Posts by John Muller — Contributor
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Development of Anacostia’s Big K site is no laughing matter
Today, we have 2 articles on the Big K site in Historic Anacostia. Also see Chris Dickersin-Prokopp’s piece. “That big bad wolf hasn’t come along and blown the houses down,” Rev. Oliver “OJ” Johnson says of the 3 homes on the “Big K” lot in Historic Anacostia. “And now the city clearly doesn’t know what to do.”… Keep reading…
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Busboys & Poets: Take your pick of Anacostia’s vacant commercial properties
Chatter has reached the contentious corners of Anacostia that Busboys & Poets is interested in the Southside. But Washington’s first suburb needs Busboys more than Busboys needs it. “Over here, it is wait and see,” say the old-timers who have seen it all before. While newcomers largely live by the restoration creed of, “Just wait and you’ll see.”… Keep reading…
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The mark of Cool “Disco” Dan lives on in Southeast
By and large, Washington, DC is no longer a city under siege. The era of drug wars, automatic gunfire, and senseless violence has mostly passed. The graffiti that covered swaths of downtown, marked Metro buses, and claimed territory for rival crews is almost gone, too. The ubiquitous signature of Cool “Disco” Dan from Tenleytown to Congress Heights epitomized… Keep reading…
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100-year old Anacostia abandominium houses crack addict
Don’t be misled. The plywood that covers the front door and one of two front windows of 2010 14th Street SE, a 100-year old home in Historic Anacostia, belies the wide open rear entrance from which drug users come and go with impunity. When George W. Thompson, who bought the house in 1969, died many years ago, his wife, Marie, was also dead. His will left the house to his daughter,… Keep reading…
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Without preservation, DC’s boundary stones are in danger
The first monuments of the nation’s capital still stand, after enduring earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and blizzards, target practice for bored encamped Civil War troops, wayward vehicles, and vandalism. In 1791 and 1792, 40 Aquia Creek quarried sandstones, forming the perimeter of the federal 10-mile square, were placed in the ground. 36 original stones have withstood… Keep reading…
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Graffiti-covered warehouses by RI Ave. Metro buffed
The day has finally come. The warehouses by the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station have been buffed clean, continuing for years the inevitable trend, slowly sweeping across the city from the Red Line to downtown; the disappearance of graffiti. Keep reading…
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Once a bank and a nightclub, historic F Street building readies for next step
“Is this a nightclub, again?” a passerby asked last week, walking along the 900 block of F Street NW. “Nope, DC Preservation League party,” a middle-aged man said as he walked through the wood doors to the Equitable Building at 915 F Street NW, formerly the Platinum nightclub. Once an innovative community bank, the property has been vacant for the past… Keep reading…
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Then & Now: Valley Place, a slice of 19th Century Anacostia
Valley Place SE stretches only two blocks in Anacostia, but the street maintains 5 houses (4 of which are occupied) that date back to Frederick Douglass’ early morning walks through the neighborhood. Keep reading…
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Graduate of DC schools says he wasn’t prepared for college
Yesterday, a former student of mine took to the pages of the Washington Post to indict DC’s traditional and charter public school system, which he says failed to prepare him effectively for college. Darryl Robinson is now a freshman on full scholarship at Georgetown University. He graduated from Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, Parkside campus in Northeast Washington. Keep reading…
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Longtime resident talks Barry Farm’s changes over 50 years
Talk to anyone returning to DC who’s been away for a few years, and you’ll get an earful about how much the city has changed. Even to residents, DC has been rendered unrecognizable by the changes, setbacks, blunders, and improvements of the past 50 years. But there are those who have been around long enough to recall another time entirely. Leon Dews, 62, has been… Keep reading…