What was Washington, D.C. like in the 1980s? Take a look at our great posts with stories, people, photos, and history about the District from the eighties.
Awesome Aerial View of Federal Triangle in the 1980s
What a great shot of Federal Triangle, looking down Pennsylvania Ave. You can also see the Navy Memorial under construction. Source: Library of Congress
Cost of Buying a House in the District, 25 Years Ago Today
Look at this old classified advertisement from The Washington Post from exactly 25 years ago. This was printed on Friday, October 21st, 1988 and if you were the one who purchased one of these homes, you probably are...
Glover Park, Foggy Bottom, and Dupont Apartment Listings (1981)
Check out this old classified page from The Washington Post. It’s from 1981 and checking out the prices will make you nauseous. See any addresses that you recognize? … or maybe even yours?
Vintage Washington Metro Construction Photos
How cool are these? We stumbled across them on Metro’s Facebook page. Tunnel near Forest Glen Forest Glen construction Silver Spring station construction Gallery Place-Chinatown 1974 Gallery Place-Chinatown construction Archives construction 1975 Take a look at...
Early Sketches of the Vietnam Memorial
Maya Lin was just 21 years old in 1981 when she won the contest to design the Vietnam Memorial. She was still an undergraduate student at Yale, beating out 1,441 other entries. Her design concept was...
Rayful Edmond: The Babe Ruth of Crack Dealing
Rayful Edmond III is an American former drug lord in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s. Edmond is largely credited with introducing crack cocaine into the Washington, D.C.
1980 Photograph of Au Pied De Cochon
Thanks to GoDCer Mike, who sent this in to us. Now, whenever you walk by this spot, you get a waft of greasy Five Guys burgers and fries. Then, you saw a place with some great...
Christmas Letter From Governor Clinton to President Reagan
This is an interesting image of a letter that we dug up at the National Archives. Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas at the time it was sent around Christmas, 1988. Source: U.S. National Archives
Remember When We Won in ’87? The Redskins Super Bowl Parade
Oh, these were the good old days. Hail to the Redskins! RGIII, we need you!
If Walls Could Talk: Apple Store in Georgetown
If you have an iPhone, iPad or any other Apple product, chances are, you’ve set foot in an Apple Store … and if you live in Georgetown, it was likely the one at 1229 Wisconsin Ave....
If Walls Could Talk: Mad Hatter
I had the pleasure of speaking to a great class at AU last week. One of the students asked if we had ever done a piece about Mad Hatter on Connecticut Ave. We haven’t yet, so...
Lost History: The Old Whitlow’s Bar and Grille
Whitlow’s on Wilson wasn’t always in Arlington. For a really long time, starting around the end of World War II, it was down at 11th and E St. NW. Oliver Carr, a developer, had acquired much...
Ghost Dog Fetches Three Stories About the Duke Ellington Bridge
Ghost Dog went on another walk this past weekend to seek out three more stories for the GoDC community. This time, she passed through Adams Morgan, en route to the Duke Ellington Bridge (formerly known as...
Mormon Temple Outside D.C.: Three Great Stories
The Mormon Temple outside DC is full of mystery and intrigue, like the "Surrender Dorothy" graffiti. Learn about the LDS "castle" near Rock Creek.
Lunch Video: Nobody Bothers Me
Some of your D.C. old-timers will remember this commercial. So Awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2PLuuFEiw An interesting bit of trivia that you probably don’t know. The dude that penned this jingle, Nils Lofgren, was also a member of Bruce...
Three Other Things That Happened at the Watergate
Something big happened at the Watergate in 1972 and it led to a very defensive President Nixon giving this painful press conference. This is not about that event. In true Ghosts of DC style, let’s dig...
Hot Pants, a Hooded Hair Dryer and the 9:30 Club
Earlier this week, Ghosts of DC received a generous invite to tour the 9:30 Club. To some GoDCers, it might come as a shock that we haven’t yet written about this hub of the local music...
This Is Like Africa Hot
It has been ridiculously hot out … and we’re having crazy thunderstorms at night to boot. Well, if you think this is bad, try living in the area in 1980. On July 16th, 1980, the city...
