About this property
The Sun Building (also known as the Baltimore Sun Building or American Bank Building) is a historic building, located at 1317 F Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Downtown Washington, D.C. neighborhood. The Baltimore Sun had covered Washington since the paper's inception in the 1830s and opened a Washington bureau at 1418 F Street NW in 1872. However, the newspaper quickly outgrew that building. The newspaper's founder, Arunah Shepherdson Abell identified a vacant lot nearby, blocks from the Treasury Department and the White House. It was designed by Alfred B. Mullett and constructed from 1885 to 1887, by John H. Howlett. After Abell's death in 1888, the building's management was assumed by his son Walter and three grandsons. The building was sold at a court-ordered auction in 1904 to resolve disputes raised by Abell's daughters. After no bids were made, the building was sold to American Bank. The nine-story building was served by steam elevators, which were replaced by hydraulics in 1909, and electric elevators in 1922. It was altered, in 1904 by B. Stanley Simmons for the American Bank. In 1907, the ninth story was added as the Interstate Commerce Commission Hearing Room. In 1942, the tower's spire was donated to support the war effort and in 1950, the tower atop the building was condemned. Tenants included the Interstate Commerce Commission, Woodrow Wilson's law firm, Daniel C. Roper, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Sun Building was restored in 1983 by architects Abel & Weinstein. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 27, 1985. Its 2009 property value is $13,931,970. National Register of Historic Places listings in the District of Columbia Media related to Sun Building at Wikimedia Commons
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Sun Building
This page lists Sun Building. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Nearby Historic Sites
Questions about this property
When was Sun Building listed on the National Register?
Sun Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 27, 1985.
What type of historic resource is Sun Building?
Sun Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Sun Building?
The period of significance for Sun Building is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Sun Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Sun Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in District of Columbia County
Historic places, battles, and census history across District of Columbia County.
Explore District of ColumbiaCounty ›More historic places in District of Columbia
Browse all historic places in District of Columbia.
View District of Columbiahistoric sites ›District of Columbia history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
District of Columbiahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Sun Building will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.