A caravan of horses, buffalo, elephants and longhorns passing through D.C.? What’s up with that? Take a closer look at the photo below, especially the super old dude driving the wagon. That’s Ezra Meeker, one of the early pioneers that headed west along the Oregon Trail. Late in his life, he worked tirelessly to memorialize the route and traveled the ... Read More »
The site of so many wonderful baseball and football memories, Griffith Stadium, had it’s life ended by the brutal swings of a wrecking ball in 1965. The hapless doormat of the American League, the Washington Senators stopped playing in there after the 1961 season, after which, the days were numbered. Howard University was looking to acquire the site for their ... Read More »
This is pretty cool … if you live in Lanier Heights or Adams Morgan, you’ll also find this fascinating. This is a real estate advertisement for newly subdivided lots just north of Columbia Rd. NW. Related articles Least Expensive: The Ten Least Expensive Properties In Or Near Adams Morgan (dc.curbed.com) The Police Play the Ontario Theater on Columbia Road (ghostsofdc.org) ... Read More »
This is a guest post by Rick. He also wrote a good one on the alley dwellings in Foggy Bottom. In a city where influence is a major activity of sizable numbers of residents, alcohol serves as a powerful lubricant. Major landmarks of the District such as Ebbitt’s Grill – with its amazing Grant’s bar – were and are devoted ... Read More »
Here is film that I came across in the Library of Congress’ archives. It was shot on August 8th, 1903 in rural Washington, D.C. and is completely fascinating. Times have changed … just a little bit. The film shows the delivery of U.S. mail by a two-horse vehicle. The postal employee gets out of the wagon and places mail in ... Read More »
Here’s a crazy one for you. This is an article in the Washington Post from January 29th, 1897. A peculiar accident happened at the state reception at the White House last night, which will no doubt be the topic for conversation in society circles for some days. The horse of M. Jules Boeufve, Chancellor of the French Embassy, who was ... Read More »
Looking at this photo, I had to do a little digging on the Anti-Flirt Club. This is amazing. Well, it turns out that there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to this and the basic description of the club is below. The Anti-Flirt Club was an American club active in Washington, D.C., during the early 1920s. The purpose of the club was to protect young women and girls ... Read More »
If you live north on 14th St. NW, surely you are familiar with this giant car barn, now converted to house Metrobuses. Below is an article from the Washington Times, published on June 2nd, 1907. From the modest car sheds on Florida avenue that formerly housed the cars of the Fourteenth street branch of the Capital Traction Company to the ... Read More »
May 28th, 1941 was an important day in Washington baseball history. That evening, Griffith Stadium hosted its first-ever night game under the newly installed lights. The Senators were playing the powerful New York Yankees, led by Joe DiMaggio, who had a 12-game hitting streak entering the game — he went on to hit safely in 44 more consecutive games. The ... Read More »
This is a guest post by Rick. He also wrote a good one on the White House Easter Egg Roll. The Ghosts of DC sometimes take shape in the midst of controversy, although most seem to recede from memory but their remains continue as companions. The brouhaha surrounding the design of the Eisenhower memorial may be viewed by some as ... Read More »
It has been over two months since our last “If Walls Could Talk” post (Shaw’s Tavern), so it’s high time we crank out another one. We’re going to head down to Barrack’s Row on Capitol Hill to do a little research on one of Bryce Harper’s favorite haunts and a place where the President popped in for lunch with some ... Read More »
I want to be fair and equitable to the Bethesdan GoDCers and make sure they get some of the history spotlight. We posted an ad for real estate in Vienna the other day and here is one for a home in Bethesda around the same time. Actually, it was in the same paper on the same day. A lot of ... Read More »
This is one of the most popular weekend spots in the city. Who doesn’t love to wander through the aisles of Eastern Market and take in the sights, sounds and smells of the old market? And to think that they wanted to knock this beautiful building down in the 1960s to replace it with some crappy suburban-style grocery store. The ... Read More »
Before “Watergate” became synonymous with a group of buildings and a scandal, it was the name applied to something else. And it’s something that most of us are very familiar with, especially if you’re an avid runner who heads down to the Lincoln Memorial, on the Potomac side. There are a series of steps between the Lincoln Memorial and the ... Read More »
Here’s a great old advertisement that reminds me of Kevin Arnold and the Wonder Years. I found this in the Washington Post from 1957. Urban centers were in the middle of emptying out as people headed to the suburbs for a home with a white picket fence. Related articles From a GoDCer: A Family Connection to a Tragic Suicide (ghostsofdc.org) ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington