All in the Rector Family

Early Breckenridge Rector was born in 1886 on a farm near Luray, Virginia. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, he married Edna Campbell in 1908, and their honeymoon was an "an extended tour of northern cities.” By 1910 Early and Edna were living with Early’s older brother Charles and his family on H Street in Washington, DC. Early became a streetcar conductor, but he also worked in his brother's cigar shop which would lead him to his next career.

 Early, and another older brother, Carey, formed a construction business by 1922. They called their enterprise, simply enough, The Rector Brothers. One of their first projects was building two store fronts at 5441 and 5443 MacArthur Boulevard (or Conduit Road as it was known in those days.) The newly formed Potomac Heights Community Church first met as a pop-up at 5441 in January 1923 before the store officially opened in May. 

Early and Edna ran a combo deli and market in the 5441 space, and a hardware store next door at 5443. He added gas pumps to the hardware store by 1923 and rebuilt both of his buildings in 1932. To get an idea of what the market had to offer, here’s a list of stolen goods from an article in the Washington Post on March 11,1927.

“Smashing a plate glass window, thieves gained entrance to the store of Early B Rector…and made off with $200 in cigars, $50 in cigarettes, $10 in candy, $7 worth of soaps and a quantity of shoestrings, pencils, chewing gum, beads and phonograph needles.” 

Today Chu's Cleaners occupies the old gas station and DC Boathouse was in the store space.

Early also bought two lots on Cathedral Avenue in 1925. He built a house for himself at 5411 in 1926, and the brick house next door to himself at 5409 seven years later in 1933. 

This home was kept as a rental property for about 40 years. The first tenants were Max Kossoris, his wife Esther, and their son Peter. Max was born in Russia in 1902 and eventually became a senior statistician at the Department of Labor where he worked to prevent industrial accidents. The Kossoris shared the home, perhaps by subletting, with an elderly couple, Jerry and Edith Kirby. 

Meanwhile not a mile down Conduit Road towards F.S. Key School, Early's brother Carey built a similar deli/market at 5105, and another store front at 5107 in 1928, plus a gas station at 5101 in 1933. All of the buildings have been renovated, especially the former gas station on the corner, but you can see the other two store fronts were once identical. 

After Prohibition ended in 1933, both Rector brothers attempted to get liquor licenses for their establishments in 1934. The neighborhood quickly shot this idea down. One location was too close to the Palisades Community Church, and the other was too close to Key Elementary School. 

Carey and his wife, Zula moved here and ran the shop from 1927 until they both retired in 1943. Zula died in 1959 and Carey in 1960. I wonder if they built this addition on the back of 5107?

Early and Edna Rector also lived in the neighborhood until the end of their lives. They never had children. Early died at home in July 1973, and Edna died two years later. The two homes on Cathedral Avenue were left to Edna’s nieces and nephews. The heirs sold the rental property, but the house at 5411 stayed in the family for many years.  Barbara, one of Edna's nieces, bought the family home with her husband Les Allison and lived here until Les retired in 1994. 

Ad from 1929 church bulletin