In the 1950s, the top entertainers in the country performed on 14th Street NW. By the early 1980s, it was known as Washington's "combat zone," lined with topless bars and adult bookstores. By 1986, it was rubble. What happened in between reveals how gentrification works when moral crusades and economic interests perfectly align.
In the hot summer of 1952, there were numerous sightings of up to seven lights floating around the night sky in DC, including over the Capitol Building. Radar operators saw strange blips on their screens, and flight attendants on planes approaching National Airport saw lights above their plane.
This is an unexpected and disappointing article from 1977 about a small group of sixth-graders and a third-grader smuggling marijuana and liquor to and from an elementary school in Montgomery County. Interestingly, this occurred just a few days before President Jimmy Carter implemented the first civil rights law for people with disabilities.
Take a trip back in time to the 1970s and learn about the construction of the Metro along Wisconsin Avenue. We've dug up an old Washington Post article from 1978 and a great diagram!
View a spectacularly illuminated photograph of the Washington Monument in 1933. Click the photo for some great details on the Nation's Capital during this time!
Get a birds-eye view of the Pentagon from the 1940s with this rare photo. Enjoy a glimpse of a bit of history and the War Department with this aerial shot captured by Theodor Horydczak.
Discover the sad reality of D.C. lacking national representation through this print found in The Evening Star. Visit the Dig DC Collection by the DC Public Library to learn more.
Take a look at this incredible photograph of 14th and F Street in 1903, featuring the old Ebbitt House. Read three stories about the place, and check out the map for reference points. The legacy lives on in today's incarnation of Old Ebbitt Grill.
Take a look back in time and discover a photo of Columbia Hospital in Washington, DC, taken some time in the early 1920s. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Taking a look back at the construction of Meridian Hill Park in DC, largely thanks to Mary Foote Henderson's vision of the park. Uncovering never-before-seen photos from the Library of Congress of the park being built.
Take a journey back in time and explore Washington DC in 1901 with this map of the District of Columbia. See what's missing and what's still there! Click to explore!
Check out this amazing photo of Rosslyn in 1965. We dug up this photo on Flickr and it was taken by Roger Wollstadt. Plus, don't miss our post from earlier in the week about a giant fire and explosion that rocked and almost destroyed Rosslyn.
Check out this captivating aerial view of the National Mall from the Capitol and Library of Congress to the Potomac. Get an amazing perspective of the city from above!
