The Cairo Hotel: How One Apartment Tower Wrote DC’s Skyline Law
A 35-year-old architect built 164 feet of Moorish-fantasy hotel into a Dupont rowhouse block. Congress hated it so much it made a law.
Notable People & Places
Famous and infamous Washingtonians and the buildings tied to their names. Presidents, mobsters, madams, and the corner addresses that outlasted them.
The DC Astrologer Who Ran the White House: Madame Marcia, Florence Harding, and the Prediction That Came True
From a parlor near Dupont Circle, Madame Marcia told Florence Harding her husband would die in office. Three years later he did.
“Czar Reed”: The Speaker Who Broke the Filibuster
Thomas Brackett Reed rewrote the rules of Congress, crushed the filibuster, and walked away from power on principle. He died at the Arlington Hotel while a party raged downstairs.
Fedlandia Emerges from L’Enfant Plaza: From Southwest DC Neighborhood to the Future
Before L’Enfant Plaza’s Brutalist towers, Southwest DC was a thriving neighborhood. We dug into the Evening Star archives to trace the full story, from the 1954 demolition to the Fedlandia proposals reshaping the area today.
The White House East Wing: From Jefferson’s Vision to a $250 Million Ballroom
FDR built the East Wing in 1942 as cover for a real White House bunker. Decades later, it was torn down for a $250 million ballroom.
Why the Pentagon Has Five Sides: It’s Not What You Think
The Pentagon wasn’t designed to be five-sided. In 1941, architects had 72 hours to fit a building around a five-road intersection. The shape stuck.
Boston Corbett: Lincoln’s Avenger in Washington
On May 17, 1865, Sergeant Boston Corbett took the stand at the Washington Arsenal and walked the military commission through the night he shot John Wilkes Booth in a Virginia barn. This is the DC chapter of his strange life.
Massimo Vignelli: The Visionary Behind the Washington Metro’s Iconic Design
Explore the legacy of Massimo Vignelli, the visionary designer behind the Washington Metro’s iconic look. Discover how his philosophy of simplicity and functionality shaped the visual identity of D.C.’s public transit system.
Lights, Camera, Laughs! Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone Charmed Washington, DC
In March ’36, comedy “royalty” Jack Benny & wife Mary Livingstone arrived in DC, bringing laughs galore to delight politicos & fans. Dubbed “royal couple” by press, the duo charmed the capital for a week with wisecracks ‘a plenty before departing in style, leaving smiles for miles.