33rd Street NW in Georgetown was once called Duck Lane. It was the site of a large estate owned by Stephen Bloomer Balch, a precher, which he called "Mamre," from the Old Testament. After Abraham and Lot had separated, Abraham giving Lot the first choice of location, "the Lord told Abraham to look over the whole land which He would give to him and his seed forever, and Abraham moved his tent and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, and built there an altar unto the Lord."