Historical Photos

The building was originally owned by John C. Walker, who designed it in 1920 to showcase automobiles produced by LaFayette Motors. That same year, Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States, Prohibition was just beginning, and the Women’s Suffrage Movement succeeded in securing women's right to vote. The events depicted on this page occurred either at 1517 Connecticut Avenue, on the building’s ground floor, or at 1519 Connecticut Avenue, which occupies the upper two levels.

1920

The Beginning

John C. Walker & LaFayette Motors

1922

Jenkins & Packard

Warren G. Harding- 29th President Of The United States

Packard Showroom- 1517

1923

First Motion Picture Broadcast in History

The Evening Star, June 15, 1923

Casper Sunday Morning Tribune, June 17, 1923

Washington Times, January 28, 1924

1924

Herbert Hoover Wireless Photos

Herbert C. Hoover- Secretary Of Commerce & 31st President Of The United States

1925

First Public Demonstration of Television

1926

Radio Fights Back

Television and the Government

C. Francis Jenkins; David Sarnoff of RCA; Major General George O. Squier formerly of Signal Corps; and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover

Locomobile Showroom- 1517

1927

First Slow Motion Camera Invented

Chronoteine camera

Robert Tyre Jones Jr. famously used Jenkins camera to perfect his golf swing.

Scientists used the camera to study the motion of a pigeons wings. And to see whether or not pigeons actually crash into each other when they take flight. Yes, it turns out that they do.