Snows Court

Snow, a private landowner and long-time resident of Foggy Bottom, as well as the publisher of one of Washington, D.C.'s foremost news publications, the National Intelligencer.

[5] These nuisances included overcrowding, no drainage, leaking roofs, low-grade building structures, insufficient sheltering conditions, and disease epidemics.

[6] From the results of this preliminary investigation the objections to our alleys may be summarized as follows: Health officials also explained that the shanties and uninhabitable homes were overcrowded with families who were too poor to afford any better living conditions.

…I would that I could make my language convincing to every citizen of Washington who values his health and that of his family, so convincingly that he would not rest until every squalid shanty and its aggregation of poisonous filth be wiped out of existence, the alleys, all of every width, sewered and have a sufficient number of proper traps, be paved with substantial concrete pavements, water plugs at convenient points, and every morning of the year be flushed thoroughly, and such exact regulations enforced as will prevent the deposit of anything obnoxious therein.

"[5] Snow's Court is now considered prime real estate for the Foggy Bottom neighborhood and many of the homes are owned by middle to upper-middle class whites.

Although not many of the present structures are reflected by Sasche's diagram, it is historically accurate, as those two lots, in addition to the frame buildings dotted along the exterior of C.A.

There were, however, large apartment complexes within the square on the opposite side that very well could have replaced these buildings for sanitary health purposes and space efficiency.

While some of the larger complexes were not in use, many of the smaller, individual residences built during the Civil War were still in current usage by Foggy Bottom citizens as modern-day dwellings that have preserved the architecture from their initial construction.

Although the allure of convenience to industry in the surrounding area has decreased in relevance with the advent of affordable public transit and automobiles (in addition to garage space also available in the alley), Snow's Court still remains consistent in fulfilling its intended purpose to serve as homes for citizens of Foggy Bottom.