Now this is a crazy story. It was published in the Washington Times on Friday, March 20th, 1914. Braving a fusillade of shots in which three persons had fallen, Policeman J. L. Edwards, of precinct 8, in the early hours of this morning, and in a dark room, captured Herman Kabansky, pistol wielder, after a desperate struggle, in which Edwards ... Read More »
Now this is a truly historic and fascinating story from the annals of untold D.C. history. About a week ago, GoDCer Kicha sent us a great tip on a story from 1869. The story includes an interracial love affair, a complicated love triangle, rife with jealousy, and a gruesome murder. The latter leads to this historic trial, the first in ... Read More »
Old GoDC buddy Jack sent along a crazy tale that I can only describe by saying OMFG. You’ll see what I mean. This is an article from November 10th, 1887 published in the Washington Post. The case of Beverly Jones, the young colored man charged with killing Robert Morris by plunging an umbrella through his eyeball in his brain, came ... Read More »
Our neighborhoods don’t have quite the colorful names of yesteryear. Much like Murder Bay, Hell’s Bottom was a seriously dangerous place to live, or even walk through. It was not the beat you wanted as a policeman. There is a delicious local beer, which takes its name from the notorious neighborhood (evidently inspired by our friend and GoDCer, Kim). So, ... Read More »
Okay, here is a headline that caught my attention: “Ex-White House Policeman Indicted as Slayer of Wife.” This is an article from August 3rd, 1943. Random fact: the day before, PT-109, commanded by JFK, was rammed and sunk. Kennedy saved his crew and was a hero. Back to the article … Jeffries D. Henry, 35, discharged White House policeman, was ... Read More »
The popular “Three Things…” post about Dulles Airport prompted me to give equal treatment to our other local, older and much more convenient airport: National Airport (not Reagan National Airport, thank you very much). Actually, the airport was once known as the National Airport at Gravelly Point. Maybe we should change the name to George Washington National Airport (Reagan made ... 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 »
Here is some old craziness to (I hate to use the word) entertain you. This is from the Washington Post on December 6th, 1884. By the way, this just happens to be the same day the Washington Monument was completed. A few passers-by on Pennsylvania avenue northwest, opposite the Botanical Garden, at midnight last Wednesday, were startled by loud screams ... Read More »
A brief article tells the tale of the last execution by hanging in the District. Copeland was a cop killer and had murdered three policemen in cold blood in May 1918. He shot and killed Officer Conrad and Deputy Sheriff McParlin and then engaged in a shootout near his relatives home in Southwest. There, he mortally wounded Lt. Dunigan. He ... Read More »
The opium den post of last week was the first foray into old Chinatown research, but I’ve uncovered a gold mine of fascinating local history. You probably were unaware of this, but in the 1920s, there was a brutal criminal underground layer in Chinatown — if there still is, I’m totally oblivious — and a very detailed Washington Post article ... Read More »
This title is worthy of a big #WTF. Posts like this are sadly some of the more popular ones. I don’t know if GoDCers are attracted to the macabre, but it sure seems that way. So here’s another one for “From the Crazy Vault.” This is a crazy story of a military officer who shoots his wife while she was asleep ... Read More »
This is a horrible story that I came across in the Washington Post. Read this in the context of it being the 1940s because it’s very disturbing. In early June of 1946, the murder of a Don Glendening was front-page news. He was found dead in his apartment on Capitol Hill, having been bludgeoned to by a club. Joseph Sturiale, ... Read More »
Okay, this isn’t a true “This Day in History,” but since I’m such a Back to the Future fan boy, I thought it would be interesting to see what was happening in D.C. on November 5th, 1955 — the date Marty arrives back in Hill Valley, after the Libyans kill Doc Brown (1.21 gigawatts!). I’ll dig through the old Washington ... Read More »
I thought the triple homicide post I put up was crazy. This one is right up there. The National Capital Brewery (cool PDF here) was a giant presence in southeast, near Capitol Hill. The plant stood at 14th and D St. SE (where Kentucky Ave. interests them). The Washington Post reported a crazy story of a murder-suicide that happened in the ... Read More »
I received an email from a reader saying she learned of Ghosts of DC through this post on Big Bear Cafe. She kindly asked if I would look into the history of her Bloomingdale condo building in, as she knew very little about it (other than old stories from local cabbies). I’m starting to see an increase in email requests ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington