In Georgetown, a luxurious new townhome rises from a site that once housed an archaeological dig, local celebrity

In Georgetown, at 3324 Dent Place NW, there was once a home owned by Yarrow Mamout, a local celebrity who became famous in 1819 after Charles Wilson Peale, who painted presidential portraits, painted his portrait.

Mamout, whose portrait currently hangs in the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Public Library, was a former Muslim slave who was taken from Africa in 1752 who eventually gained his freedom and became a homeowner in the neighborhood. According to WAMU, he had a reputation for having an “industrious, moral, and honest nature.” [UPDATE: The portrait of Mamout that was located in the Peabody Room was painted in 1822 by Georgetown resident James Alexander Simpson. It is currently on loan to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and will return to the Peabody Room in July 2019.]

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