Walter Johnson at 12 Years Old in 1900 U.S. Census
This is cool. We dug up a really rare U.S. Census record from 1900 showing the Johnson family of Humbolt, Kansas. Their 12-year-old boy would eventually grow up to be on of the greatest pitchers in...
1940 U.S. Census List of Residents in the Mayflower Hotel
We haven’t done one of these “They Were Neighbors” posts in a while, and we stumbled across this great collection of U.S. Census records from 1940. Below are all the pages listing the residents of the...
They Were Neighbors: Five Families on Corcoran Street in 1890 … and a Feud
If you’re not a genealogy buff, you may not know this, but much of the 1890 U.S. Census was destroyed in a massive fire in January 1921. It was a tragic loss for genealogists and historians...
Three Stories from the Northumberland Apartments
Faithful and extremely patient GoDCer Jeff requests some time ago that we do a piece on the Northumberland, just north of U St. Our apologies for the long delay in getting to your request, but hopefully...
Walter Spangenberg of Woodrow Wilson High School Cadet Corps
This is a far more charming photo of Washington in 1943 than the mock execution being held on the grounds of Woodrow Wilson High School. More than likely, Spangenberg was in the background of that photo,...
1940 Census: D.C. Was Bigger Than Today, Housed A “Hobo Jungle Camp”
This is a guest post by Aaron. Newspapers called it a “New Deal Boom.” The Great Depression was coming to an end. The District’s peacetime population exploded as government grew and workers – men and women...
The Crazy Family Problems of Real Estate Man William Matteson
Initially, this was going to be part of the previous post about Cathedral Highlands, but it was too good. This deserves it’s own post. Trust me when I say this is crazy. We learned from the...
Chevy Chase Circle History
We haven’t done a “Three Things…” post in a while, so let’s go to the far reaches of the District, up to the Maryland line, and talk about some things you didn’t know happened there long...
If Walls Could Talk: Tivoli Theater Was “The Temple of the Arts”
You can’t walk past the Tivoli Theater in Columbia Heights and not admire it, imagining what the surrounding streets were like in the late 1920s. The arrival of Harry Crandall’s new theater was a big deal...
There Was an Opium Den on Pennsylvania Avenue?
You may be aware of the blight that lined Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1970s with the proliferation of sleezy strip clubs and porn shops, but did you know that over 100 years ago, you could head...
Children Across D.C. Left Orphaned by Spanish Flu
I was researching a couple of stories and I came across an article that was so sad that I had to share it with you. It’s from the Washington Times on October 19th, 1918. The world was...
They Were Neighbors: Annie O’Connell and The Irish Block
Every time I see an old photo like this on Shorpy, I want to know more about the person staring back at me. Where did they live? What was their occupation? Who were their family members?...
Robert H. Muir: Manager of The Cairo
There were a couple of requests a short while back to do a post on The Cairo, the most famous residential building in the city. You can Google it or check it out on Wikipedia, so...
If Walls Could Talk: Smith Commons
Curious about Smith Commons on H St. in DC? Check out our latest “If Walls Could Talk” post. The winner of our second IWCT poll is the H Street hot spot, Smith Commons (I don’t think...
Before Ovechkin: Columbia Heights Roller Hockey
Before Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, we had Barkley, Morrow, Harrison, W. Whiting and H. Whiting
This Ain’t Your Regular Soccer Mom
This photograph from 1908 caught my eye. It is of 28-year-old Mary A. Bliven (wife of Frank S. Bliven) and Bertha, her 7-year-old daughter, sitting in a 1907 Franklin Model D.
District National Bank Branch Office (1924)
WOW. This one is awesome. It’s a colorized photograph from 1924 and it shows cars lined up outside the District National Bank, Dupont Circle branch. I’ll need a little help locating exactly where this is. It’s highly...
If Walls Could Talk: The Looking Glass Lounge
This next installment of “If Walls Could Talk” will be the Petworth watering hole, The Looking Glass Lounge. This is one of my favorite places for a Sunday afternoon beer, especially in the warmer months, out...
