Previous site history Present-day
Lafayette Square, a public park sited just north of the
White House in
Washington, D.C., was initially planned by
Pierre Charles L'Enfant as part of
President's Park. President
Thomas Jefferson later divided President's Park, with Lafayette Square becoming a separate park area north of the White House and
The Ellipse south of the White House. During the 19th century, elegant houses built for prominent individuals were constructed along the western, northern, and eastern sides of Lafayette Square. Soon after politician
Richard Cutts and his wife, Anna, built
their house on the northeast corner of the square, the one-block street
Madison Place was created in the 1820s to link
Pennsylvania Avenue NW with
H Street NW. On the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue, Dr. James Gunnell built a five-story house in 1831 that was later rented to government employees. The house was seized by the federal government during the
Civil War for military use.
Freedman's Savings Bank was constructed in 1869 and demolished in 1899. Real estate prices increased considerably after the Civil War, and some houses on the square were converted to office space or rental properties. After the war, Gunnell's house was demolished and replaced with the
Freedman's Savings Bank, a private corporation established in 1865 by
Congress for millions of
recently emancipated enslaved people and previously emancipated
freedmen to deposit their savings. Until the building was completed in 1869, the bank's temporary headquarters was located at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The new building across from the White House and
Treasury Building was built for $260,000 and designed by architects
Norris Garshom Starkweather and Thomas M. Plowman. It was an elaborately decorated headquarters, with
Frederick Douglass describing it as "one of the most costly and splendid buildings of the time." Land just east of the square facing Pennsylvania Avenue had already become a popular location for financial institutions, owing to the fact the Treasury Building stood across the street. A
Second Bank of the United States branch and adjacent cashier's house built on the northwest corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue were later demolished and replaced with the
Riggs National Bank and
American Security and Trust Company Building. When the bank was closed by Congress in June 1874, 61,114 African Americans and African American-owned institutions lost their savings, totaling around $3 million, equivalent to over $75 million in 2022. This resulted in a deep distrust of banks and government institutions by some African Americans that lasted for generations.
W. E. B. Du Bois went so far as to say the bank's failure was more damaging to African Americans than an additional ten years of slavery;
John Mercer Langston noted, "Perhaps the failure of no institution in the country...has ever wrought larger disappointment and more disastrous results to those interested in its creation."
Deposit insurance did not yet exist in the United States, so only around half of the bank's customers could receive part of their lost funds, which often took decades. The bank building sat empty until it was purchased by the federal government in 1882 and used as office space for the
Justice Department and
Court of Claims. The building was demolished in 1899, and the lot remained vacant for almost 20 years. The building was designed to be enlarged at a later date. in the background On September 27, 1917, an
Act of Congress provided funds for the building's construction and allowed the Treasury Secretary to "secure special architectural and expert services." The funds allocated for the new building, along with a
tunnel underneath Pennsylvania Avenue connecting to the Treasury Building, was $1,250,000. Gilbert's selection was praised by the
American Institute of Architects (AIA). The plans were sent to the Treasury Department on January 14, 1918, and approved four days later.
Changes to Lafayette Square Expanding the Treasury Annex to H Street was still planned until the 1930s, when the federal government began constructing the massive
Federal Triangle office complex southeast of the White House. The federal government purchased all of the buildings facing Lafayette Square after
World War II, some of which were commercial buildings that had replaced houses. The
General Services Administration wanted to raze all of these buildings, except the Treasury Annex, and replace them with a new courthouse on Madison Place and an executive office building on
Jackson Place. The proposal was criticized by the AIA and the
Committee of 100 on the Federal City, a private nonprofit organization that advocates historic preservation be taken into account in city planning.
Historic landmark and renaming On November 8, 1964, the Treasury Annex was added to the newly created District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. On August 29, 1970, the building was designated a
contributing property to the
Lafayette Square Historic District, a
National Historic Landmark. Other prominent buildings in the historic district include the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the
Blair House, the
Hay–Adams Hotel, the
Renwick Gallery, and
St. John's Episcopal Church. When the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 2006, the Treasury Annex was omitted. The historic district's boundary was later increased on January 12, 2017, and the Annex was designated a contributing property in the renamed
Financial Historic District. To mark the 150th anniversary of the Freedman's Savings Bank's charter, officials from the
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland held a series of panels in 2015. That December Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew announced the building would be renamed the following month: "Naming the Freedman's Bank Building recognizes an institution that symbolized a new future for African-Americans. The legacy of Freedman's Bank also serves as a reminder that we must continue striving for greater financial inclusion for all Americans – particularly those in underserved and minority communities – so that they can share in the benefits of our growing economy." The renaming ceremony occurred on January 7, 2016, with a commemorative plaque on the building's exterior. The ceremony included remarks from Secretary Lew, civil rights activist and politician
Andrew Young, and businessman Alden J. McDonald Jr., president of Liberty Bank and Trust. Young stated: "The history of the Freedman's Bank is a significant part of our economic legacy. When we look at the history of the African American integration into America, the one thing that's been most difficult for us is to desegregate the money. To desegregate, to get the right to vote in a democracy, and not have access to capital is to only be halfway free. And we've always known that." ==Usage and design==