Join our walking tours on October 17-18 to learn about Capitol Hill’s historic architecture, or its hidden alleyways or its development from the end of the Civil War through the 1920s. Or buy tickets to our newest walking tour, a look at history, notable people and architecture along Fifth Street between Stanton Park and Seward Square.
Buy tickets through Eventbrite. Tours begin at 1:30 and will happen rain or shine!
These tours are presented by volunteers from Capitol Hill Restoration Society as a way to highlight our wonderful neighborhood. We want people to appreciate the rich history and the beautiful architecture so that we will continue to protect and preserve the area in and around the Historic District.
Got leaky windows? Rusted steps? Pests or rats? Perhaps the most difficult part of owning an old house is finding experts to work on it.
The Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s annual House Expo aims to connect homeowners with service providers and contractors who can help. This year’s Expo is set for Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the North Hall of historic Eastern Market. The event is free and open to the public.
“It can be tough to find the right people to fix problems in older homes,” CHRS President Angie Schmidt said. “We want to help homeowners find solutions or start thinking about new projects.”
Exhibitors planning to attend provide services including painting and paint stripping, roofing, brick and stone masonry, ornamental ironworking, electrical work, chimney cleaning, carpentry and architecture. Stained glass restoration or creation is an addition this year, as is historic window repair. Community Forklift, D.C. area’s nonprofit reuse center for home improvement supplies, is also signed up to exhibit.
At the event, CHRS will also be signing up volunteers to help staff its annual Capitol Hill House & Garden Tour in May 2027. In particular, CHRS is looking to recruit homes to feature on the 2027 tour. If you have an historic – or even not-so historic home that has an interesting history, a beautiful renovation, a lovely garden or a special art collection – CHRS would love to hear from you.
Formed in 1955, CHRS is a volunteer-run civic organization dedicated to protecting one of the oldest and most architecturally vibrant communities in D.C.
A family picnic, Revolutionary War reenactments, walking tours and more are planned for a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, at Stanton Park. The rain date is June 27.
Planned and hosted by the National Park Service and Revive Stanton Park, the event will feature a U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performance, demonstrations of what a Continental Army encampment was like, and the story of Major Gen. Nathanael Greene, who is known for his command in the Southern theater of the Revolutionary War.
Games and reenactments are planned by the Maryland First Regiment revolutionary era reenactors and National Park Service Rangers, and Capitol Hill Restoration Society volunteers will lead walking tours between Stanton Park and Seward Square.
To receive notifications or if you’re interested in volunteering at this event or in other Stanton Park activities, send your name and email address to revivestantonpark@gmail.com.
Stanton Park, located at the intersection of Maryland and Massachusetts Avenues, was marked “No. 5” on Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for the city of Washington. The earliest reference to the name Stanton Square was in an 1871 report by the Army Corps of Engineers, which at the time had responsibility for D.C. public buildings and grounds. Edwin M. Stanton had served as Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war and had died in 1869. It is Stanton who is credited with saying, “Now he belongs to the ages,” after Lincoln’s assassination.
Stanton Square became Stanton Park after the land was improved, beginning with the 1878 placement of the equestrian statue of Greene, for which Congress had appropriated $40,000 four years earlier. Then in 1879, it was graded and laid with paths.
We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s CHRS Photo Contest. First Place goes to Jasmine Padgett for her picture, “Family Business,” an interior shot of the beloved East Capitol restaurant Jimmy T’s Place.
Thank you to everyone who submitted entries; there were 78 in all. The 10 winning images will be on display at Coldwell Banker Realty, 350 7th St SE.
Many thanks to this year’s judges: Joe Himali, DC history and real estate; Gary Mintz, 2025 contest winner; William Hauck, Frame of Mine, Barracks Row; and Marianna Sotomayor, The Washington Post.
First Place: Jasmine Padgett, “Family Business,” taken at Jimmy T’s Place on East CapitolSecond Place: Bob Dardano, “”Former Imani Temple”Third Place: Patti Martin, “December Sunset at Historic Congressional Cemetery”Fourth Place: Ragnar Thoresen, “Hill Sunset”Fifth Place: Scotty Davids, “Spring Blooms at the Capitol”Sixth Place: Donna McLean, “Our Library’s Glow-up”Seventh Place: Shelby Swiney, “Capitol Hill in Color”Eighth Place: Marian Thomas, “Capitol Hill on Halloween”Ninth Place: Brett Anderson, “Before the Snow”Tenth Place: Michael Bowers, “Night Sky”
The annual Capitol Hill House & Garden Tour was held on Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-10, 2026. This year the tour highlighted the southeast side of Capitol Hill, with its lovely parks and even older homes.
The 2026 tour included eight homes, three semi-public buildings and a newly installed native plant garden. Some homes have been part of the tour before but have had fresh and unique updates.
Refreshments from the Capital Candy Jar and Bread Par Avion were offered in the lobby of 507 8th Street SE on Barracks Row, which also operated as tour headquarters. “The 507,” as it is known, serves as an event venue and also the offices of Taoti Creative. The building itself has been many things over the years — some more reputable than others, which we have lots of information about — and we were so pleased to be able to introduce this space to those who have not seen its new iteration.
The snow is gone. The Muse has descended and actually found a parking space. So, for April, which is National Poetry Month, she invites local Baudelaires and Emily Dickinsons to submit brief poems to CHRS celebrating our lives and houses on Capitol Hill.
The Muse, as she will, has guidelines:
1. The joys and foibles of Capitol Hill life must be your theme
2. Be spring-oriented — she no longer wishes to contemplate winter
3. Write a minimum of three lines (haiku) to a maximum of 14 lines (sonnet)
4. Submit your poem by Wednesday, March 18, at midnight (à la Poe) to caphrs420@gmail.com with “Poem” or “Poetry Submission” in the subject line
5. Choose any format, free verse to rigid meter, blank verse to rhyme. But if you label your poem a haiku, it must be a haiku; if a limerick, a limerick, etc.
6. The Muse will award a special prize (TBD) for wittiest use of the word “mortar”
