Citizens Committee to Save Historic Rhodes Tavern papers, Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University.
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Rhodes Tavern, scene of many historic events opened in 1799 and served as a tavern, "town hall", polling place, boarding house, bank, stock exchange, and the headquarters of the National Press Club. Every inaugural parade from Thomas Jefferson's in 1801 to Ronald Reagan's in 1981 went by the tavern. Oliver T. Carr purchased most of the block on which Rhodes Tavern sat in order to redevelop the area. By the time Carr purchased the tavern, it had ceased to resemble its original form, but many architects and historians saw merit in retaining the structure even with these changes because of its importance to the history of the District.
Located less than a block from the White House at 15 and F Sts NW, planned to tear it down to build new offices and retail shops. A seven year protracted legal battle then began between preservationists trying to stop Carr from demolishing the building. An initiative was passed by the citizens of Washington to preserve the building in 1983, but Carr had the building razed one night in 1984.
The marker was placed by the Rhodes Tavern-DC Heritage Society in 1999 and was funded to a great extent by pennies collected by DC school children
This collection contains reports, newspaper articles, correspondence, news releases, and court documents related to the efforts of the Citizens Committee to Save Historic Rhodes Tavern to preserve Rhodes Tavern. The material dates from 1970s-1980s.