Washington, DC History & Old Stories of DC

  • River Place in Rosslyn: The Arlington Co-op That Expires in 2052

    River Place in Rosslyn: The Arlington Co-op That Expires in 2052

    Own a home at River Place in Rosslyn and you don’t own the land beneath it. In 2052, the 99-year lease on the old Arlington Towers runs out. Inside the history of Rosslyn’s brick towers, from a diplomats’ training garage…

    Jun 15, 2026 · 8 min read

  • Before Death Punch and Bourbon, 2321 18th St NW Was the Blue Room

    Before Death Punch and Bourbon, 2321 18th St NW Was the Blue Room

    Jun 12, 2026 · 7 min read

    A few doors south of Heaven and Hell, 2321 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan was the Blue Room lounge, then Bill Thomas’s Bourbon whiskey bar, and now Death Punch.

  • Inside The Big Hunt: How a 1928 Dupont Storefront Became DC’s Weirdest Bar

    Inside The Big Hunt: How a 1928 Dupont Storefront Became DC’s Weirdest Bar

    Jun 11, 2026 · 19 min read

    The Big Hunt opened in 1992 inside a 1928 storefront at 1345 Connecticut Avenue NW and closed for good in 2020. Inside Dupont Circle’s three-story dive bar with the safari kitsch, the hidden patio, and the Hell’s Kitchen basement.

  • Erol’s Video Club: The DC Empire Before Blockbuster

    Erol’s Video Club: The DC Empire Before Blockbuster

    Jun 11, 2026 · 13 min read

    Before Blockbuster, the DC area had Erol’s Video Club. Turkish immigrant Erol Onaran arrived in 1960 with $16, opened a Georgetown TV shop in 1963, started renting tapes in 1980, and built the largest privately owned video chain in America before selling to Blockbuster for $40 million in 1990.