Featured posts
D.C. Must Have Subway System Eventually
Doing a little more research on the subway debate in Washington, here is another interesting article we dug up in the Washington Post from November 25th, 1941 (t-minus 12 days to Pearl Harbor). The most fascinating...
Incredible 1860s View of East Capitol Street
This is a terrific old photograph of East Capitol St., before a street was even there. This was from the Library of Congress, and apparently was mislabeled as Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. This too was taken...
Beautiful 1913 Night Photo of Pennsylvania Ave.
You know you’re freaked out about Gmail being down! This will distract you while you can’t access your email. The photo was taken on March 3rd, 1913. It is absolutely amazing. Click on it for a...
Takoma Defeats Petworth in Hotly Contested Game
The good old days of Washington amateur baseball. There were hundreds, if not thousands of articles mentioning match-ups between different neighborhoods. This one from July 23rd, 1900 was especially entertaining. I doubt that a rivalry exists...
Map of Randle Highlands in 1907
We love these maps and can’t get enough of them. We don’t show enough from across the river, so here’s one of Randle Highlands in 1907. And below is the Google Map of the same area...
Roy Sievers, Bryce Harper and Sports Illustrated
In 1958, Roy Sievers of the Washington Nationals (i.e., Washington Senators) was one of the best sluggers in the game. The previous year, he knocked out a league-leading 42 dingers and he would follow it up...
1969 Vision of Metro Center
Well over 30,000 passengers pass through Metro Center every single day, and upwards of 9.7 million do each year. It is the hub of Washington’s Metro (there almost was a second hub at Farragut Square). A...
The Poor Kids of Georgetown
I know it’s probably hard to imagine, but Georgetown wasn’t always the bastion of Washington’s wealthy. Back in the 1930s many working class and even poor families lived in the neighborhoods now mostly occupied by lawyers,...
OMG Über 70s TV Commercial
Wow. Anybody remember this store or this commercial? Sweet psychedelic lights in the stereo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20MhTlRPo0
Weather Bureau Kiosk on Pennsylvania Avenue
This photo from 1912 shows a Weather Bureau kiosk at E Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW. It’s a high-resolution image, so feel free to click to see some extra details. Large cities around the country had...
Map of U St. and Shaw Circa 1903 and 1921
Below is the Baist real estate map of the area around U St. and Vermont Ave. NW. So if you’re a frequent patron of Dodge City, Nellie’s, or the hoppin’ new place, Brixton, this will be...
Anti-Flirt Club: Don’t Undress Me With Your Eyes
Looking at this photo, I had to do a little digging on the Anti-Flirt Club. This is amazing. Well, it turns out that there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to this and the basic description of...
Arrival of First Japanese Embassy at the Navy Yard (1860)
In January 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a delegation to the United States with the primary objective of ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (aka, the Harris Treaty). Commodore Matthew Perry (not Chandler) had opened Japan (forcefully)...
Body of Executed Man Sold for Parts
Jack, a GoDCer in Poolesville, sent over a series of great story ideas, mostly focused on the ghoulish and ghastly. This is an excellent candidate for best “From the Crazy Vault” post yet. Well done Jack,...
Man Falls Down Cairo Building Elevator Shaft
This is a worthy story for a “From the Crazy Vault” post … check it out. I came across the tale in the Washington Times from October 7th, 1894. Falling down an elevator shaft from the...
They Were Neighbors: Officer Sprinkle Lived Here
To satisfy your hunger for more Officer Sprinkle, I took a look into where he lived in 1900. At the time, he was 34 years old, had been married to his wife Teresa for 10 years...
Rockville! The Washington Monument Is Plainly Visible From Its Highest Points
Check this out … a great old advertisement from 1890 in The Sunday Herald. See the Washington Monument from Rockville? Wow. Related articles Move to Cathedral Highlands: An Unobstructed View of the Entire Surrounding Country (ghostsofdc.org) Love...
The White House Easter Egg Roll
This is a guest post by Rick. The White House website currently carries this message: On Monday April 9, 2012, the First Family will host the 134th annual White House Easter Egg Roll. This year’s theme...
