Why Is It Named...?

Before the days of Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, the term 'Beltway Bandit' was applied to the nefarious behavior of a common area...

We have seriously slowed down our posts because Ghost Baby is growing up, and there's also Ghost Baby #2. So Mrs. Ghost and I...

If you go to Adams Morgan on a regular basis, you should probably know at least the basic history of the neighborhood,...

Langley, VA is the headquarters for the CIA. What's the history behind the area's name?

This was cross-posted on Ghosts of Baltimore. Washington, D.C. Received most of its land, about two-thirds, from the state of Maryland when it was formed...

Clarendon started as a development off of the Georgetown to Falls Church road (now Wilson Blvd.) and the Washington, Arlington, Falls Church Railway.

Do you know the origin of the name "Federal Triangle"? Did you know that at one point the area was called "Pennsylvania Avenue Triangle"?

Well, you might not know this, but there really was a Mr. LeDroit ... sort of. LeDroit Park was...

Samuel Brown sold all the surrounding land of Pleasant Plains estate and named the remainder Mt. Pleasant because it invited the highest part of the original estate.

The namesake in England no longer stands as it was torn down in 1962, but the one in Woodley Park is still there. In 1950 it became the property of the Maret School and currently serves as a library and administrative building.

What is today Cleveland Park was an area for well-off Washingtonians to build their summer cottages. It was far enough away from swampy hot downtown and elevated to provide some breezy relief.

The area formerly known as Peach Grove eventually came to be known as Tysons Crossroads and then Tysons Corner after William Tyson.

If you're a fan of D.C. history, you'll know that MacArthur Blvd. used to be called Conduit Rd. You probably also know that it...

There once was a great suburban Washington estate called Tunlaw, in what is today Wesley Heights -- the home stood at 45th and Klingle.

Learn about Glebe Road. It dates back to the 1700s and initially was known as the "Road to the Falls" taking travelers from Alexandria to Great Falls.

Hearst Elementary School up in North Cleveland Park, behind Sidwell Friends, is a cute little school for about 200 students. We've wanted to do...

We're on a bit of a NoVA kick this week and wanted to do a little digging into the origin of another name, Annandale....

The town of Centreville was established in 1792, near the intersection of present day Lee Highway and Sully Road. At the time, it was a village named Newgate.

The land on top of which McLean Gardens was built originally was the estate of John Roll McLean (i.e., McLean, VA).

Truxton Circle is a neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C., named for Commodore Thomas Truxton, a commander appointed by George Washington.

The Three Sisters, or Three Sisters Islands in the middle of the upper Potomac, north of Key Bridge are a great spot to visit...