The Lost German Embassy at 1435 Massachusetts Avenue
How Count von Bernstorff left the German Embassy at 1435 Massachusetts Avenue in 1917, and what became of the seventy-room mansion before and after.
1910s
The 1910s brought World War I and a massive wave of federal construction that reshaped downtown Washington. The war brought hundreds of thousands of workers flooding into the city, straining housing, transit, and every civic institution to its limits. Woodrow Wilson’s Washington was also the decade when the federal government was formally segregated.
A Tragic Game at 14th and A: The 1912 Death of George S. Hiett
A fatal pitch during a 1912 church baseball game at 14th and A Streets NE claimed the life of George S. Hiett. This forgotten tragedy unfolded against a backdrop of neighborhood games, citywide injuries, and the shadow of the Titanic.
Cook & Stoddard Cadillac at 1138 Connecticut Ave NW
When Cook & Stoddard opened its Cadillac showroom at 1138 Connecticut Avenue NW in 1912, the Washington Post admired its granite front. By 1914, crowds packed the salesroom to see the new eight-cylinder model.
Severine G. Leoffler: The Man Who Fed 1919 D.C. with His Iconic Liberty Lunches
Step back in time with this captivating 1919 photo of Leoffler’s Liberty Lunch stand in Washington, D.C., where just 20 cents could buy government workers a box lunch filled with surprises. Discover the story of Severine G. Leoffler’s entrepreneurial spirit in the early days of street food.
The Tragic History of a Potentially Haunted Home in Adams Morgan
A peek into the tragic history of a purportedly haunted home in Adams Morgan: could the tormented spirits of the Walter family, who suffered immense loss and grief, still be lingering within its walls?
The Whitelaw Hotel: Excellence in Segregated Washington
The Whitelaw Hotel opened on 13th Street NW in 1919 as Washington’s first luxury hotel for Black patrons. Duke Ellington stayed there.
The 1910 Plan to Take Alexandria Back from Virginia
In 1910, Taft, Hannis Taylor, and Washington’s Board of Trade tried to undo the 1846 Alexandria retrocession. Virginia and a lame-duck clock stopped them
Do You Remember People’s Drug? DC’s Pharmacy Chain on Every Corner
Peoples Drug was DC’s beloved pharmacy chain for over 80 years, from its first store at 824 7th St. NW in 1905 to CVS’s acquisition in 1990.
1918 Aerial Photo Mosaic of Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Army Air Service
In 1918, the brand-new U.S. Army Air Service flew over central Washington with a camera bolted to the airplane and stitched the prints into a single photomosaic of the city. It is a portrait of a D.C. that no longer exists: no Federal Triangle, no Jefferson Memorial, a Lincoln Memorial still mid-construction.