Posts about History
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Breakfast links: Economic solutions, bureaucratic problems
Sluggers not hot on HOT; Yes, pricing existing lanes would be better; Get paid to move closer to work?; Washington Gas renegs on Capital City Diner; New private roads still create “silos”; Too much work to listen?; Now vs. then’s view of now. Keep reading…
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Mount Vernon Square, 1887
While we tend to think of most of the circles and squares in Washington as having been planed to be exactly what they are today, most of them changed as new monuments and buildings were planned for the city. Here we have Mount Vernon Square ca. 1887. Instead of a building dominating the square, it is an open park with a fountain in the middle. The old City Library that is there… Keep reading…
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Washington’s state-named avenues
Last week, I wrote about the system of street naming in Washington. From A Street to Verbena Street and from Half to Sixty-Third, our lettered and numbered streets make it difficult to get lost with their logical progressions. But our transverse diagonal avenues confound everyone from tourists to suburban motorists. Not only do they break all the grid rules, they even manage… Keep reading…
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Lost Washington: The Van Ness House
The Van Ness House was constructed in 1813-1816 in the Greek Revival style by the superintendent of government buildings, Benjamin Henry Latrobe. It was located on the block bounded by C Street, Constitution Avenue, 17th Street, and 18th Street. The home was built for Mr. and Mrs. John Peter Van Ness. Van Ness and his wife moved into their new home in 1816 and made it a social center… Keep reading…
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Lost Washington: Carbery House
The Carbery House was built in 1818 at the northwest corner of 17th and C Streets, opposite the Ellipse. It was the residence of Thomas Carbery, mayor of Washington and a noted member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Keep reading…
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Washington’s systemic streets
Visitors and residents of Washington, DC know, to one degree or another, about the city’s street naming conventions. Most tourists know that we have lettered and numbered streets. And to some degree, they know there is a system, but it doesn’t stop them asking us directions. But most out-of-towners and even many residents don’t understand the full ingenuity… Keep reading…
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Lost Washington: Center Market
The block where the National Archives is located, bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Ave, 7th Street, and 9th Street, NW, was once the location of Center Market. Designed by Adolph Cluss, it was built in 1871. It was expanded in the 1880s with large wings also designed by Cluss. Keep reading…
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Lost Washington: Washington City Orphan Asylum
The Washington City Orphan Asylum was founded in 1815 to care for the destitute children of Washington. It was originally located on H Street, NW, between 9th and 10th Streets in a building designed by Charles Bulfinch and completed in 1828. Keep reading…