We found this historic fire call box dating to the 19th century in Northwest DC in the affluent Cathedral Heights neighborhood. This particular call box — located on a slope and definitely crooked — recalls the Kengla family, which is described on a rear plaque as follows:

“Until the 1920s, Cathedral Heights was richer in cows than people. The neighborhood was carved into plots of woodland and farms, including nearly 30 acres owned by Henry Kengla on which the Westchester Cooperative Apartments now stand. The Kengla family had lived in the Washington area since the late 1700s. They were master butchers of German extraction with a stand at the Central Market on what is now the site of the National Archives. The Kengla brothers bought cows and sheep at Drover's Market near the Georgetown Reservoir and drove the stock along dusty Cathedral Avenue to graze on their farms until slaughter. As business increased with the population of the city, Henry Kengla steadily accumulated land. At his death in 1903, he left an estate worth more than $200,000.”

Surprise mural #6