Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

Here is another excellent photo of Pennsylvania Ave., also from the 1920s. We did a little Googling for this one too and came across it here. Read More »

This is a cool old photo that we dug up via Google. We found it here. It appears to be some time in the 1920s, looking down Pennsylvania Ave. towards the Capitol. Read More »

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 »

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 »

This absolutely horrifying. Some of you may not know this, but in 1928 (and a number of other times in the 1920s), the Ku Klux Klan was permitted to parade down Pennsylvania Ave. Hard to believe, I know. Read More »

Here’s a great photo to share on a lazy Saturday. Read More »

The Department of Commerce‘s massive, beast of a building is bound by Constitution Avenue (why is it named Constitution Avenue?), 14th St., Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th St. Construction finished and it opened in 1932, at the end of President Herbert Hoover‘s lame duck presidency and in the depths of the Great Depression. The Public Buildings Act of 1926 set aside ... Read More »

Clearly, this is not something you will see today … or, is it? Read More »

It’s never good when your name gets in the paper for drunk driving, especially if your late father was a United States Senator. Below is a great example of how you don’t want to be represented in the paper. This is from January 25th, 1929, when the Washington Post wrote about the intoxicated adventures of Mary Culberson. Miss Mary E. ... Read More »

What an amazing shot of Pennsylvania Avenue from 1919. This captures much what is happening in the old video we posted from about a decade earlier. UPDATE: We received a great tip and link from GoDCer Tim, showing the Parker Bridget building up close. Check it out below. Thanks Tim! Read More »

This photo from 1912 shows a Weather Bureau kiosk at E Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW.  It’s a high-resolution image, so feel free to click to see some extra details. Large cities around the country had similar small weather stations installed at street level – but Washington’s was the first. (Here’s a photo of a kiosk still standing in Knoxville, ... Read More »

This is one of our best GoDCer contributions yet. Tom from Bethesda sent this over to share with everyone else. This was taken on Pennsylvania Ave. NW between 10th and 11th St. Watch the whole thing and marvel at how chaotic the street scene and traffic seem to be. Safety was certainly different back then. Here is a description of ... Read More »

Here’s a great painting from 1860, looking down Pennsylvania Ave. It’s a similar view to the photo we posted last night, just a couple of years later, when the country was on the brink of civil war. Related articles Decapitated by the Hangman’s Rope (ghostsofdc.org) If Walls Could Talk: Chateau Bonaparte on K Street (ghostsofdc.org) Old Photo Friday: Ford at ... Read More »

I came across this gem scanning through the Architect of the Capitol’s website. I had to share it with you tonight. Click on it for the higher resolution image. It’s pretty amazing to take a look at the details and the stores on the left, lining Pennsylvania Ave before the Civil War. Try and stay cool. It’s ridiculously hot outside. ... Read More »