Skip to content
Ghosts of DC

Ghosts of DC

  • The Best Of
  • Neighborhoods
    • Southwest DC
      • Waterfront
    • Maryland
      • Gaithersburg
      • Rockville
      • Bethesda
      • Hyattsville
      • Silver Spring
      • Bladensburg
    • Virginia
      • McLean
      • Falls Church
      • Alexandria
      • Vienna
      • Arlington
    • Southeast DC
      • Congress Heights
      • Navy Yard
      • Capitol Hill
      • Anacostia
    • Northeast DC
      • Trinidad
      • Woodridge
      • Deanwood
      • Brookland
    • Northwest DC
      • Tenleytown
      • Park View
      • Friendship Heights
      • Brightwood
      • Crestwood
      • Sheridan-Kalorama
      • The Palisades
      • Logan Circle
      • Petworth
      • Glover Park
      • Bloomingdale
      • Georgetown
      • Woodley Park
      • Dupont Circle
      • Columbia Heights
      • Cleveland Park
      • Adams Morgan
      • Mt. Pleasant
      • Chevy Chase
      • Cathedral Heights
      • Chinatown
    • Lost Neighborhoods
      • Hell’s Bottom
      • Swampoodle
      • Murder Bay
  • Notable People & Places
    • Places
      • Washington Monument
      • Library of Congress
      • The White House
      • The Capitol Building
      • Dulles Airport
    • People
      • Franklin D. Roosevelt
      • Calvin Coolidge
      • Officer Sprinkle
      • Dwight D. Eisenhower
      • Warren G. Harding
      • William McKinley
      • Abraham Lincoln
      • John F. Kennedy
      • Teddy Roosevelt
      • Woodrow Wilson

Bridges

Drunk Guy Falls Off Key Bridge Railing

April 27, 2026January 21, 2014 by ghostsofdc

James Hall, a drunk 26-year-old, fell from Key Bridge as he did stunts on the railings to amuse onlookers.

Categories From the Crazy Vault Tags 1920s, Bridges, Key Bridge, Rosslyn 3 Comments

The Aqueduct Bridge in Georgetown: Photographs from the 1860s

April 27, 2026December 21, 2013 by ghostsofdc
Aqueduct Bridge, Georgetown, D.C., looking toward Washington

The Aqueduct Bridge in Georgetown once carried canal boats across the Potomac River. These photographs from the 1860s show the bridge before it was converted to a road crossing and, later, demolished.

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags 1860s, Bridges

A Photo of the Boat Club Above Aqueduct Bridge (or Key Bridge Today)

April 27, 2026October 11, 2013 by ghostsofdc
boat club

Take a look at this incredible photo of the boat club just above Aqueduct Bridge (or Key Bridge today)

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags Bridges, Key Bridge, Potomac River 1 Comment

Aqueduct Bridge in 1898: A Photo of History from Avid GoDC Commenter Mike

April 27, 2026October 11, 2013 by ghostsofdc
Aqueduct Bridge in 1898

Avid GoDC commenter Mike sent us a great photo of the Aqueduct Bridge in 1898. In the foreground, you can see the Connecticut Pie Company wagon, a great historical moment captured in time!

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags 1890s, Bridges 2 Comments

The Three Sisters of the Potomac: The Legend Behind D.C.’s Cursed Islands

May 17, 2026October 4, 2013 by ghostsofdc
The Three Sisters

Three Sisters Islands in the Potomac carry a Native American curse stretching back centuries. They also nearly vanished under a 1970s highway bridge. Here’s both stories.

Categories Lost History, The Best Of, Why Is It Named...? Tags 1960s, 1970s, Bridges, Key Bridge, Landmarks, Potomac River, Urban Legends, Waterfront

Never Built: Metro’s Bridge Over Rock Creek

June 18, 2026October 1, 2013 by ghostsofdc

In these 1966 drawings, train cars roll under Connecticut Avenue, but above Rock Creek. These amazing early Metro plans never came to fruition. They depict the Red Line between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park.

Categories Lost History Tags Bridges, Parks, Rock Creek Park, Sheridan-Kalorama, Transit, Woodley Park 4 Comments

A Rare Look at D.C. in 1894, with a Surprising Unbuilt Bridge

April 28, 2026July 31, 2013 by ghostsofdc
1894 map of D.C.

Check out this rare map of the D.C. area from 1894 and see the Ulysses Grant Memorial Bridge, which was never built. Plus, see the source from the National Archives.

Categories GoDCers Love Maps Tags 1890s, Bridges 2 Comments

The Ulysses Grant Memorial Bridge That Was Never Built

May 12, 2026June 20, 2013 by ghostsofdc

Congress introduced a bill in 1887 to build a medieval granite fortress bridge across the Potomac in honor of Ulysses S. Grant. Here is what it would have looked like.

Categories Notable People & Places Tags 1880s, 1900s, Bridges, Landmarks, Ulysses S. Grant 6 Comments

Cool Isometric Cutaway of Taft Memorial Bridge

April 27, 2026June 19, 2013 by ghostsofdc
isometrical view of Taft Memorial Bridge

An incredible architectural and engineering diagram of the Taft Memorial Bridge.

Categories Notable People & Places Tags Bridges, Landmarks 2 Comments
Older posts
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 Page2 Page3 Next →
Explore the Archive
The Best Of Old Ads & Classifieds Then and Now Lost History GoDCers Love Maps
From the Crazy Vault Faces & Places of Yesterday If Walls Could Talk Historical Events Notable People & Places
This Day in History Guest Posts Three Things… A Personal Story Why Is It Named…?
Ghosts of DC© 2012–2026 Ghosts of DC · AI Policy