Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

This is a great advertisement from the early 1920s. The Connecticut Avenue Association was promoting retail up and down Connecticut Ave., near Dupont Circle, including the Dupont National Bank. Related articles Car Flattened Near Dupont Circle (ghostsofdc.org) Racked DC: J. Crew Opening This Summer; H & M Coming To Chevy Chase (dc.curbed.com) Market Report: A Day in Town (agrowingseason.wordpress.com) Three ... Read More »

There were a couple of requests a short while back to do a post on The Cairo, the most famous residential building in the city. You can Google it or check it out on Wikipedia, so no need to do the building’s history. I want to dig up the more anonymous stories of people associated with the building. So, here’s ... Read More »

Here’s a great color photo courtesy the D.C. Public Library Flickr photostream. It was taken, just at the turn of the century. The house was built in 1881 and was the home of James G. Blaine, former Speaker of the House, Senator, and twice the Secretary of State. His LinkedIn resume would look pretty sweet. Read More »

This is not good. We’re looking at a photo of a car accident on the northeast corner of Massachusetts and 21st St. NW. This is just two block west of Dupont Circle and a block north of P St. Check out the photo from 1917 and then the Google Street View photo from today. I also added this to Historypin, ... Read More »

WOW. This one is awesome. It’s a colorized photograph from 1924 and it shows cars lined up outside the District National Bank, Dupont Circle branch. I’ll need a little help locating exactly where this is. It’s highly likely that this building no longer exists. I can’t quite place it. Read More »

I’m really excited about doing this one and I’m sure there are a few of you out there that are really going to enjoy learning about our favorite spot, Kramerbooks. Since 1976, this place has been a favorite place to find a book, grab a bite, some beer, or have some coffee and chat over dessert. Some of you may ... Read More »

Big Bear Cafe is a lovely coffee shop which has warmed up Bloomingdale residents since 2007. It’s a favorite of many in the neighborhood and, for better or worse, people in other neighborhoods (this Portlandia clip is very àpropos). It’s Friday afternoon and we’re on the cusp of a chilly, rainy weekend. So, let me say that there’s no better ... Read More »

I guess D.C. has always had bad drivers. This one is from December 7th, 1930. A dizzy clockwise circle of an automobile around Dupont Circle, which caused several crashed last night, was climaxed when the driver, arrested and jailed at the Third Precinct Station, attempted to hang himself in his cell. Leon Woodrow Rice, 21 of Shepherdstown, W. Va., was ... Read More »

Wow, this one is gold. Jimi Hendrix played the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Ave. NW — the same one where Hinkley shot Reagan in 1981. That’s right, the guitar god himself played to 4,000 fans in the hotel’s international ballroom on March 10th, 1968, accompanied by his bandmates, Noel Redding (drums) and Mitch Mitchell (bass). This one might be cooler ... Read More »