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Foggy Bottom

Foggy Bottom got its evocative name from the industrial fumes that once rose from the gas works and breweries along the Potomac. Today it is home to the State Department, George Washington University, and the Kennedy Center, but these posts dig into the neighborhood’s earlier life as a working-class industrial district that bore almost no resemblance to its current form.

Braddock’s Rock: A Stone Steeped in History and Controversy

January 16, 2024 by ghostsofdc

Braddock’s Rock was where General Edward Braddock reportedly camped on the Potomac in 1755, with a young George Washington along.

Categories Lost History, The Best Of Tags 1960s, Foggy Bottom

A Look Back in Time – A Photo of Columbia Hospital from the Early 1920s

December 21, 2021August 3, 2014 by ghostsofdc
Columbia Hospital

Take a look back in time and discover a photo of Columbia Hospital in Washington, DC, taken some time in the early 1920s

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags 1920s, Foggy Bottom 2 Comments

A Look Back at 21st and C St. NW in 1924 (Mislabeled as 1916)

December 19, 2021July 31, 2014 by ghostsofdc
Potomac Park Apartments

Take a look back at 21st and C St. NW in 1924 (mislabeled as 1916) with this photo of the Potomac Park Apartments. This is the location of the Department of State today.

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags 1920s, Foggy Bottom 3 Comments

Watch This Really Cool Film Sent to Us by GoDCer Michael

May 10, 2021July 9, 2014 by ghostsofdc
The old U.S. Naval Observatory, on the Hilltop in Foggy Bottom, Washington D.C., the current headquarter of BUMED.

Check out this really cool film sent to us by GoDCer Michael. We’re sorry it took so long to post, but it’s now available to watch – click the link to start streaming today!

Categories Notable People & Places Tags Foggy Bottom 2 Comments

Explore DC in 1903: A Map of the Department of State Location

April 27, 2026May 28, 2014 by ghostsofdc
1903 map of Foggy Bottom

Take a look back in time to explore DC in 1903 with this map of the Department of State! See the dog pound at 23rd and C St. and the Herdic-Phaeton building at 19th and E St.

Categories GoDCers Love Maps Tags 1900s, Foggy Bottom, Politics

Explosion in Foggy Bottom: Was it a Meteor or a Bomb Outrage?

January 4, 2022December 24, 2013 by ghostsofdc

We came across an article in The Washington Post from August 17th, 1919, detailing an explosion in Foggy Bottom. Local officials were unable to identify the source of the explosion and an interesting theory was presented by others interviewed in the article. Was it a meteor or a bomb outrage?

Categories From the Crazy Vault Tags 1910s, Foggy Bottom

Take a Trip Through Memory Lane with this 1981 Apartment Listings Page from The Washington Post

April 28, 2026October 21, 2013 by ghostsofdc
1981 apartment listings

Take a trip down memory lane with this 1981 apartment listings page from The Washington Post. Check out the prices and see if you recognize any of the addresses!

Categories Old Ads & Classifieds Tags 1980s, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom 1 Comment

Sally Halterman: The First Woman to Receive a Motorcycle License in D.C.

June 8, 2026July 18, 2013 by ghostsofdc
Sally Halterman seated on her motorcycle in Washington DC, September 15, 1937, after becoming the first woman granted a motorcycle license in the District of Columbia

On May 12, 1937, Sally Halterman stamped her foot at a skeptical D.C. police examiner until he handed her the first motorcycle license ever granted to a woman in the District. Four months later, she eloped on it.

Categories Faces & Places of Yesterday Tags 1930s, Foggy Bottom, Transit 1 Comment

Three Women, Three Horse Whips, and One Unfortunate Rent-a-Cop in Foggy Bottom: An 1894 GoDC Tale

December 20, 2021January 24, 2013 by ghostsofdc
this is a whip

This amusing story from 1894 Washington Post tells of three irate women, armed with horse whips, who confront a rent-a-cop in Foggy Bottom. Find out what happened and the possible consequences in this GoDC tale!

Categories From the Crazy Vault Tags 1890s, Foggy Bottom, Georgetown 2 Comments
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