I am currently in the last throes of the writing of my latest book, on the urban legends of Washington DC, so today, I will talk about a statue in the Rotunda of the Capitol, around which many different stories have swirled. According to a writer on the website Conservatives4Palin.com, “Within the walls of the [...]
Tags: Adelaide Johnson·Lost Capitol Hill·The Portrait Monument·U.S. Capitol
There are all sorts of places that I find old things to write about. This week’s story comes from Old Time DC, a place on Facebook to find wonderful old pictures of Washington. They are from all across the city and from all times, but I am partial to those showing parts of Capitol Hill [...]
Tags: Lost Capitol Hill
My research often begins with an old map, on which I notice something that no longer has a place on the Hill. Usually, it is a building of some sort that catches my attention. Sometimes, it’s a name such as Heckman Street on a 1921 map. Who was Heckman, I wondered, and why was his [...]
Tags: duddington·duddington place·elgin baylor·heckman street·Lost Capitol Hill·publich printing office
I tend to look at things that are long-gone from Capitol Hill, hence my weekly column, but I also appreciate the new too. And, with that in mind, I recently took a group on a tour of the Capitol. I usually love these tours because after I get my kids into the right line, I [...]
Tags: capitol rotunda·Lost Capitol Hill·Robert Pohl·rosa parks
One of the joys of living in DC is seeing your city –and your neighborhood– shown as a set on the big screen. Even more fun is finding how often they get it wrong. Mike Canning has been reviewing movies for the Hill Rag for the past 20 years, and he and the Friends of [...]
Tags: Hollywood on the Hill·Lost Capitol Hill·Minority Report·Robert Pohl·Spielberg Park·Steven Spielberg
Last week, we learned about the history of the rail lines at the Navy Yard, and how they were used to move goods in and out of that manufacturing facility. But the tracks were also used for something quite different: storage.
Tags: Lost Capitol Hill·storage·trains
Last week, I introduced the “Traveller’s Directory, or a Pocket Companion Shewing the Course of the Main Road From Philadelphia to New York and From Philadelphia to Washington with Descriptions of the Places Through Which It Passes, and the Intersections of the Cross Roads,” and promised to look more closely at the route described therein. [...]
Tags: Lost Capitol Hill
I have frequently gotten emails asking about some Capitol Hill location or other, and some of my most interesting columns have stemmed from user questions. But this is a first: A question via Twitter. Actually aimed at my colleague, Tim Krepp. He passed it on to me. And, what do you know, a little research later, [...]
Tags: Lost Capitol Hill
The Virginia Avenue is the railway tunnel currently getting all the press, but there’s actually a second, lesser-known, tunnel used by railways under Capitol Hill (and I don’t mean the little trains connected the Capitol with the congressional office buildings, either) No, it’s a tunnel that goes from Union Station south and west.
Tags: amtrak·Lost Capitol Hill·regional transportation·trains·tunnels
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