1900s

Why would somebody name a subdivision Cuckold's Delight? We can't think of a more bizarre name considering what it means.

Here’s another lovely old photo showing the Willard Hotel way back in 1907.

This lovely old map shows the development in Chevy Chase in 1907. Looking at Connecticut Ave between Northampton and McKinley you’ll see that’s where they planned to put a public school. Today, that’s where the Chevy Chase library sits. Check...

Check out this great old advertisement from The Evening Star back in 1904. It shows a number of great properties for sale in then-new Columbia Heights, which was booming with development. Source: Library of Congress

This is a great old article that we dug up in The Washington Post from May 14th, 1900. We see this same ignorance or protectionist tendencies to this day. Look at taxis versus Uber and Lyft, or hotels versus AirBnB. We...

No more foreign cars! They’re an abomination and a detriment to our economy … and society at large. Or so said many nearly 110 years ago. No, this wasn’t Trump’s America, it was the land of Roosevelt and Taft. Below...

We posted another piece about this event a while back. This is a much higher resolution image from the event at Fort Myer. Source: Library of Congress

Here’s a great photo of the Lord Fairfax House at 607 Cameron Street in Alexandria. By the way, Lord Fairfax was the Baron of Cameron, hence the street name. Source: Library of Congress And here’s the Google Street View today.

Whoa, how cool is this old colorized photo. You’re looking at a “horseless carriage” back in 1906. The passenger is Senator George P. Wetmore of Rhode Island. Can anyone identify the building in the background? Source: Shorpy Here is the...

This is one of the best photos we’ve uncovered in quite a while. Click on it for more. This is the new Willard Hotel around this year 1904. What a beautiful building, which thankfully still stands. Source: Library of Congress

Thanks for the great opportunity to speak at the World Bank today. I gave the room a sneak peek at this map today and am posting it for all others now. Check it out below. Source: Library of Congress

You’re going to love this amazing photo of a long-lost building in our city. You’re looking at the old Raleigh Hotel, formerly located at 12th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. It’s so sad that these iconic structures were taken down. Source:...

You could hand your own piece of Wisconsin Avenue real estate for only $50 down back in 1908. Not a bad deal!

This photo shows the old United States House of Representatives in a time when laws were passed, senators would verbally spar on the floor, and spend the evening socializing over whiskey and cigars. The good old days.

What … did I spell this incorrectly? Nope, but you should checkout this post about the history of the neighborhood’s name. This map shows the area back in 1903 and it’s fascinating to see up close. Source: Library of Congress...

Okay, it’s been a really long time since we posted anything. Life gets busy when you have Ghost Toddler and a new Ghost Baby. But, a few extra hours after an evening when they both went to bed at a...

Wait, Hamilton Circle? Do you know where that is? Probably not, because it was never completed. The neighborhood surrounding the circle was once dubbed Fairview Heights, which no longer seems to appear on any contemporary maps. Here’s the full map...

This cool old advertisement from 1904 shows some homes at 11th and D St. NE for sale. It looks like each building sold for $5,200 and could get rent of about $540 per year! Source: Library of Congress And this...

This great old advertisement from The Washington Times was printed in 1903. Click on it for some great details and read through the copy. Source: Library of Congress Here’s an excerpt from the piece above. Chevy Chase is purely a social...

On July 27th, 1909, Orville Wright sets the flight duration record at Ft. Myer. The flight was over 40 miles with an average speed of also over 40 miles per hour. Source: Library of Congress Below is film footage from...

Check out this great photo from 1908. The Jefferson Memorial wasn’t completed until 1943, so this is what the area looked like for another 35 years. Source: Flickr user Rob Ketcherside

Mrs. Ghost, Ghost Baby, and I spent a nice Saturday afternoon celebrating a birthday at a lovely home in the Palisades. The two parents of the young birthday child (and GoDCers) have a great home with the former Glen Echo Electric...

This map is amazing with the amount of details. Click on it to zoom in. It’s from 1904. Source: Library of Congress

The sub headline for this article was “Walter Bryant Hurls Beer Bottle and Edward Bryant Uses Pistol.” Who do you think won that fight? We dug up this wild article in The Washington Post, printed on April 24th, 1908. Three days...

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

This is a sad story that we came across in The Washington Postfrom June 29th, 1908. John McCalip, 22 years old, an electrician, at the Senate office building, was drowned yesterday while swimming in Broad Creek, on the Maryland side of...

This is a terrific photo that we dug up on Flickr. It shows Union Station under construction in the early 1900s. We also cross-posted this on Cool Old Photos. Source: Rob Ketcherside

We love old ads here at Ghosts of DC and this is a great one from The Evening Star, printed on June 24th, 1906. Source: Library of Congress Three weeks later, Alfred Dreyfus was exonerated, bringing an end to the...

Working under commissioners that President Washington had appointed in 1790 in accordance with the Residence Act, Major Andrew Ellicott led a team that placed these markers in 1791 and 1792.

What do you think? Is Washington the most beautiful city in the world? I have to believe that I’m biased, but I do think it is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Okay, there’s Paris, Vienna,...