Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

What an amazing shot of Pennsylvania Ave., frozen in time. Read More »

You know you’re freaked out about Gmail being down! This will distract you while you can’t access your email. The photo was taken on March 3rd, 1913. It is absolutely amazing. Click on it for a larger version. 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 »

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 »

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the women’s suffrage parade in Washington. Give the historical importance of that, and the fact that today is Opening Day, here’s an apro pos article for us to share with GoDCers. We came across this one in the Washington Post, published on July 29th, 1914. Special to The Washington Post. St. Louis, Mo., ... Read More »

First pitch for 2013 is only a few hours from now … Seriously, I am so pumped for baseball. The sting of our last game has now subsided, and I’m ready to watch our team put on a great show at Nats Park. I’m feeling good about it and it’s time to share a few old Nationals/Senators stories. Here’s one ... 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 »

Sad. Just tragic. The building below is the old Southern Railway Building, formerly located at 13th and Pennsylvania. This building was purchased by the United States Government in 1928 for $2,680,000 to make way for the construction of Federal Triangle. 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 »

Here is another excellent old saloon from 1913, lost to history. Mullany’s Saloon had a neighbor with Hohmann’s Saloon. The most amazing part of this photograph is the Washington Monument peeking out in the background. The saloon stood at the corner of 14th St. and Ohio Ave. (before it was moved). This has to be one of our favorite photographs ... Read More »

We’re trying out a new category called “Lost History” today. We spent a good part of the weekend reading James Goode’s excellent (and depressing) book Capital Losses, and wanted to feature some more lost history of D.C. Our first post is about D. Mullany’s Saloon, formerly at 14th and E St. NW (500 14th St. NW), today occupied by the massive ... Read More »

It’s amazing to see how rural Washington was in the early 20th century. This is the Baist map of the area around Walter Reed in 1911. Read More »

This is a set of maps from 1916, showing a very different, and sparsely developed Petworth.   Read More »

This is a drawing done by John T. McCutcheon for the 1919 visit of the Prince of Wales. The Library of Congress also had this great clip of him visiting Teddy Roosevelt’s grave. Below is the caption for the video. In the summer of 1919, Edward, the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, embarked on a tour of the Dominions. ... Read More »

Times sure were different when these photographs were taken in 1914. These are views of Washington from American University near Tenleytown.   Read More »