Photo by Wikipedia user APK.

For this week’s entry, let’s look at a building that is steeped in the privileged and exclusive past of our city and its founding fathers. It’s a pretty plain-looking brick building you’ve probably walked by dozens of times in Georgetown and never noticed.

City Tavern Club, 3206 M Street NW, was constructed in 1796 and first managed by Clement Sewall, who served in the American Revolution. The tavern was a popular destination for the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. In the days before Georgetown incorporated into the District, the City Tavern Club was a meeting place for Georgetown’s governing body, the Georgetown Corporation, and the location for elections and meetings of the Mayor’s Court.

Following its heyday in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the tavern’s management changed many times. Through the 19th century, it was operated as the Semmes’ Tavern, Indian King Tavern, Columbian Inn, United States Hotel, Georgetown Hotel, and Morgan House. In 1898, the building was converted to retail use.

By 1960, the building had fallen into disrepair and housed a print shop on its street level. The building was scheduled to be razed and paved for a parking lot (how sad). However, Georgetown residents banded together and saved the building, establishing the City Tavern Association. The association restored the building completely and turned it into a private club, similar to the Cosmos Club and the like.

Naturally, members of the private club, according to its website, include Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, and ambassadors. The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places, and while the outside is rather simple, the inside is quite beautiful, with period Federal details.