Rhode Island Avenue is one of the major diagonal streets in Washington named after a state. Named, in fact, after the smallest state, it is one of the longest avenues in the city, starting at its intersection with Connecticut Avenue NW and heading through the city in a northeasterly direction. At 6th Street NW, it begins also to be US Route 1, which – as you probably know – extends from Fort Kent, Maine (on the Canadian border) to Key West, Florida, over 2000 miles.

As Rhode Island Avenue leaves the city of Washington, it enters Prince George’s County, MD. About 10 miles or so out, it bridges above the Beltway, passes Ikea, and heads on to parts unknown. Between Connecticut Avenue and the Beltway, Rhode Island Avenue is quite interesting and I decided to explore it on foot, a mile or so at a time and create a series of posts which I hope will interest you. Each will be identified, so that you can skip them if you wish.

The first segments are the only downtown segments,  so they will look a little different from the others.

Starting at Connecticut Avenue,  the two sides of the street are bounded by two stores, each with a story to tell. On your left, you have Brooks Brothers.

Everyone knows Brooks Brothers and this is one of five stores which it operates in this area. Just two interesting points. First, founded by the Brooks family in 1818 in New York City, it is the oldest clothing store in the country still in business. Second, from 1967 to 1981, Brooks Brothers was owned by a DC based company, originally known as the Julius Garfinckel company, and has since then changed ownership a number of times. When Garfinckel bought Brooks Brothers,  it apparently had 8 stores. Now, it has 140 in the US alone.

Across the street is The Tiny Jewel Box, which is not so tiny. Its story is different from Brooks Brothers.  The Tiny Jewel Box was started by the Rosenheim family in 1930 and is still family owned. Why is it Tiny? Because when founded, it was in a little space of only 100 square feet (that’s 10 by 10). Now it occupies 22,000 square feet.

On the same block, near Connecticut Avenue, you find a monument dedicated to 600 Catholic nuns who worked as nurses during the Civil War. There were no other “professional ” nurses at the time. Many of the 600 were Irish, and this monument was approved by Congress but commissioned by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. It was not commissioned until after World War I, and in September 2024, it will be 100 years since its dedication.

The sculptor was also Irish, Jerome Connor, who had a studio in Washington from 1910 to 1925. His work in Washington include the statue of Archbishop John Carroll on the campus of Georgetown University,  the statue of Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet on Massachusetts Avenue NW, and the tomb of John Alexander Joyce in Oak Hill cemetery in Georgetown.

One other thing. After he completed the sculpture for the Hibernians,  he had to sue for his fee. Maybe they didn’t like it?

Obviously, I can’t post a photo of every building on Rhode Island Avenue,  so I have to pick and choose.

I first pick and choose this one:

This is 1701 Rhode Island Avenue NW. It’s a new building, and to me very attractive, walled of glass and copper, and standing on the site of the old (really not that old) YMCA building.  When the Y was torn down, there was a lot of opposition, because it was a popular downtown spot for gym and pool. But you cannot stop progress.

This building is now four or five years old. All seven floors are occupied by WeWork.

On the same block, you find the massive St. Matthew the Apostle Cathedral. Known as the site of the funeral of President John F. Kennedy,  the cathdral was completed in 1917. It was designed by a prominent New York architect, Christopher Grant La Farge, and I believe was his only Washington project. The cathedral is the “mother church” of the Washington archdiocese and has been since 1947, when the Baltimore-Washington  archdiocese was split in two.

In front of St. Matthew’s is a sculpture by Canadian Timothy Schmalz.

It is a cast of one of six sculptures made by Schmalz, portraying the six situations listed in the Book of Matthew 25:36. When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you took me in. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was sick, you healed me. When I was imprisoned, you visited me.

This sculpture obviously portrays nakedness.

Another of his six sculptures is apparently on G Street NW in front of the headquarters of Catholic Charities.

All of these items are on one block, between Connecticut Avenue and 17th Street. We have a long way to go.