Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

We love these old photos. This one shows streetcars waiting at 15th and New York Ave. NW, near the White House and Department of Treasury. Read More »

Look at this great route map we uncovered from 1936. This shows the major streetcar routes in 1936. Read More »

What an awesome headline … we have to share this one with GoDCers. On October 28th, 1957, the Washington Post reported on a bizarre incident, where a man took a streetcar for an illegal joyride on Pennsylvania Ave. You have to read this to believe it. Clayton Morgan Jr., 40, of 1602 4th st. nw., was charged yesterday with stealing ... Read More »

On October 13th, 1919, an out-of-control streetcar was traveling down Georgia Ave. NW, near Walter Reed, when it slammed into a military truck, instantly killing one passenger on the truck and injuring countless others. Below is a photo of the devastated streetcar. The Baltimore Sun had a special report on the accident the following day, mentioning a number of Marylanders ... 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 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 »

I took a tour of the Dupont Underground yesterday, and I have to say, it’s amazing. It’s like to step back into 1955. If you haven’t done it, you really should. You may or may not know this, but the road that goes under Dupont Circle (i.e., Connecticut Avenue) wasn’t initially built only for cars. It was proposed and built ... Read More »

If you live north on 14th St. NW, surely you are familiar with this giant car barn, now converted to house Metrobuses. Below is an article from the Washington Times, published on June 2nd, 1907. From the modest car sheds on Florida avenue that formerly housed the cars of the Fourteenth street branch of the Capital Traction Company to the ... Read More »

I stumbled across a great resource for streetcar photos. Check out the slide show below of some photos I pulled. The map below is the transit map for Washington in 1948. Click on it for a closer look at the routes. Related articles Cool Sunday Photo: Streetcar Passing Washington Monument (ghostsofdc.org) Officials Probe Eckington Streetcar Disaster (ghostsofdc.org) Mr. and Mrs. Walter Johnson ... Read More »

I can spend two or three hours researching an in depth “Three Things…” or “If Walls Could Talk” post and ultimately end up with the same number of readers as a quick afternoon photo post. Today, I’m going to flip the order or my posts and kick the morning off with a cool old photo from Shorpy. Below is a ... Read More »

The last photo from F St. NW was so popular, so I wanted to post another one. I found this great photo on Shorpy showing F St. back in 1924. Share this one on Facebook with your friends. Click the photo for more details … it’s extremely high resolution. Related articles Old Photo Friday: F St. NW in 1908 (ghostsofdc.org) ... Read More »

This looks bad. And, it is as bad as it looks. I came across this old photo on Shorpy (of course). It was a major streetcar derailment that injured 35 passengers, resulting in the arrest of both the motorman and the conductor. Read what the Washington Post had to say about it on August 2nd, 1919 … Read More »

Here’s a cool old photograph I found sifting through the Library of Congress archives. I find this one amusing: You wouldn’t have your child a jay walker. Don’t be one yourself. Still very applicable today. This city has an epidemic of jaywalking (on occasion I’m included in this group). Related articles Library of Congress: Oldest Federal Cultural Institution in America ... Read More »

Here’s a cool one I wanted to share from Shorpy. It’s a streetcar passing the Washington Monument in 1938. What a great shot. Related articles Billionaire Philanthropist to Give Millions to Help Fix Washington Monument (wellwisher.wordpress.com) Report Details Damage To Washington Monument (baltimore.cbslocal.com) Washington Monument has extensive cracking, chips (cbsnews.com) Read More »

This was a pretty cool find on YouTube. It looks like this takes place looking northwest on Pennsylvania Ave, maybe around 12th St. You can see the Willard Hotel in the background. The postal worker dumps a few bags of mail onto the streetcar, grabs a few off the streetcar, puts them in his wagon and drives off. This takes ... Read More »