Ghosts of DCThe lost and untold stories of Washington

Try an address, a neighborhood, a name or a year, like “14th and U” or “1968.”

Not sure where to start?
Best OfThe stories readers come back toAtlasOur stories, on a mapPodcastOur stories, told aloud
Topic

Unbuilt Washington

10 stories
AI-colorized version of the 1960s rendering of the proposed Three Sisters Bridge over the Potomac, with the Three Sisters islands belowThree Sisters Bridge Across the Potomac Was Never Built10 min readBest OfEpisodeMerrywood mansion front entrance photographed 1961How Stewart Udall Stopped Three 17-Story Towers From Rising Over Merrywood8 min readproposed underground streetcar system - 1912The 1912 Plan for a Downtown Streetcar Subway6 min read
The Email

Lost Washington stories, in your inbox.

The newest story, plus a few from the archive.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Street-level photorealistic rendering of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Crystal Heights glass towersFrank Lloyd Wright’s Crystal Heights: DC’s Lost Glass City9 min readA Capital Transit streetcar boarding passengers on a downtown Washington street in 1937 with the U.S. Capitol dome in the backgroundWashington Almost Built a $56 Million Streetcar Subway at the End of World War II5 min readCaroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, First Lady from 1889 to 1892, in studio portrait. She drove the 1891 expansion plan with architect Fred D. Owen.Caroline Harrison’s Unbuilt White House Expansion of 189211 min readproposed Metro map in 1966Mid-1960s Vision for Washington’s Metro System3 min readSouthwest Washington DC in April 1973, looking across L'Enfant Plaza and the Southwest Freeway toward the Washington MonumentThe 1967 Map of Washington Freeways That Were Never Built2 min readNotice the decked/tunneled section south of Fort Totten, then the over 90-degree turn to the east, then the decked/tunneled section between Galloway Street and Gallatin Street, with the Metrorail Glenmont Route (Red Line trains) following the North Central Freeway (I-95 south of Fort Totten and I-70S north of Fort Totten), and with the Metrorail Greenbelt Route (Green Line trains) following the Northeast Freeway (I-95 east of Fort Totten). The area between Galloway Street and Gallatin Street where the Northeast Freeway was proposed was mostly open fields then and still is now.1971 Maps of the Unbuilt I-95 Through Washington, DC1 min read
More storiesShowing 9 of 10