Ghosts of DC

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Podcast

The Ghosts of DC Podcast

Since 2012, Ghosts of DC has been digging up the lost and untold stories of Washington. Now we’re turning them into a podcast. Short episodes, built on the record, for your commute or a quiet few minutes.

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Latest episodeSuburban Gardens Booked a Young Duke Ellington
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Episodes

Black-and-white panoramic photograph from 1927 of Suburban Gardens amusement park, showing a sign reading ICE CREAM COLD DRINKS at left, a CATERPILLAR ride sign behind it, and Black families in summer dress walking along a tree-lined dirt path.
Suburban Gardens: DC’s Black Amusement Park in DeanwoodEpisode Oct 24, 2026 · 11 min

Suburban Gardens opened at 50th and Hayes NE in June 1921, built by a Black-owned company: the only major amusement park ever inside DC. Duke Ellington played it, Clarence Darrow spoke there, and it ran until 1940.

David Burnes cottage, the farmhouse of one of the original proprietors of Washington, with the Washington Monument behind it, photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston
Who Owned the Land That Became Washington, DC?Episode Oct 24, 2026 · 9 min

In March 1791, George Washington talked the Maryland farmers and planters who owned the future capital into signing their land over in trust.

A D.C. streetcar crosses the Foundry Branch trestle with Georgetown University spires behind, 1948
Foundry Branch Trestle: DC’s Last Streetcar BridgeEpisode Oct 23, 2026 · 7 min

The Foundry Branch trestle carried Glen Echo streetcars over Glover-Archbold Park from 1896 to 1960. Now DC’s last streetcar bridge is coming down.

River Place apartment towers in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia
River Place in Rosslyn: The Arlington Co-op That Expires in 2052Episode Oct 23, 2026 · 11 min

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 to the 2003 ballpark that almost replaced them.

1791 L'Enfant Plan of the new city
Why Is There No J Street in Washington, DC?Episode Oct 23, 2026 · 8 min

Washington’s streets run H, I, K. The John Jay grudge story is a modern myth. The first engraved map already skipped J in 1792, and nobody wrote down why.

A bull shark swimming, the species responsible for shark sightings in the Potomac River
Sharks in the Potomac River: Bull Sharks and the 1911 ScareEpisode Oct 23, 2026 · 8 min

In 1911, Alexandria’s rivermen swore a 20-foot shark was climbing into their boats. The real Potomac shark is smaller, and it is a bull.

The Beatles at Washington Coliseum - Feb. 11th, 1964
The Beatles’ First US Concert Was at Washington Coliseum (Feb 11, 1964)Episode Oct 23, 2026 · 8 min

On Feb 11, 1964, John, Paul, George, and Ringo stepped off a snowstorm-delayed train from New York, headed to a boxing arena at 3rd and M NE, and played the first ticketed Beatles concert on American soil.