Michael Lowe House

Another one of the 'Who's Who of Early SE' was also a neighbor of Mr. Barry (there were two Barrys of significance in this area but via marriage but anyway) and that was Michael Lowe.   Mr. Lowe was the first tobacco inspector of D.C. and his house was built in the early 1800s on the north-east corner of 3rd St at the intersection of L St SE. It eventually became a drug store and by 1925 had become a furniture store as seen in the picture below.

In this picture (to the left) you can see the three rowhomes that still occupy the site today, that according to D.C. tax records, were built in 1900. This would be in contrast to the sign on the Redlions Rowhome that indicates the home was built circa 1880. It is interesting to see that the awning that was visibile in 1925 may be the same awning that is visibile in some of the pictures that JD took of that street corner in 2006. Anyway, Mr. Lowe died in 1820 but his family’s legacy lived on as one of his nephews became governor of Maryland. His granddaughter, Barbara Lowe, became the wife of Major Amon Woodward, who was a well-known citizen of the eastern section of the city.

On whether or not the rowhomes were built in the 1880s or 1900 - who knows. Did D.C. keep good records on when homes were built? Maybe maybe-not, laws were on the books to record building permits because of the increase in alley dwellings in the mid-late 1800s but those were plagued with inaccuracies. So there is no reason for me to doubt those homes were built in the 1880s.