Georgetown is one of Washington’s oldest neighborhoods, predating the federal city itself. These posts explore its colonial-era streets, Federal rowhouses, working waterfront, and the characters who shaped one of DC’s most enduring communities.
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!
Check out this nice contribution by GoDCer Allan of a shot of the C&O Canal taken by Mathew Brady in 1860. View the image and learn more about the history of the canal.
An 1883 bird’s-eye view of Washington, DC from the Library of Congress. Click through for the full-resolution version to explore the detail.
Explore the lives of the poor in Georgetown, DC in the 1930s before World War II. Learn about a photograph taken in 1935 showing a group of young children playing on a street in Georgetown and the sheer joy on the face of the kid to the left.
Take a look back at Georgetown in 1893 with this amazing photo of Wisconsin and O St. NW. Check out the Google Street View today to see how much it’s changed.
Marvel at this rare view of Washington, DC from the top of Georgetown in 1865. You can also see Aqueduct Bridge from Virginia into Georgetown and Mason’s Island (i.e., Roosevelt Island today). This image was taken by William Morris Smith and can be found at the Library of Congress.
Read the incredible story of B.F. Chew, who ran a Chinese restaurant in Washington D.C. in 1903 and chased a man who refused to pay for chop suey. See the original article from the August 20th, 1903 Washington Post.
Stuart Davidson opened Clyde’s of Georgetown in 1963 with a Harvard degree and a career change. Here is how it became one of DC’s most enduring restaurants and where the name came from.
Digging through Google Books, I found “The Black Code of the District of Columbia in Force September 1st, 1848” – a 122-page book of laws governing all aspects of life and behavior for African-Americans in Washington, D.C. in the 1800’s. Read on to learn about the shocking provisions in this book.
