DC’s oldest dry goods retailers. First, however, Gustave Lansburgh began his business journey as a…

The Hecht family, immigrating from Germany to the United States in the 1860s, found immediate success in the retail industry. The first family member, Simeon Hecht, arrived in Baltimore to open a furniture store in the city, and after his initial…

A career in law would feel challenging enough for most, but not for Mortimer Lebowitz. After attending law school for two years, he did not feel as excited by it as he thought he should. His father, a retailer in New York City, offered him an…

The three-story, four-bay-wide Engine Company No. 16 is often referred to as the "big house," since it is the largest of the city's firehouses and the only one with four apparatus bays. The building became the new home to Engine Company No. 16,…

Founded by Abram Lisner, Palais Royal expanded from its beginnings as a specialty store to a successful department store. Lisner operated the store as a cash-only business that offered low-price merchandise, attracting customers to shop there with…

Old Engine Company No. 6 served as the first firehouse of the Metropolitan Hook and Ladder Company in Washington, DC. Built in 1862, the firehouse accommodated horses with heavy equipment. Old Engine Company No. 6 also responded to some of the…

The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church is considered to be the first and oldest Black Baptist congregation in DC. The First Baptist Church, where Nineteenth Street Baptist Church finds its roots, initially described the congregation as interracial.…