Anacostia High School was a brand new school, having opened in 1937. Their second full season of baseball would be the 1939 season and the photo above is the 12-man roster and their coach, Roland Lund. The Washington Post had a preseason analysis on March 30th, 1939 of the Anacostia High School Indians, listing them as a dark horse candidate ... Read More »
Early GoDC reader and now occasional contributor, Jason, wrote a great post about the sad decline of the last local franchise to hold the Senators name. The city flirted with bringing a team back, including the Padres before the 1974 season (can you imagine Tony Gwynn being our guy?). Baseball did return to Washington a long time ago. Okay, it was ... Read More »
That’s right, the Senator from Mississippi and chairman of the Armed Services Committee was shot both in the chest and the leg, after he was mugged in front of his North Cleveland Park house (3609 Cumberland St. NW). He was returning home in the evening after work on January 30th, 1973. The Washington Post reported the following on the incident: ... Read More »
I came across another angle for the nasty wreck at Mass Ave and 21st St. NW. I posted about this a few months ago with a look at the corner today from Google Street View. Look at the two dudes casually checking out the scene. Related articles Car Flattened Near Dupont Circle (ghostsofdc.org) Watch Out For That Tree! … Mailbox, ... Read More »
If you lived in or visited Washington in the 1970s or 80s you probably remember how nasty this city was. I remember my father taking me to the 1988 Washington Auto Show at the old convention center, parking a few blocks away next to an X-rated book store. I was a kid, so I wasn’t quite sure what it was, ... Read More »
Wait, what did you say? The Washington Padres? Yes, that’s right. This deal was pretty much signed, sealed and delivered when the Washington Post reported it on May 28th, 1973 in an article titled “Baseball’s Back! San Diego Padres Play Here in ’74.” SAN DIEGO, May 27 (A.P.)–A group of Washington, D.C. businessmen has purchased the San Diego Padre baseball ... Read More »
Tonight’s game against the Phillies will likely have a crowd nearly 100 times larger than the one that witnessed the old Washington team play the other old Philadelphia team (i.e., the team that one day would have Reggie Jackson, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco). The Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics were just awful. The Senators would finish the season ... Read More »
Okay … trivia time to kick off the Saturday update! The first person to either post on our Facebook wall or Read More »
This is a guest post by Aaron. Newspapers called it a “New Deal Boom.” The Great Depression was coming to an end. The District’s peacetime population exploded as government grew and workers – men and women – flocked to new jobs. It was 1940. Census employees hit the streets in April. They determined that D.C. had grown rapidly. With an ... Read More »
What a great ad. This was from December 21st, 1911 in the Washington Times. Also, it looks like the dog is super psyched that dad received stogies for Christmas. Everything about this advertisement is awesome. Related articles Congress Heights: The Healthiest and Most Delightful Suburb of Washington (ghostsofdc.org) Gas for Lighting and Heating: Buy Now, Pay Later (ghostsofdc.org) Read More »
I came across an interesting video from 1968 while checking out this YouTube channel. The quote that is the most powerful is when a teacher is reading something written by one of her fifth graders. His dream wasn’t like most dreams. It wasn’t just him in the dream. He wanted everybody in his dream. He wanted to take us to ... Read More »
This is a guest post by Jason (aka, @MidAtlanticBias) First In War, First In Peace, And Last in the American League By the time September 30, 1971 rolled around, baseball fans in Washington had become accustomed to abandonment. In fact, the feeling had been passed down from one generation to the next. In 1899, the Washington Statesmen/Nationals/Senators were contracted by ... Read More »
I’m sorry. What the hell are you selling? Indian Blood Syrup? Wow, this appears to cure everything. Dr. Clark Johnson was a complete charlatan and that doesn’t even do him justice. He was a phony and snake-oil salesman. He certainly wasn’t unsuccessful hawking his wares, being quite the creative entrepreneur when it came to bilking people of their hard-earned dollars. ... Read More »
This is a clip from President Johnson’s speech before signing the bill into law. This was only a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis. We all know that the roots of injustice run deep. But violence cannot redress a solitary wrong, or remedy a single unfairness. Of course, all America is outraged at the assassination ... Read More »
Check this out … a great old advertisement from 1890 in The Sunday Herald. See the Washington Monument from Rockville? Wow. Related articles Move to Cathedral Highlands: An Unobstructed View of the Entire Surrounding Country (ghostsofdc.org) Love the Blog? Get a T-Shirt and Show Your Friends (ghostsofdc.org) Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington