Ghosts of Markets Past

Today GM is picking up his series: Ghosts of Markets Past. The series (so far just a single previous entry) looks a homes tucked away in the neighborhood that were once part of the constellation of small markets that once dotted Georgetown. Today GM is taking a look at 3400 Reservoir Rd.

This property has long been the home of former Old Georgetown Board member Anne Lewis and her husband, the former ANC chair, Ron Lewis. But throughout much of the 20th century is was the location of a small grocery store. (You can normally spot such buildings around the neighborhood due to the fact the front door is at the corner of the building).

The grocery store was owned and run by Albert M. Hilleary:

Hilleary was a Georgetown native born in 1876. It appears from public records that he acquired the grocery store in the mid 1920s, as his name first appears in a city directory at that point.

But it does not appear that he was the first to run a grocery store from this location. The property was listed for rent as a grocery store in 1918:

The building itself dates back to 1859, and appears to have been built to be a market. So it is likely that it was a market throughout the second half of the 19th century as well.

The building almost didn’t make it through the 1960s though. After Albert Hilleary died in 1962, his family attempted to tear down the building and build a modern home on the lot. The imperious Eva Hinton put a stop to that:

Following the rejection of the building plans, the family sold the property and it has been used as a private home ever since.