Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

Here is a great old photograph of the 1908 Washington Senators. They were 67-85 that year 22.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers for the pennant. Read More »

This is a terrific old colorized photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston from 1921. Read More »

Do you know why the county is named Arlington? How about Ballston? I have a soft spot for Ballston because that’s where I first lived when I arrived in the area well over a decade ago. And, in tribute to my first residence, I wanted to dig up and share some etymological history. John Ball and his brother Moses, cousins ... Read More »

This is an aerial view of Temple Heights and Oak Lawn, the current site of the Washington Hilton, north of Dupont Circle. Read More »

Well, this was a hopefully step to revitalize Anacostia, but the most recent owner made a couple bad decisions. Here is the building as it looked around 1919 as Bury’s drug store. And below is the current Google Street View of what used to be Uniontown Bar and Grill. The beautiful old building might have life again, according to the ... Read More »

I had the pleasure of speaking to a great class at AU last week. One of the students asked if we had ever done a piece about Mad Hatter on Connecticut Ave. We haven’t yet, so this one is for you, Blaire. (By the way, Blaire told me her parents named her after the Blair House … and added an ... Read More »

Here is a shot of the Winder Building, some time after the Civil War. It looks to be in quite a state of disrepair, and it’s amazing that this building is still standing and in use by the U.S. Trade Representative. Here is the building today on Google Street View … a little ugly, because it’s under construction. Read More »

You’ll probably waste about 15 minutes of your day studying this photograph. It shows the intersection of 11th and F St. NW in the 1910s. Read More »

The hospital still exists, but it’s no longer in the original location. Providence Hospital once stood between 2nd and 3rd St. and D and E St. Southeast. The block is now Providence Park, which is an awesome place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. The former hospital used to occupy square 735 and was subdivided into 14 lots (see map ... Read More »

Do you know why it’s called K Street? You may not know the history of K St., but we dug up some interesting archival footage of K St. from well over a hundred years ago. The answer might surprise you … and you will definitely want to share this with your GoDC friends.   Happy April Fools’ Day! Read More »

Not exactly the most revered or most remembered president, poor Rutherford B. Hayes was zinged by our current president. We’d like to shine a little light on poor Rutherford, even if he didn’t think the telephone was a good invention (or did he?). Below is a series of photographs from his Inauguration in 1877.   Read More »

Here’s an interesting article we dug up from the Washington Post. This was published on April 4th, 1892. An interesting experiment was made the other day by a Washington physician to determine the relative effect of whisky and lager beer upon the digestion of food in the human stomach. As oysters are regarded as self-digesting food, two fine specimens were ... Read More »

I’m a little late to the game on this, but I had been meaning to share this after I saw it posted on Twitter by Michael Beschloss. The best part is zooming in on the photo. Check out this woman, staring right at the camera. Also, how about this mounted policeman getting a little handsy to move the crowd back ... Read More »

Complaining about our bizarre weather? Try having your Presidential Inauguration in crappy, snowy weather. That’s what happened to our most rotund president (and latest Nats racing president). Here is a photograph of him in the carriage with Teddy Roosevelt en route to the Capitol and his swearing in. And below are a few more photographs from that day, courtesy of ... Read More »

Hotel Harrington will have its 100th birthday next year in March. It’s one of the landmark D.C. buildings downtown that was spared the destruction of the redevelopment of the 1970s and 1980s. For a little twist on our “Three Things…” posts, we are going to feature three old advertisements from the hotel’s first year. But, before we dive into the ... Read More »