Here’s a great photo of the Lord Fairfax House at 607 Cameron Street in Alexandria. By the way, Lord Fairfax was the Baron of Cameron, hence the street name. Source: Library of Congress And here’s the Google Street View today.
Here’s an interesting proposal for the Southside Freeway in Arlington, which never came to be. This graphic is from The Washington Post printed on October 7th, 1960. That date, by the way, is when the famous Kennedy/Nixon presidential debate happened, being...
Here’s a slightly spooky, yet beautiful photo showing the Old Post Office through a snowy, foggy night in 1911. It’s labeled June 5th, but clearly it didn’t snow then. I’m guessing that was when the photo was printed. Source: Library...
Can someone identify the time period for this? This is Cedar St. looking east at the intersection with 4th St., where the railroad (now the Metro) crosses over it. Source: Dig DC And even cooler, check out the almost identical...
Washington is a baseball town. There is no doubt about that. In fact, there is a rich history going back to the 19th century including an Irishman’s bar fully dedicated to the love of the game. We were without a...
Difficult to believe this … really difficult, but back in 1892, what is now Adams Morgan, was very rural. Less jumbo slices, more trees. You probably can’t even recognize this, with no 18th St. and 16th St. not going all...
This is an advertisement in The Washington Post, from November 22nd, 1963. You could fly to Houston from Friendship (now BWI) for only $81.15 plus tax.
In scanning The Washington Post for November 22nd, 1963, I came across this small prayer, printed that day in section D8. It was a small block at the top right of the page and I nearly missed it, but in reading...
We came across these beautiful photographs on Flickr and had to share them with GoDCers. It appears to be an old car getting in need of some repairs after an accident. The vehicle appears to be a Dodge (anyone able...
Sally Halterman was just 27 years old, 88 pounds and just under five feet tall. That didn’t stop her from becoming the first woman to receive a license to operate a motorcycle in D.C. This photo was taken on September...
What an amazing photograph. It’s a little grainy, but you can make out some of the buildings, including the patent office.
This is a photograph from the Library of Congress, circa 1926. Definitely not something you’re likely to see these days.
Takoma Park (and Takoma) is a lovely and friendly neighborhood on the northeast District line with Maryland. It dates back to the late 19th century, when Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, both founder and first mayor of Takoma Park, began actively promoting...
Here is an appropriate newspaper front page. This is from The Washington Herald on Thursday, November 29th, 1906 … “From a Little Acorn – A Sturdy Oak Did Grow.”
Something big happened at the Watergate in 1972 and it led to a very defensive President Nixon giving this painful press conference. This is not about that event. In true Ghosts of DC style, let’s dig up three other things...
Here’s an excellent photo capturing history in Washington. This is a parade of suffragettes but I can’t quite make out where they are. If you know where this is, or think you recognize the building in the foreground or background, add your...
Yowza! This is a crazy story that lives up to the title, albeit a brief story. I came across this in the Washington Post on October 25th, 1941. A few gnawed bones and a wild dog were found on an...
It’s still amusing to me when the papers refer to anything north of Boundary St. (i.e., Florida Avenue) as the suburbs. I came across an article in the Washington Times from 1906, highlighting some new construction in Mt. Pleasant. The...
Why is Washington, DC the capital? John Adams rode from Philadelphia to DC over an entire week. Read the story of his full journey.
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....
