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If Walls Could Talk

The Abscam House: How the FBI Secretly Rented a Post Reporter’s Home on W Street NW

In 1978 a Washington Post reporter rented his house off Foxhall Road to a man from Olympic Construction. The tenant was the FBI, and the basement became the Washington set for Abscam.

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Rock Spring Club, a three-story frame clubhouse with striped awnings on Conduit Road, about 1897Conduit Road Roadhouses: DC’s Vice Strip Over the LineOct 23Councilman Marion Barry lying in a hospital bed with a bandage and monitor leads on his chest, gesturing as he speaks.The 1977 Hanafi Siege: 39 Hours That Held Washington HostageOct 22Entrance of the Tabard Inn at 1739 N Street NW under its "Hotel Tabard Inn" marquee, photographed by Theodor HorydczakTabard Inn History: Sold in 1927, Bought Back in 1930Oct 21EpisodeA D.C. streetcar crosses the Foundry Branch trestle with Georgetown University spires behind, 1948Foundry Branch Trestle: DC’s Last Streetcar BridgeOct 20EpisodeElla Watson stands before an American flag holding a broom and mop, Gordon Parks, 1942Ella Watson’s Home: The House Behind American GothicOct 19Washington Daily News front page of October 13, 1926, headlined Ace of D.C. Detectives Slain on Wedding Day, with a portrait of Detective Arthur B. ScrivenerArthur Scrivener: Murder or Suicide in a Georgetown Alley, 1926Oct 18
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Three Sisters Bridge: Congress Ordered It, Courts Stopped It

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Iranian Embassy December 1979The Abandoned Iranian Embassy on Massachusetts AvenueThe buildings at 3003 and 3005 Massachusetts Avenue NW have been locked and silent for 46 years. Before the doors closed, they saw legendary parties, student protests, 4,000 bottles of champagne poured down the drain, and hundreds of riot police. This is the full story.Storefronts of the 800 block of 14th Street NW in the early 1980s: the Californian Steak House, Benny's, the Cocoon, the Butterfly and the Gold Rush, with the Parkside Hotel behind14th Street’s Lost Red Light District: From Combat Zone to Cocktail BarsWillie McCover 1974 Topps Washington "Nat'l Lea"1974 Washington Padres: Topps Cards for the ‘Washington Stars’White House East Wing: From 1902 to Trump’s BallroomGriffith StadiumGriffith Stadium: The History and Demolition of Washington’s Lost Ballpark

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Arcade Market in Columbia Heights (Library of Congress)The Arcade Market’s 1927 Plan for Rooftop ParkingUpdated Oct 26Kenya’s embassy at 2249 R Street NW, with its pale façade, flags, and entrance archesBefore It Was Kenya’s Embassy: The Story of 2249 R StreetUpdated Oct 26AI-colorized version of the 1960s rendering of the proposed Three Sisters Bridge over the Potomac, with the Three Sisters islands belowThree Sisters Bridge Across the Potomac Was Never BuiltUpdated Oct 25EpisodeThe Bayou exterior in 1977 with the Whitehurst Freeway overhead at 3135 K Street NW, GeorgetownThe Bayou: 45 Years Under the Whitehurst FreewayUpdated Oct 25Episode

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