Hammel/Degges

Dear Mr. Hosmer,

Thank you for posting your question to History Hub. Collections with historic photographs of buildings in Washington, D.C. that may be worth consulting include the James M. Goode Collection at the Library of Congress, and the Washington, D.C. Historical Image Collection at the DC Public Library. In terms of online content, the Digital Public Library of America is also a good place to start. A search for “3rd Street, Washington, D.C.” brings up the following results. This type of search could yield a photograph of the block the house may have been on, if not the actual house itself.

Best of luck with your research!

Hi Stephen,

While it isn’t a picture of the house, you can find the Degges home at 1403 3^rd ST NW on this Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1903-1916: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3851gm.g01227003/?sp=30&r=-0.192,0.094,0.655,0.392,0?loclr=hhub

You can find more information about Sanborn Fire Maps and accessing those digitized maps from the Library of Congress here: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/about-this-collection/?loclr=hhub

There are several photographic resources held in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division that may be of help to you. You can find a large number of images on the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, but a visit to the Reading Room may be necessary. Please note that only about 1 million of their 16 million+ items have currently been digitized. A few particular collections, among many others, that may be helpful include the Historic American Building Survey, the Allen Photograph Collection, the Frances Benjamin Johnston collection, and the Washingtoniana collection that is primarily available in the Reading Room. You can get in touch with Prints and Photographs Division reference staff for more assistance through Ask-A-Librarian.

Best of luck in your search,

Reference Staff
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress