Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

In response to a couple requests on the last 1915 Georgetown map, here is one of the neighboring plates, showing the area down to the Potomac River. Read More »

Another fantastic Baist real estate map, this time from 1915. The map shows a good chunk of Georgetown. Read More »

Key Bridge was being built between Georgetown and Rosslyn. Construction started in 1917 and completed in 1923. Below is a shot from Georgetown looking towards the Washington Monument, which you can see in the distance. Read More »

Here are two great old maps that we found showing Georgetown. We know how much GoDCers love maps (we do too), so here you go. Below is a more detailed view of a part of Georgetown. Read More »

This is the best contribution thus far by a member of the GoDC community. This is from Tom H. in Bethesda, and when I first saw it, I was blown away at how professional it looked. Thanks Tom! The video is a fascinating history of the gun barrel fence in Georgetown, made from 364 reclaimed Washington Navy Yard muskets. To ... Read More »

I have been receiving emails from GoDCers with increasing frequency. Quite often these emails contain wonderful personal or family history relating to DC. This is one such email that I have to share. I received it this weekend while enjoying a Father’s Day dinner at the Tabard Inn with my wife and visiting father. I don’t check my email at ... Read More »

I was poking around the archives of both the Washington Post and Washington Times to come across a gem of a story to share and the one that caught my eye involved two Georgetown boatmen engaged in a brutal fight to the death. Reading through any article titled “Murder in Georgetown,” you’re primed for a taste of some horrid scandal ... Read More »

By 1800, the City of Washington was ready – as ready as a hastily constructed city could be – to be occupied by the federal government. In Philadelphia on May 15th, President Adams issued the order to begin removal of the federal government to Washington. Adams stayed in the city for two more weeks while things were packed up and ... Read More »

The hundred square mile plot selected as the new seat of government was not unclaimed land. There were farms, estates and towns that were being swallowed up by United States government. But, I should add, that this wasn’t a case of eminent domain. Nineteen original landowners were negotiated with, directly by George Washington himself at the end of March, 1791. ... Read More »

Way back in the day, the building we now know as the White House was called the “President’s Palace”, “President’s Mansion”, or the “President’s House.” The nomenclature evolved over time, with the accepted name for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue becoming the “Executive Mansion.” It wasn’t until Teddy Roosevelt‘s presidency that the building would be officially referred to at “The White House.” ... Read More »

This might shocking to some of you, but had the outcome of some debates and votes been different, people might have taken their eighth-grade field trips to a different United States capital city. The War of 1812 was disastrous for Washington as the British rampaged through and razed the city. After the British defeated Napoleon in April of 1814, they ... Read More »

Yep, that’s right. Paul (aka, Bono), Adam, Larry and David (aka, The Edge) rocked the nation’s capital in the early 80s. The Irish supergroup was less super back then, playing small (much smaller) venues like The Bayou in Georgetown and The Ontario Theater in Adams Morgan. How incredible would that be? I’m sure someone reading this went to one of ... Read More »

The front page of the Washington Times reported a big local signing in December of 1902 for the Washington Senators. They had inked the Georgetown shortstop, Charley Moran, to a contract 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 »

The Facebook post that spurred the most recent chatter was the question about which restaurant to research for a post. So, the second installment of “Reader’s Choice” will be a post about Au Pied de Cochon — which is now a Five Guys, like a quarter of the restaurants in the D.C. metro area. This was the suggestion from our ... Read More »