The citizens of Georgetown were already raising money for good causes two centuries ago. In 1796 the Mayor of Georgetown, Daniel Reintzel, was authorized to demolish a frame market house that stood on this site and erect a new brick market building. Funds for the new market were to be raised by voluntary contribution from the citizens of Georgetown.
During the decades of profitable operation of the adjacent Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which made Georgetown a thriving commercial port, the Old Georgetown Market was enlarged. But by the end of the Civil War the market was worn out and was torn down and rebuilt again. One hundred years later, the U.S. Congress declared the market a historic landmark, and required that it be preserved and used only as a farmers market. So what began in revolutionary times as a butcher's market is still functioning as a market today — perhaps the finest remaining symbol of Georgetown's long commercial history.
Georgetown continues its tradition of volunteering funds for worthy projects. Just like for the Old Georgetown Market, funds for the restoration of this, and all other police and fire call boxes in Georgetown were raised by voluntary contributions from its proud citizens and business leaders.
Reverse:
Restoration of Georgetown's
Call Boxes
Georgetown's Call Box restoration project is part of a city-wide effort to rescue the District's abandoned fire and police call boxes. Known as Art on Call, the project has identified more than 800 boxes for restoration. Neighborhood by neighborhood, they are being put to new use as permanent displays of local art, history and culture. The Georgetown project highlights the anecdotal history of Georgetown and its unique heritage as a thriving colonial port town that predated the District of Columbia.
Fire alarm such as this one (originally painted red) were installed in the District after the Civil War. In most boxes, the alarm was activated by opening a door on the front of the box and pulling a lever. An automatic telegraph system transmitted the box number to a central office that directed the closes fire station to dispatch a fire truck to the vicinity of the call box. After almost 100 years, the system began to decline in the 1960s with the advent of two-way car radios and walkie-talkies. The alarms were finally turned off in the 1960s and replaced wit hthe 911 emergency system.
Art on Call is a program of Cultural Tourism DC
with support from
DC Commission on the Arts and humanities, DC Creates Public Art Program
District Department of Transportation
Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning
and Economic Development
Citizens Association of Georgetown
Bank of Georgetown
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