Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

I’ve always been fascinated by this building on Rhode Island Ave. It looks like something that belongs in New Orleans with the two-tiered porch. Read More »

There were a couple of requests a short while back to do a post on The Cairo, the most famous residential building in the city. You can Google it or check it out on Wikipedia, so no need to do the building’s history. I want to dig up the more anonymous stories of people associated with the building. So, here’s ... Read More »

Most people don’t know this, but prior to home rule in 1973, Washington did have mayors, the first of whom was Robert Brent. Brent was part of the Carroll family of Maryland — a prominent catholic family that gave much of the land incorporated into the District — and friend of Thomas Jefferson. In 1802, Congress abolished the Board of ... Read More »

Yep, that’s right. Paul (aka, Bono), Adam, Larry and David (aka, The Edge) rocked the nation’s capital in the early 80s. The Irish supergroup was less super back then, playing small (much smaller) venues like The Bayou in Georgetown and The Ontario Theater in Adams Morgan. How incredible would that be? I’m sure someone reading this went to one of ... Read More »

Here’s an interesting story from the end of World War II. Near the end of the war, the Crowned Prince of Iraq, Abdul Ilah was due to visit Washington and newly inaugurated President Truman (Roosevelt died only a little over a month earlier). Below is an article from the Washington Post, on May 10th, a couple of weeks before the ... Read More »

A horrific air disaster occurred on November 1st, 1949 near National Airport. An inbound passenger flight from Boston collided with a small military plane, killing everyone on board. This was the front page article of the Washington Post the following morning, reporting on the worst airliner disaster in U.S. history. Among the victims were Congressman George Bates of Massachusetts, Helen ... Read More »

This is awesome. Maybe you’re going to hit up a few open houses today? Well, check this old advertisement out. This part is great, advertising your potential new neighbors in Columbia Heights: Elegant residences of Congressmen Prince, Gardner, Hermann, Hogg, Miller, Roberts and Hon. Wm. T. Harris, Commissioner West, Assessor Darneille, Justice Harlan, Mr. Droop, Mrs. John A. Logan, Judge ... Read More »

This blog is 150 posts deep now and I’d like to go back and revisit some of the more popular posts. Out of the top 20 posts, 11 were If Walls Could Talk entries and the top two in that category were from Bloomingdale. Enjoy your Saturday Brunch by reading these posts … or read them again. The five most ... Read More »

December 10th, 1913 — Over 4,000 Temperance movement and Prohibition supporters marched in Washington, demanding a new constitutional amendment banning alcohol consumption in the United States. A demonstration of this size had never been seen before. They marched to the Capitol, where Congressman Richard Hobson from Alabama and Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas greeted them. The two introduced legislation to their respective ... Read More »

Did you enjoy how we ended last week? I thought it was important to teach you the history of U street (you really clicked “Why Is It Named U Street?”). Well, this week you learned that Ron Paul had a pretty sweet swing in 1983. I also shared with you more Washington bathing beach babes (have you had enough?). Let’s not ... Read More »

This is awesome and appears to be the latest minor D.C. Internet meme. Well, I love baseball and I love D.C., so I want to share this with those of you who haven’t seen it yet (if you haven’t seen this, you don’t surf the Interwebs enough). Ron Paul is the only player in the history of the Congressional baseball ... Read More »

I’m a little tardy with delivering this next “If Walls Could Talk” … sorry. The winner of our second IWCT poll is the H Street hot spot, Smith Commons (I don’t think I like that acronym). I came across some interesting stories related to the spot at 1245 H St. NE, not to mention my favorite D.C. police officer. The ... Read More »

Here’s an old advertisement from the Washington Times. This ad for gas lighting and heating ran in the March 2nd, 1906 newspaper. You could choose to have gas fixtures installed throughout your home and have the entire cost amortized over the course of the year … kind of like the deals Best Buy offers these days (no interest financing for ... Read More »

Almost 80 years ago, Washington had an express airline with service to New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. At cruising speed, Ludington Airlines was able to get you up to the New York City within two hours — an astonishing feat at the time. Brothers Charles and Nicholas Ludington founded their eponymous airline in 1930, based out of Philadelphia. The brothers ... Read More »

Here’s an interesting video I came across on YouTube. I’m not quite sure what year this is from, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the mid-1950s. It’s fascinating to watch the former Senator and President messing up on camera. Related articles Decapitated by the Hangman’s Rope (ghostsofdc.org) Calvin Coolidge, Vermont Native and Our 30th President (ghostsofdc.org) If Walls Could Talk: ... Read More »