Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington

Here’s a good one to study. This is a view from the Capitol Building looking north, very early during the Civil War. Read More »

Here’s another map of Swampoodle from 1903. Make sure you check out the 1888 one and compare them. This has the proposed Union Station superimposed over the neighborhood and you’ll see some familiar street names which appear to have been recycled in different neighborhoods. Read More »

GoDCers love maps … and they love Swampoodle. If you’re unfamiliar with Swampoodle, it was a rough and tumble, working-class Irish neighborhood which was destroyed to make way for Union Station in the early 1900s (stay tuned for another map of the area showing the proposed rail station). Here is a Google Map of the same area today. Read More »

Along the same lines as the earlier post today with the St. Albans advertisement, here is another prominent (and old) local school. Gonzaga had just built their Main Building in 1912, now named Dooley Hall. Read their Wikipedia page for a little more history. I found this part to be particularly interesting. Gonzaga benefited greatly from the fact that the ... Read More »

Here is another great five-minute history of a D.C. landmark. Union Station was, for the first half of the 20th century, the gateway to Washington. It was how most people arrived in the city and it was a magnificent sight for visitors. [gigya src="http://embed.5min.com/517229521/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="opaque" width="560" height="345"] The majestic building displaced the Irish community in Swampoodle, knocking ... Read More »

Swampoodle sounds like an area filled with some tough blue-collar dudes. Here’s a little column I found in the Post from January 21st, 1895 about three locals, boozing until the wee hours of the morning. Two plumbers and a plasterer went outside of “Swampoodle” Saturday night to find trouble. They found quite a large quantity of it about 3 o’clock ... Read More »