This photo is an aerial view of the Navy Yard just a couple of months before President Kennedy was assassinated. Source: National Museum of the U.S. Navy Here’s another one from the 1970s. Source: National Museum of the U.S. Navy...
Here’s a short article that we came across in The Washington Post from March 14th, 1905. The residence of Harold Dougherty, and employe of the Congressional Library, at Cedar Hill, Anacostia, the former home of the late Frederick Douglass, the noted...
We posted a cool old rural map of Tenleytown a short while back. Here’s a map from the same group, showing Anacostia back in 1892. Source: Library of Congress
Know any sober gardeners in the area? If so, in 1857, the could have earned $200 per year, with room and board. Good Hope Hill is an area in, what is today, Anacostia. It was later the location of the...
Do you know where Butler Heights is (was)? There’s a tiny Butler St. SE today, very close to Frederick Douglass’ old home. This is an advertisement that we found in the Washington Herald from May 13th, 1916.
The old Anacostia Bank in Washington, DC from 1918.
Well, this was a hopefully step to revitalize Anacostia, but the most recent owner made a couple bad decisions. Here is the building as it looked around 1919 as Bury’s drug store. And below is the current Google Street View...
Here is a great series of photographs, showing Washington in the 1960s, as viewed from the east.
Take a look at how different Good Hope Road in Anacostia looked in 1916. And below is the Google Map of the same area, with a pin marking the intersection of Good Hope Road and 19th Pl. SE. [googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=19th+Place+Southeast,+Washington,+DC&aq=0&oq=19th+place&sll=38.866528,-76.97485&sspn=0.013416,0.020685&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=19th+Pl+SE,+Washington,+District+of+Columbia+20020&ll=38.86485,-76.977397&spn=0.006708,0.010343&t=m&z=16&output=embed]
Take a look at this Baist map of Anacostia in 1907.
Here is a terrific shot of homes being built in Anacostia. This was taken around 1919 and this row appears to be the 1900 block of 16th St. SE. Check out the Google Street View below (it’s not quite the...
This is a guest post by John (from The Lion of Anacostia), cross-posted here. While trying to confirm President Hayes visited Douglass at Cedar Hill, I came across this news item telling of President Grover Cleveland (the 22nd and, later, the 24th President) and his trusted...
This is a guest post by John (from The Lion of Anacostia), cross-posted here. I walk the streets, alleys, back-cuts, and lounge on the corners of Anacostia everyday, every hour, every minute. Tour an abandominium or two. Reports and the...
This is an advertisement for new development and real estate across the Eastern Branch, near Anacostia. Click on the ad for a closer look at what is a harsh window into a very different (and blatantly racist) time in Washington....
Admittedly, I do not focus enough east of the river. I was doing a little digging around the Library of Congress archives and came across this gem. This is an advertisement for homes in Congress Heights, published on May 17th,...
If you’re fortunate enough to be participating in WABA’s “Down the Tubes” ride tomorrow, the last stop on your journey is going to be Poplar Point. Probably 70% of District residents don’t know what this is or where it is,...
Curious about water problems in DC? Here are stories about the Bryant Street Pumping Station from the early 1900s.
Curious why it's named Anacostia? Check out the history which goes back to Captain John Smith in the 17th century.
Came across is crazy photo on Shorpy. This happened on November 9th, 1938 when two aviators, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie MacDill and Private Joseph G. Gloxner burned to death in, what was then, the worst aerial tragedy in the history of...
