Police & Fire Call Boxes Restored!
Thank you to the community for help restoring the six POLICE AND FIRE CALL BOXES standing in the Foxhall community – all were in dire need of restoration. A historical treasure, they were installed in the late 1920s and stood guard for the safety of our neighborhood until being decommissioned in the 1970s. The restoration of the call boxes was inspired by Cheryl Tlam who began the project in 2003. The Foxhall Call Box Restoration Committee developed a plan for cleaning and painting these call boxes, as well as putting up plaques with information and artwork related to the history of our neighborhood.
Each of the six boxes has an etched bronze history plaque attached to it on the sidewalk side of the box. On the street side, four of them have art work pertaining to the history plaque. Two boxes are on Foxhall Road and because of the heavy traffic, we were advised not to place art work on them.
Police boxes were restored and painted a deep blue; Fire boxes a “firehouse” red. And the gold trim is gorgeous! Below, please find a map and pictures of all restored call boxes.
DC Preservation League Awards Foxhall Village Call Box Team! Click here to watch
Map of the Foxhall Call Boxes
Box #1 features Henry Foxall (no art work)
Box #2 talks about the development of Foxhall Village itself. The photograph of the chimney pots was taken by Bob Mikolitch who lives here on Surrey Lane
Box #2 talks about the development of Foxhall Village itself. The photograph of the chimney pots was taken by Bob Mikolitch who lives here on Surrey Lane
Box #3 explains how the Police and Fire call boxes were originally used. Ann Haas found the old photo of a policeman using one. The contractor colored the call box in the picture to match the colors, blue with gold trim, we used on the police boxes themselves
Box #3 explains how the Police and Fire call boxes were originally used. Ann Haas found the old photo of a policeman using one. The contractor colored the call box in the picture to match the colors, blue with gold trim, we used on the police boxes themselves
Box #4 gives history of the general area. (Originally the map would have been on this box, but we put Henry here instead. The contractor made the picture of Henry look as though it’s made of bronze
Box #4 gives history of the general area. (Originally the map would have been on this box, but we put Henry here instead. The contractor made the picture of Henry look as though it’s made of bronze
#5 is history of the Foxhall Road area and Hardy School (no art)
#6 is history of MacArthur Blvd. and the Washington Aqueduct. The Engineer’s Castle is an original painting by Peter Waddell, a renowned historic painter here in Washington.
#6 is history of MacArthur Blvd. and the Washington Aqueduct. The Engineer’s Castle is an original painting by Peter Waddell, a renowned historic painter here in Washington.
If you are unfamiliar with the Police and Fire Call Boxes in general, you may enjoy this short video from Vox.