It’s been a while since GM added an entry to his Survey of Historic School Buildings series, but today he inches closer to checking off all of them: the Fillmore School.
Fillmore School
1801 35th St.
Built: 1893
Architect: Unknown
Current Owner: Corcoran School of Art
Before getting too far into the discussion, GM would like to first address the jurisdictional question: yes the Fillmore School is in Georgetown. Barely. According to federal law, the Georgetown historic district line runs down the middle of 35th st. between Reservoir Rd. and Wisconsin Ave. So Fillmore is in Georgetown, the homes across the street are (technically) not. Subject matter jurisdiction established.
The Fillmore School was built in 1893 and named (presumably) in honor of our last Whig and most comically named president: Millard Fillmore. It was built to serve upper Georgetown’s white population. Ultimately it would be Burleith’s local elementary school too, but most of Burleith was completely undeveloped until the 1920s.
GM searched the Washington Post archives for stories about the early years of Fillmore, and only came up with a handful of tidbits. In June 1894, the teachers and students of Fillmore gave a concert at Western High School, which was then located in the Curtis School (which used to be next to Hyde). The program included pieces by the Sawyer Fife and Drum corps. and the Mother Goose Cantata. Continue reading
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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