Here is an apropos photo for All Hallows’ Eve. It’s a shot of a boy walking up the steps to the Octagon House, a house I wouldn’t recommend entering this evening, since it is frequently listed as the most haunted place in the entire city. Nevertheless, the photo is great. Don’t knock on this door when you’re trick or treating ... Read More »
This is the first guest post by GoDCer Tim. Given that we have “ghosts” in our name and with today being Halloween, it’s appropriate to have a post about the paranormal. Also, don’t forget to check out Tim’s recently released book on Amazon about haunted Capitol Hill. On Capitol Hill a few blocks from the Eastern Market Metro Station is ... Read More »
Today we’re kicking off a new Ghosts of DC category called “In the Paper,” where we will post an entire page from an old newspaper, and adding just a bit of commentary. These newspaper pages will be shared in high resolution so you will be able to read the whole thing and we’d love to get some GoDC community comments ... Read More »
Here’s a weird image from the early archives of WMATA. It depicts “Halloween In Washington” but clearly stretches the bounds of reality — and Metro’s rules. Let’s face it… there’s no way a guy riding a giraffe could ever board a Metro train. We really don’t know much about this image. It was included among dozens of unlabeled pages of ... Read More »
On the morning of President Nixon’s 1969 inauguration, several local businesses ran newspaper ads congratulating the new chief executive. Furniture stores, department stores, grocers… few are immune to inaugural excitement. But one local business had — in hindsight — a remarkable ad in the Washington Poston January 20, 1969. Check out this ad placed by the Watergate complex. (You can ... Read More »
Another fantastic Baist real estate map, this time from 1915. The map shows a good chunk of Georgetown. Read More »
We would be doing GoDCers a disservice if we did not compile a list of the top five GoDC-related customers for Halloween. These are some of the most colorful characters that we have come across in the 10 months since we launched. 10. Alice Reighly: don’t undress me with your eyes The woman in charge of the 1920s Anti-Flirt Club ... Read More »
The final regular season game of the 2012 regular season was a little bittersweet. Sure, Teddy finally won a president’s race (with some timely assistance from a faux Phillie Phanatic) and the Nationals chalked up the most wins of any team in Major League Baseball with a 5-1 victory over the loathsome Phillies. A crowd of more than 37,000 gave ... Read More »
As the huddled masses of D.C. sit and brace for the worst of this new Frankenstorm, Ghosts of DC has dug up an even more epic and terrifying storm that crushed Washington in a mere 30 minutes on November 23rd, 1891. A special dispatch to the Baltimore Sun reported on the storm. Washington had a terrific half hour of storm ... Read More »
Meet John McCubbin, White House police officer in 1922, recently promoted to head the force. Yes, he looks a little stiff. He was born in Virginia to a Scottish father and English mother. His wife, Hattie, was from Maryland, and together they had two daughters, Pauline and Bessie. According to the 1920 (and 1930) U.S. Census, the family was living ... Read More »
Do you work in the newspaper or media world? You will find this fascinating. These are the ad rates for The National Republican in 1861. Read More »
This is an excellent page from the Washington Times, published on December 21st, 1902. We wanted to share the entire page with you, so make sure to click on the image for a detailed version of it. Read More »
Clearly, this is not something you will see today … or, is it? Read More »
Here is a great ad (with an exceeding amount of information) from the Sunday Herald, circa 1891. And if you haven’t been yet, make sure to check out the Heurich House Museum, the coolest place you probably haven’t been to. Read More »
There actually was a spring and it was silver … sort of. In 1840, Francis Preston Blair came across a mica-flecked spring near, what is today, Georgia Ave. near the District line. The location today is Acorn Park at Blair Mill Rd., Newell St. and East-West Highway. Blair decided he liked the location so much that he would acquire the ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington