National Museum of the American Indian The National Mall, Washington, D.C. Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc. and the Smithsonian Institution The National Mall was once the home of a foundry, working-class families, prostitutes, and madams. The east end of the Mall, including an area known as Reservation C, was meant to be part of the formal heart of the federal district, but the property was sold by the city to raise money and the land was privately developed. Among the family households and brothels built in the mid-nineteenth century was the large brick house built by Mary Ann Hall, who operated one of Washington's best-known first-class brothels. John Milner Associates conducted identification, evaluation, and data recovery investigations at the site of Hall's brothel and several working-class households. These investigations were conducted to assist the Smithsonian Institution comply with historic preservation law as it prepared for the construction of the National Museum of the American Indian, located in part on the site of Hall's famous house. Mary Ann Hall operated her brothel for about forty years. The history of her business and property is well documented in public records and newspaper accounts. Maps and plans of institutional Washington, D.C., show her house, just a short walk from the Capitol. Archeological excavations revealed an artifact assemblage unlike any other found in the city. Hall's first-class house provided wild game, Brazil nuts, coconut, and strawberries, as well as beef, pork, and green beans, served on gold-rimmed china and white ironstone. Piper Heidseick was the champagne of choice in her house. Her working-class neighbors dined on simpler fare on old-fashioned pearlware and whiteware plates. Mary Ann Hall died a wealthy woman and was laid to rest in Congressional Cemetery in 1886. She was well known around Washington for decades, but by the late twentieth century, those who noticed her substantial monument in Congressional Cemetery knew nothing of her life. Through research in documents and excavations around the site of her house, the life and times of the Madam on the Mall are now part of the story of the capitol city's past. Results of the excavations are documented in a technical report, in articles published in journals and books, and at the Smithsonian Institution's web site: http://www.si.edu/oahp/nmaidig/start.htm JMA Staff: Donna J. Seifert, Joseph F. Balicki, Sarah J. Ruch, Robert E. Schultz, Margaret S. Schoettle To Top