U.S. Treasurer Buys Home in 16th Street Heights
If you don’t live in or close to 16th Street Heights, you probably don’t know where it is. Okay, you know it’s near 16th St., but that’s about it. Either way, it’s a neighborhood with some...
Great First-Hand Description of Washington in 1800; Most Houses, Small Miserable Huts
We often wonder what the city was like in the early days. By all accounts, it was a miserable place to be. We dug up an interesting article in The Baltimore Sun from December 17th, 1853, which...
Arrival of First Japanese Embassy at the Navy Yard (1860)
In January 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a delegation to the United States with the primary objective of ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (aka, the Harris Treaty). Commodore Matthew Perry (not Chandler) had opened Japan (forcefully)...
All Ideas of Beauty and Order Are Forgotten in the Suburbs
Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh was a man that appreciated beauty and the aesthetics of architecture. He was also a clear supporter of urban planning with an eye towards maintaining or enhancing the appeal of...
Read This Book: A Neighborhood Guide to Washington, D.C.’s Hidden History
This is a great book if you’re interested in some local Washington history. Jeanne Fogle does an excellent job highlighting sites in the District that are less known to tourists and residents alike. I tore through...
