The Willard Brother Who Built the Ebbitt House
Three Willard brothers ran the Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The fourth, Caleb, ran a hotel just as big a block away. He just had the misfortune of calling it the Ebbitt House.
Hotels
Washington’s grand hotels have always been more than just places to sleep. They’ve been political backrooms, celebrity haunts, and landmarks in their own right. These posts explore the history of DC’s most storied hotels and the people who passed through their lobbies.
The Cairo Hotel: How One Apartment Tower Wrote DC’s Skyline Law
A 35-year-old architect built 164 feet of Moorish-fantasy hotel into a Dupont rowhouse block. Congress hated it so much it made a law.
Hotel Harrington: 109 Years on 11th Street
From its 1914 opening to its 2023 closure, Hotel Harrington was DC’s longest-running hotel. Now KHP Capital plans to bring 436 11th St NW back to life.
The Whitelaw Hotel: Excellence in Segregated Washington
The Whitelaw Hotel opened on 13th Street NW in 1919 as Washington’s first luxury hotel for Black patrons. Duke Ellington stayed there.
Hay-Adams Hotel History: From Townhouses to Lafayette Square
Before the Hay-Adams Hotel went up in 1928, the lot held the homes of John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary, and the writer Henry Adams.
Take a Trip Down Memory Lane: Peacock Alley in the Willard Hotel
Take a break from the negative news and take a trip down memory lane with this cool photo of Peacock Alley in the Willard Hotel. Date unknown, but estimated to be from the 1920s.
Raleigh Hotel: 71 Years on Pennsylvania Avenue
The gold-and-white top-floor ballroom where Buddy Holly danced for Washington teens on live TV. Then a wrecking crew in 1964.
GoDCer Monica Sends in Postcard of National Hotel
GoDCer Monica has sent in a postcard of the National Hotel after we posted about the hotel the other day. Thanks Monica
The Rise and Fall of The Gordon Hotel at 16th and I St. NW
Revisit the history of The Gordon Hotel, a once fashionable haunt of Congressmen and hero of Manila Bay, Admiral George Dewey. The hotel was built in 1885 and razed in 1959, making way for the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in downtown Washington, DC.