This building was constructed in 1865 and 1866, and was meant to be the building for the Washington City Orphan Asylum (see another photo <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006679483/">here</a>).  Secretary of State Seward apparently made an urgent appeal for the building, and it was leased to the Department of State upon completion as their headquarters for "a decade".  The 1865 State Department building seen in <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Department_Building,_Washington,_D._C.,_1865.png" title="File:State Department Building, Washington, D. C., 1865.png">File:State Department Building, Washington, D. C., 1865.png</a> was torn down in 1866 to make room to finish the (current-day) Treasury Department building. A decade later, the orphanage did get to move in.  The building, located at the southeast corner of 14th and S streets NW, was torn down in 1963. The orphanage (today known as Hillcrest) had earlier moved to other buildings in the 1920s or 1930s. The architect was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Harkness" class="extiw" title="w:John C. Harkness">John C. Harkness</a>. - (lightly edited from remarks by <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Clindberg" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Clindberg">Carl Lindberg</a>, originally made at <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jmabel/Stereo_cards_of_Washington,_D.C." title="User talk:Jmabel/Stereo cards of Washington, D.C.">User talk:Jmabel/Stereo cards of Washington, D.C.</a>)
<div class="fn value">
Unknown artist<span style="display: none;">Unknown artist</span></div>
<p>Created: 1865-1900.
</p><p><br>
Coverage: 1865-1900.
Source Imprint: 1865?-1900?.
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Digital item published 1-25-2006; updated 2-12-2009.
This image is available from the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library" title="New York Public Library">New York Public Library</a>'s Digital Library under the digital ID G90F117_001F: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?G90F117_001F">digitalgallery.nypl.org</a> → <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?keywords=G90F117_001F">digitalcollections.nypl.org</a>