Henderson Castle (Washington, D.C.)

Henderson Castle (also known as Henderson's Castle, Boundary Castle, and Prospect Castle) was a large Romanesque Revival house once located at 2200 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. Built in 1889 for former Senator John B. Henderson, who introduced legislation for the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery, and his wife, Mary Foote Henderson, the castle was sited on a prominent location overlooking the city. At the time, the area was mostly undeveloped, a fact Mary saw to change through decades of real estate development. Architect Eugene C. Gardner designed the castle and later renovations were carried out by architects Thomas Franklin Schneider, George Oakley Totten Jr., and Laussat R. Rogers. Mary hired Totten to design many of the grand mansions and embassies on 15th and 16th Street NW which she sold to wealthy residents and foreign governments. The Hendersons entertained prominent citizens at their castle, including Andrew Carnegie, members of Congress, foreign delegates, and justices of the Supreme Court. Mary was an advocate for women's rights, vegetarianism, and the temperance movement. Mary made national news when she and other members of the Independent Order of Rechabites took over 1,000 bottles of alcohol from the castle's cellar and smashed them on 16th Street. As part of her plans to develop the Meridian Hill neighborhood, Mary

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