An Amazing Old Photograph of the White House Taken by John Plumbe, Jr. in 1846

White House daguerreotype by John Plumbe, Jr. in 1846 (Library of Congress)

Discover an amazing old photograph of the White House taken by John Plumbe, Jr. in 1846. It was taken during the winter, when James K. Polk was the 11th President of the United States. Look closely and you’ll notice the top floor and Truman balcony are not there!

How Gas Lighting & Heating Was Financed in Washington, DC in 1906

Washington Gas Light Co. advertisement (1906)

Here’s an old advertisement from the Washington Times. This ad for gas lighting and heating ran in the March 2nd, 1906 newspaper. You could choose to have gas fixtures installed throughout your home and have the entire cost amortized over the course of the year … kind of like the deals Best Buy offers these days (no interest financing for 18 months!).

Washington Gas Light Co. advertisement (1906)
Washington Gas Light Co. advertisement (1906)

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The Origin of Arlington’s Name: From Earl to Lee’s Estate

Arlington House (Library of Congress)

Arlington is the epicenter of recent college graduates working as paralegals, consultants or in information technology. They fill the high-rise apartments or group homes lining Wilson Blvd., Fairfax Dr. and the Orange Line from Rosslyn out to Ballston.

Rosslyn, Virginia
View of Rosslyn (Wikipedia)

Every Thursday night, the 20-somethings descend upon Clarendon, living the dream of being out of college and having enough money to blow on too much booze (and maybe run into neighbors Ryan Zimmerman or Alex Ovechkin). Then, every Friday and Saturday night will be a mass migration to Buffalo Billiards, Adams Morgan or the edgier Bloomingdale for a little taste of the District.

Arlington County has one of the highest percentages of college graduates in America and the greater share of them are from somewhere else (i.e., it’s fully of some seriously educated peeps). They all seem to have attended Penn State, Michigan State, Duke, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Carnegie Mellon, or the one that seems to dominate every bar, JMU.

What is slightly depressing is that approximately 95% of these graduates wouldn’t be able to explain why it’s named Arlington County — even though 43% of them love going to Monday trivia night.

Lucky for them, after this post, they will be prepped for tonight’s shenanigans in Clarendon and be able to impress their non-@GhostsofDC following friends.

So, let’s start from the beginning … way back when the original G-Dub was around.

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