On this site stood a succession of Washington hotels: Joshua Tennison's Hotel in 1818, John Strother's in 1821, Basil Williamson's in 1824, Frederick Barnard's in 1828, Azariah Fuller's Mansion Hotel and American House in 1833, the City Hotel in 1843, and Willard's Hotel from 1847 to 1901. Its distinguished guests included Presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, Harding, and Coolidge; Vice Presidents Henricks, Marshall, and Dawes; and such notable visitors as the Marquis de Lafayette, Jenny Lind, Charles Dickens, Lord and Lady Napier, Lloyd George, Edward Everett, Roscoe Conkling, John Sherman, Julia Ward Howe, John Howard Payne, and Dion Boucicault. The Post Office Department was also here in 1836.
