On Friday, July 3rd, 1902, Teddy Roosevelt went for a hike in Rock Creek Park with General Leonard Wood and his entourage. The President’s love for Rock Creek was well known, as he spent countless hours wandering the nature sanctuary in the middle of Washington. While on his stroll, he noticed that his prized ring had slipped off his finger and ... Read More »
This is pretty scary. The crazy headline in the Washington Post on October 19th, 1902 was the cryptic and terrifying “Mad Wolf From Zoo.” Below is the account of multiple attacks in Cleveland Park. Residents of Cleveland Park and vicinity were given a good deal of a fright yesterday forenoon by the appearance of a wolf which had escaped from ... Read More »
Many of you are probably shocked to hear that there was a traffic circle at 16th and U St. The intersection is already a nightmare, with New Hampshire crossing at a diagonal. If you cross as a pedestrian, you are at least 35% likely to be hit by a car screaming down 16th St., only to veer down New Hampshire ... Read More »
Okay, it’s not a huge mystery why some of our major streets are named after states in the Union. This was part of the grand plan of L’Enfant, to have grand boulevards at diagonals, all across our city. What you probably didn’t know is that the location of some of these avenues have changes over the years due to political ... Read More »
To celebrate our first birthday, here is the map of Washington’s waterfront as it stood in 1909. The transformation of this area is going to be massive when the ambitious development projects are completed. Read More »
Take a look at this Baist map of Anacostia in 1907. Read More »
Here’s a page from the real estate section of the Sunday Washington Times on June 7th, 1908. Read More »
Another delightfully bizarre post for you from the early 20th century. Leave it to Teddy Roosevelt to be in the middle of another good story. Considerable prominence has been given to an episode which occurred a few days ago on Massachusetts avenue, in which a drunken man and the President figured. The President had been walking with Senator Lodge and ... Read More »
What an incredible photo of the Capitol Building. This is from between 1905 and 1915, part of the Detroit Publishing Company collection at the Library of Congress. Read More »
Here’s a great photo to share on a lazy Saturday. Read More »
Here is a great old photo to close out the day. This is the Willard Hotel in 1904, viewed looking up 14th St. to the right and Pennsylvania Ave. to the left. Click on the image to view a much larger version. The details are pretty impressive. Read More »
What a great photograph. We came across this one on Flickr. Read More »
In 1821, an Act of Congress established a school called Columbian College on College Hill for “the education of Gospel Ministers.” The small campus was bounded by Columbia Rd., 14th St. and Boundary Rd. (Florida Ave.). on the hill which eventually became known as Meridian Hill. The school suffered through some rocky times during the Civil War, but by 1873, ... Read More »
How can you not read an article with this title? We came across this one in the August 20th, 1903 Washington Post. B. F. Chew, who runs a Chinese restaurant on Thirty-second street, near M street northwest, created no little excitement last evening by chasing a man who refused to pay for chop suey. About 11 o’clock Chew rushed out ... Read More »
Here’s another map of Swampoodle from 1903. Make sure you check out the 1888 one and compare them. This has the proposed Union Station superimposed over the neighborhood and you’ll see some familiar street names which appear to have been recycled in different neighborhoods. Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington