Dupont Circle in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
The Cairo
Historic Site, Washington, DC
— 1615 Q Street, NW —
September 22, 2018
1. The Cairo Marker
Inscription.
The Cairo apartment house, built in 1894, was (and remains) the tallest privately owned building in Washington. At 156 feet, it towered over its neighbors, prompting laws limiting building heights. Local architect Thomas Franklin Schneider packed the Cairo with luxuries and innovations: an elaborate lobby, rooftop garden, top-floor dining room, bowling alley, shops, and electric lighting. He modeled the Moorish Revival entrance after Louis Sullivan's Transportation Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. In 1904, Schneider converted the Cairo to an apartment hotel for permanent and transient guests.
As the city declined in the 1950s, Schneider's heirs sold the Cairo. Inland Steel Corporation renovated it in 1972, to Arthur Cotton Moore's design. Today, it is condominium residences.
Listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, 1990, and the National Register of Historic Places, 1994.
The Cairo apartment house, built in 1894, was (and remains) the tallest privately owned building in Washington. At 156 feet, it towered over its neighbors, prompting laws limiting building heights. Local architect Thomas Franklin Schneider packed the Cairo with luxuries and innovations: an elaborate lobby, rooftop garden, top-floor dining room, bowling alley, shops, and electric lighting. He modeled the Moorish Revival entrance after Louis Sullivan's Transportation Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. In 1904, Schneider converted the Cairo to an apartment hotel for permanent and transient guests.
As the city declined in the 1950s, Schneider's heirs sold the Cairo. Inland Steel Corporation renovated it in 1972, to Arthur Cotton Moore's design. Today, it is condominium residences.
Listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, 1990, and the National Register of Historic Places, 1994.
Erected 2017 by The Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Location. 38° 54.674′ N, 77° 2.254′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It
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is in Dupont Circle. Marker is at the intersection of Q Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on Q Street Northwest. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1615 Q Street Northwest, Washington DC 20009, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 16, 2012
2. The Cairo
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 16, 2012
3. The Cairo
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 16, 2012
4. Gargoyle
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 16, 2012
5. Gargoyle
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, August 3, 2008
6. National Register of Historic Places plaque for the building
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 24, 2018. This page has been viewed 304 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on September 24, 2018. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on December 15, 2020, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.