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...
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 / 19.02.2013
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...
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...
Faces & Places of Yesterday, Featured / 01.06.2012
Walter Spangenberg of Woodrow Wilson High School Cadet Corps
This is a far more charming photo of Washington in 1943...
Guest Posts, Other Cool Stuff / 04.05.2012
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...
A Personal Story, From the Crazy Vault / 27.04.2012
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. Colorado...
We haven't done a "Three Things...
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...
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...
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 in the middle of the greatest pandemic in the history of the planet. Between 50 and 100 million people fell victim to the deadly virus. The citizens of Washington shared in this epic tragedy and the innocent victims were often children.
If they didn't catch the flu themselves, certainly someone in their family would. Sadly, a common case was the parents getting the flu and dying, leaving the child without one or both parents.
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? Who were their neighbors?
I started this blog eight weeks ago (wow, feels a lot longer than that) with the intention of focusing on stories of regular Washingtonians. We've had the chance to meet some interesting characters like Minnie Wiseman the sad suicide girl, Don Glendening the tragic murder victim, Robert Muir the manager of the Cairo, Leopold Birkle the German brewer and of course, Washington's first true badass, Officer Sprinkle.
This recent photo I came across has inspired me to start a new series called "They Were Neighbors." We're going to continue down the path of meeting former residents of our city, but instead of just focusing on one person, I'd really like to explore the dynamics or the person's day-to-day life.
The woman below, Ann O'Connell, interacted with people on a daily basis, and we can piece these relationships together by digging through old newspapers and the U.S. Census. This will be a little bit investigative research with a side of imagination.
One more thing before we dive in. Don't be shy to comment below and add your own interpretation. This is more art and opinion than true science. I'd like to think of this as participatory blogging, so if you have good ideas, or think I'm totally wrong, go ahead.
A Personal Story / 29.02.2012
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 no need to do the building's history. I want to dig up the more anonymous stories of people associated with the building.
So, here's one that I came across about a guy named Robert Muir. He was the Cairo Hotel's manager back in the 1910s, about a little over 15 years into its existence.
If Walls Could Talk / 23.02.2012
If Walls Could Talk: Smith Commons
I'm a little tardy with delivering this next "If Walls Could Talk" ... sorry.
The winner of our second IWCT poll is the H Street hot spot, Smith Commons (I don't think I like that acronym).
I came across some interesting stories related to the spot at 1245 H St. NE, not to mention my favorite D.C. police officer. The next time you hit up happy hour at Smith Commons, you'll have plenty to talk about with you friendly bartender.