Swampoodle was a scrappy Irish immigrant neighborhood clustered around the old Baltimore and Ohio rail yards in Northwest DC, long since absorbed by the construction of Union Station and the development that followed.
This old photograph from the 1880s shows the Washington Nationals playing at Swampoodle Grounds. Click on the image to see amazing details
Learn the colorful story of Morris Connors, a notorious Swampoodle thief and rough, as we explore the lost neighborhood of Swampoodle. We uncovered the article in The Washington Post, printed on October 20th, 1879. Come along on this journey of historical context and facts!
Take a look at the 1861 view from the Capitol roof! This post looks at the sites visible from Washington, DC in 1861, including the ghostly, blurred waving American flag in the center
Get an unforgettable view of Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. Take a glimpse at Douglas Hospital, Old Douglas House, Railway Station, The Washington, or Wilkes House, St. Aloysius, Government Printing Office, Glenwood Cemetery, Swampoodle, and the Old Mill.
In 1903 a blue-inked overlay on a real estate atlas of Washington DC marked the Swampoodle neighborhood for demolition. Union Station erased it by 1908.
Discover the history of Swampoodle, a rough and tumble Irish neighborhood in DC, and how it was destroyed to make way for Union Station in the early 1900s. Explore the 1888 Sanborn fire insurance map of Swampoodle with Ghosts of DC.
Read about the history of Gonzaga College and their 1913 advertisement in the Washington Times. Learn more about the Jesuits’ persistence and the school’s current status as the premier Catholic high school of Washington.
Take a step back in time to 1895 and explore the rough Irish immigrant neighborhood of Swampoodle. Read a column from the Washington Post that tells the story of three locals who boozed until the wee hours of the morning.
