Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

We love these old photos. This one shows streetcars waiting at 15th and New York Ave. NW, near the White House and Department of Treasury. Read More »

I’ve come across a mountain of great society columns in old Washington  Posts titled “In Hotel Lobbies.” This is going to make for some great material, so I’m kicking off a new category with the same title. On December 21st, 1903 Colonel William F. Cody was in Washington, staying at the recently opened New Willard at 15th and Pennsylvania Ave. ... Read More »

Here is a great gallery of some Civil War photographs I uncovered at the Library of Congress. It appears that the Treasury Department is in the background of the Sanitary Commission photograph at 15th and F St. NW. Related articles Native Americans at the White House During the Civil War (ghostsofdc.org) Civil War’s 150th stirs a trove of memories (sfgate.com) ... Read More »

Here’s a good one from the Library of Congress archives. It’s a drawing of the proposed new Executive Mansion, to be built on Meridian Hill (where the park is today). It looks quite ostentatious for American tastes and, in my opinion, resembles Il Vittoriano in Piazza Venezia, Rome (look here … thanks Andrea, great photo blog!). The drive for a ... Read More »

This is a great one for “Faces of Yesterday” … this group of young boys worked as Dime Messenger Service boys, with their headquarters at 1228 H St. NW. Lewis Hine, the American sociologist and photographer took this photo in the spring 1912. The baby-faced boy in the middle is Eddie Tahoory (14 years old) and he recently started working ... Read More »