Romancing the Stones: Charting the Seneca Quarry's role in building Victorian Washington

The city's historic structures were built from materials as unique to their age and as varied as the architectural styles used to mold them into buildings. Those materials often have their own rich stories to tell, as Garrett Peck ably demonstrates in his lively new book, The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry. Seneca sandstone has a lot going for it. In addition to its rich, dignified color, it also has the unique property that it is relatively soft and easy to cut when it is taken out of the ground but hardens after the cut stone is set in place, making for an excellent building material. It's a wonder that more D.C. buildings are not made from it.

The Washington Post's historic home on Rum Row

Recent news articles about the Washington Post's plan to sell its headquarters building have occasionally mentioned the newspaper's historic home, which once stood at 1341 E Street NW on Washington's old Rum Row. While the newer building has witnessed some of the newspaper's greatest journalistic achievements, its plain and functional architecture is a far cry from the Post's old building, which was one of the finest and most ornate Romanesque Revival structures ever built in Washington.

The Post Building is on the left in this circa 1908 postcard (author's collection).