The Potomac River has shaped Washington since before the city existed, serving as the boundary between Maryland and Virginia and the geographic reason the federal capital was placed here. From the Civil War ironclads that patrolled its waters to the bathing beaches that once lined its banks, the Potomac runs through almost every chapter of Washington’s history. These posts explore the river’s long relationship with the city.
It started as a one-summer Chautauqua on the Potomac, built by twin brothers who had cashed in on an egg beater patent. By 1933 it was a streetcar amusement park with a Spanish ballroom and a Dentzel carousel. By 1960 that carousel was the flashpoint of a Howard University sit-in.
At 11:46 on November 1st, 1949, a young controller kept calling: Bolivia 927, turn left. The pilot never answered. Fifty-five died.
In 1910, Taft, Hannis Taylor, and Washington’s Board of Trade tried to undo the 1846 Alexandria retrocession. Virginia and a lame-duck clock stopped them
Take a rare look at Union soldiers guarding the Potomac River in Washington, DC in 1861. Georgetown University is visible in the background. Photo by George Barnard.
This is a sad story of a young man, John McCalip, who was drowned in the Potomac River in 1908, shortly before his wedding. Read more about his story and the tragedy that happened on the river.
A waterspout rose from the Potomac below Alexandria, came ashore, and tore a 15-mile path across Washington in under half an hour.
A 1928 design proposal for a grand entryway at Key Bridge connecting Rosslyn to Georgetown, a project that was never constructed.
In January 1884, a record cold wave drove Washington temperatures 24 degrees below average. The Evening Star reported frozen pipes and citywide misery.
Take a look at this incredible photo of the boat club just above Aqueduct Bridge (or Key Bridge today)
