Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

To satisfy your hunger for more Officer Sprinkle, I took a look into where he lived in 1900. At the time, he was 34 years old, had been married to his wife Teresa for 10 years and had been working for the Washington police force for the same amount of time. The Sprinkle family lived at 1320 Florida Ave. NE, ... Read More »

Rolling Stone just broke the sad news that Bee Gees co-founder Robin Gibb died today, succumbing to cancer. In the late 70s, the Bee Gees were on top of the world, owning the music industry. The Washington Post wrote an article about the group coming to Washington for a performance in 1979. They played the Capital Centre on Sunday, September ... Read More »

Going to open houses today? Check this out. Here’s a great old advertisement from 1913. These are homes for sale in Mt. Pleasant, near the street car line. I’m not sure that these are still around because there doesn’t appear to be a home at that address any more. Related articles The New Gonzaga College in 1913 (ghostsofdc.org) Congress Heights: ... Read More »

It’s Saturday, the Nats lost again, the Caps are not in the playoffs and there are a lot of tourists clogging up the metro. Yes, we are officially heading towards the summer months. The worst part of the week is losing Chuck Brown … a sad day for all D.C. The New Gonzaga College in 1913 — The Gonzaga Eagles ... Read More »

Did you know Bass Ale was available in Washington back in 1911? I did not. Well, it would be only for another six years until Prohibition set in on the city. This was an advertisement I came across in the Washington Herald from Christmas Eve, 1911. I probably won’t be having one of these tonight, but chances are quite good ... Read More »

This is an advertisement for new development and real estate across the Eastern Branch, near Anacostia. Click on the ad for a closer look at what is a harsh window into a very different (and blatantly racist) time in Washington. Reading these anachronistic advertisements over 100 years later still makes you cringe at the way things were back then. Fairlawn ... Read More »

I want to branch out a little more and represent more neighborhoods. This is a great old real estate advertisement — I’ve been finding a ton of these lately — highlighting Fort Lincoln Heights in NE Washington. Yes, I know that Barbadoes is actually spelled Barbados. But this is a blog that remains true and authentic, so we don’t rewrite ... Read More »

Cool. I love these. The Gonzaga one was quite popular with readers as was the St. Albans ad. This is Sidwell Friends School — the name has gone through a few iterations — back in 1910. They had recently acquired property up Wisconsin Avenue (where the current campus is), formerly run by the Washington School for Boys. Sidwell has recently ... Read More »

Here’s a photograph from 1890 which shows Dr. Daniel H. Riggs of Howard University posing next to his carriage near the Smithsonian. In 1893, the doctor was the defendant in a malpractice lawsuit. The Post reported on the suit on October 13th. A case of interest to physicians and surgeons is that of Harry B. Nichols vs. Drs. George W. ... Read More »

Some time ago, way back in the day, purchasing a firearm was much easier. About 96 years before the District of Columbia v. Heller ruling dramatically altered the gun-owning landscape in our city, you could walk down to National Sporting Goods Co. at 424 9th St. NW and pick up a 12 gauge Remington automatic (i.e., a serious shotgun) for ... Read More »

Along the same lines as the earlier post today with the St. Albans advertisement, here is another prominent (and old) local school. Gonzaga had just built their Main Building in 1912, now named Dooley Hall. Read their Wikipedia page for a little more history. I found this part to be particularly interesting. Gonzaga benefited greatly from the fact that the ... Read More »

This is a guest post by Aaron. Washington art fans might have unwrapped some top-notch holiday gifts in December 1960.  A hip gallery just south of Dupont Circle featured the work of up-and-coming artists for a brief Christmas sale.  New prints from Jasper Johns were on display – and everything was relatively inexpensive. “Not to be missed is a new group ... Read More »

If you went to St. Albans, you will probably find this fascinating. If you know someone that went there, send this to them. It’s an old advertisement from the Washington Herald, back in 1910. The school was founded only three years earlier as The National Cathedral School for Boys. Related articles Move to Cathedral Highlands: An Unobstructed View of the ... Read More »

If you’re a history buff — and a presidential history buff — you’re well aware of the 1876 U.S. Presidential election. This is not a post about that. You can read up on the whole election on Wikipedia as well as the resulting “corrupt bargain,” the Compromise of 1877 – ending military occupation of the southern states (effectively ending Reconstruction) and ... Read More »

This is a great advertisement from the early 1920s. The Connecticut Avenue Association was promoting retail up and down Connecticut Ave., near Dupont Circle, including the Dupont National Bank. Related articles Car Flattened Near Dupont Circle (ghostsofdc.org) Racked DC: J. Crew Opening This Summer; H & M Coming To Chevy Chase (dc.curbed.com) Market Report: A Day in Town (agrowingseason.wordpress.com) Three ... Read More »