Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low famously let the first Girl Scouts use her carriage house and yard in Savannah for meetings and activities.
The arrangement was so successful, that “Daisy” wanted a similar clubhouse for the Girl Scouts of Washington DC, once troops began forming in the Nation’s Capital in late 1913.
Daisy’s older sister Eleanor, volunteered her pied-a-terre at 1723 Rhode Island Avenue, NW.
Eleanor’s husband, Richard Wayne Parker, was a US Congressman from New Jersey. The Parkers had purchased the home in 1903 to use while Congress was in session; otherwise, the four-story townhouse was unoccupied.
Don’t recognize the address?
Maybe this photo will help.
The Parker townhouse is two doors east of St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, 1727 Rhode Island Ave NW, site of President Kennedy’s funeral in 1963.
Basketball in the Attic
Daisy decided the townhouse would be an ideal center of Girl Scouting in Washington DC. Interested persons could drop by between 2 pm and 5 pm for information or to register as Girl Scouts.
Daisy especially eyed the largely unfurnished top floor of her sister’s townhouse. She thought it perfect for a basketball court.
The Savannah girls especially enjoyed playing basketball, but the sight of them in their “skimpy” play clothes so scandalized Savannah that blankets had to be hung to shield them from public view. Washington girls would not have to worry about onlookers.
Washington’s first troop, led by Mrs. Giles Scott Rafter, visited 1723 Rhode Island Ave. on January 14, 1914, and they were invested as Girl Scouts in the parlor. This was immediately followed by a basketball game coached by Jane Meldrim of Savannah’s Red Rose troop. Two days later, a leaders’ meeting convened at the townhouse.
Unfortunately, the house was not conveniently located, and the club house idea lasted slightly longer than one month.
Post Parker House
Richard Wayne Parker retired from Congress in 1922 and passed away the following year. The Rhode Island Avenue house went on the market but had no takers until 1928, when the Ku Klux Klan inquired about making the building its national headquarters.
Mrs. Parker declined to sell or lease to the Klan. (Whew!) Instead, the townhouse became the site of the Washington Health Institute for Women. It was eventually purchased by St. Matthews for office space and housing.
Today only the front facade of the white townhouse stands, built into a larger office building.
While the Munsey Building and Little House may be gone, forgotten Girl Scout landmarks still exist in Washington DC.
© 2025 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian, but NOT a Girl Scout employee.
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