Secretary of Treasury

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...
Image shows a black-and-white engraving published in 1834 to portray Washington, D.C. and the west front of the U.S. Capitol grounds as they were in 1800. Includes the west end of the west grounds and Pennsylvania Avenue, with poplar trees planted in 1803.

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...
Japanese embassy posing for photo with naval officers at Washington's navy yard (Library of Congress)

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)...
Franklin MacVeagh in 1909 (Wikipedia)

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...