The Pivotal Years: 1884-1909

Perhaps it was while strolling around Lincoln Park with his wife and children on a Sunday afternoon in 1884, that John Donohoe saw another one of those lucky Irish opportunities. He must have been impressed by something about the neighborhoods that crisscrossed east of the Capitol. Whatever it was, it prompted him to make a life-changing decision. He would get out of the grocery trade and go full-throttle into the real estate business.

In 1884, when John hung out his first sign, John F. Donohoe Real Estate, at 308 East Capital Street, NE, who could have known the company would grow into one of the largest, most respected real estate companies in Washington. Today in 2009, at 125, it is also the oldest.

It wasn’t long before one success would lead to another, and before the turn of the next century, these successes would require an important addition to the company name—John F. Donohoe & Sons Real Estate.

Sons Clarence and Milburn took over the business in 1905 when John F. Donohoe retired. They represent the second generation of Donohoes to enter the company and propel it into the first exciting, if turbulent decades of the 20th century. Clarence entered the business in 1900, at age 22. Younger brother Milburn came aboard in 1904, harkening in the name change. They would soon take the helm upon their father's retirement in 1905.

There is a wonderful old photograph of John F. Donohoe standing in front of the 308 East Capital Street offices, with his sons and a few employees, posed on the steps behind him. One can see that, while they seem to be a genial group, they also appear to be a force with which to be reckoned.