Elizabeth Jane Eads How Townhouses

This pair of houses on Mississippi Ave in Lafayette Square were built in 1874 for Elizabeth Jane Eads How, who was the daughter of the famous ironclad shipbuilder, and architect of the Eads Bridge, James Buchanan Eads. These Second Empire townhouses were not built for her own personal residence, but instead were built as rental houses that would be occupied by single families. Despite being rental houses, these still exhibited many features of the most opulent homes in the area, such as the limestone fronted facades and bay windows with a balcony above on the second floor. The houses were some of the earlier developments, as the street did not fill out until the 1880s, and remained occupied for a longer period of time due to their more modest size. By the mid 20th century, this area had been largely abandoned and the occupied structures had been converted to rooming houses. However, a highway had been proposed to run straight through the square, and take out a number of historic houses on the east side of the park. Thanks to the efforts of preservationists, this plan was never implemented, and the structures were saved. The structure to the south had been featured in the inaugural Lafayette Square tour, as one of the first houses to be restored in 1969. Today, 50 years later, the house still remains with most of its architectural details intact.