Dorsch's White Cross Bakery

The buildings that stand today at 641 S St in Northwest D.C. are actually the third and fourth buildings constructed by Peter Michael Dorsch as part of his White Cross Bakery business.

Dorsch started his company in 1904 as a small business operating on 7th St. With the addition of buildings in Wiltberger Alley in 1913 and the two Craftsman-style buildings still standing today on S street built in 1915 and 1922, White Cross grew from a small neighborhood business into one of the largest bakeries in Washington, D.C.

At its peak in the late 1920s, White Cross produced over 100,000 loaves of bread per day. In 1936, Dorsch sold the business to the Continental Baking Company, which is most well known for its Hostess cake products. There are still remnants of both of these  businesses visible in the building today.

The white terra cotta cross in the Pediment is an original feature dating back to 1915 when Dorsch expanded his business here. The white cross name and logo were intended to allay fears that arose from Upton Sinclair’s book “The Jungle,” which contended that factory food was unsanitary.

The Wonder Bread and Hostess Cake lettering were later added by Continental Baking Company to draw attention to their most popular offerings.

Continental Baking Company operated in this location until some time in the 1980s. The building was without a tenant for quite some time before being revived as a multi-use building between 2012 and 2014.