Tag Archives: The Schools of Georgetown

GM has decided to return today to an old series he hasn’t worked on in over a year: his survey of historic school buildings in Georgetown. Today he turns to one of the last buildings left for him to address: the Corcoran School at 1219 28th St. (not to be confused with the Filmore School at 1801 35th St., which is owned by the Corcoran School of Art).

Corcoran School

1219 28th St.

Built: 1889

Architect: Unknown

Current Owner: American Road and Transportation Builders Association

The Corcoran School was built in 1889 in east Georgetown to serve the white population. It was named after Thomas Cocoran, who served several terms as mayor of Georgetown between 1808 and 1813 and was father of William Wilson Corcoran, the founder of the Corcoran Gallery.

The school served the Georgetown for sixty-two years. This was a period when much of Georgetown’s now commercial strips were also residential. One poignant story involving a Corcoran student illustrates that. On a Sunday July 13, 1924, Louise Philpot, a 12 year old student of the school, was babysitting four year old Raymond Rose at the stream that was once at the bottom of Wisconsin Ave. Raymond slipped on a log and fell into the Potomac. Louise, who had passed the swimming test at the Georgetown Playground pool, jumped into the water in her Sunday best, swam over to Raymond and fetched him out of the river. She delivered him all muddy back to his home at 1010 Wisconsin Ave. (which is now the location of a large office building). She lived at 3223 M St., which is now the Georgetown Gallery souvenir store. Continue reading →