Photo of 1333 14th Street, NW in 2007 by PoPville flickr user Joe in DC
Thanks to Joe Flood for sharing in the comments of the post about a new coffee shop coming to 1333 14th St, NW:
“And just six years ago the building was an auto repair shop!”
1333 14th Street, NW in 2013
Photo by PoPville flickr user Faucetini
A big year for Adams Morgan anniversaries. First up was Millie and Al’s 50th, then Tryst’s 15th and now from a press release:
“The Adams Morgan Farmers Market is celebrating 40 consecutive years of sustainably grown produce with a special event on Saturday, September 28. From 10:00am – 1:00pm, on the corner of 18th and Columbia Rd NW, join the owners of the Licking Creek Bend Farm for music, food, and entertainment.
An HEIRLOOM APPLE TASTING will offer a rare opportunity to taste varieties like Wolf River, Orange Pippen, and Sheep Nose from 10 to 11 am. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and others will deliver remarks beginning at 11 am.
Michael Tabor owns and has represented The Licking Creek Bend Farm on the corner of 18th St. and Columbia Rd NW since 1972. “My philosophy has been, and still is, to bring healthy, affordable produce to all the neighborhoods in DC regardless of income level,” said Tabor.
Visiting the market on Saturday mornings has become a tradition for Washingtonians. “Our loyal customers have created a ‘village square’ atmosphere where neighbors come to shop for their week’s fruits and vegetables, chat about recipes, and see old friends,” said Tabor.
“With farmers markets as popular as they are now, it’s hard to imagine a time when they weren’t part of the community – but Adams Morgan was really at the forefront here in DC,” said Kristen Barden, Executive Director of the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District (BID).”
1922 3rd Street, NW
Last week we admired the awesome transformation of the long vacant old house at the corner of 3rd and U St, NW. The architect of the project sent me an email with some interesting details about the place:
“In the 1940’s it was fully gutted and turned into 13 efficiency units for WWII housing. I was so fortunate to have found the original floor plan and front and side elevations of James McGill’s original design. From those, we restored the exterior to the way it originally would have been, while only adding on the sunroom and porch off of the rear (making it look like other neighborhood additions done in the 1920’s. As you can see, it was a massive undertaking and is still a work in progress. The landscaping is the next big plan. There is a lot to landscape! So, hopefully soon it will be fully finished.
Bill Smith
StudioSmith, LLC“
Streets of Washington, written by John DeFerrari, covers some of DC’s most interesting buildings and history. John is the author of Historic Restaurants of Washington, D.C.: Capital Eats, to be published this September by the History Press, Inc. John is also the author of Lost Washington DC.
Though it receives little attention in the media, competitive canoeing ranks high among the city’s sports achievements. Washington has participated in competitive flatwater canoeing at the Olympics ever since the sport was first introduced in 1924, and much of America’s success has been due to the athletes of the venerable Washington Canoe Club, headquartered in one of the Georgetown waterfront’s most historic and picturesque structures, a 1905 boathouse at 3700 Water Street NW. The green wooden-shingled structure, perched on the edge of the flood-prone Potomac river, has deteriorated over the years and gradually fallen into disrepair. Its future is now largely in the hands of the National Park Service.
Washington Canoe Club (photo by the author).
A hundred years ago, the Potomac river was the center of attention for summer sports and recreation, a place where refreshing breezes off the water could ease the swelter of un-air-conditioned city living. Many people would set up summer camps along either side of the Potomac from Georgetown to Great Falls and beyond, and hundreds would line the shores of the river or the railings of the Aqueduct Bridge to watch hotly-contested boat races. A June 1904 article in The Washington Post rhapsodized that “The beautiful stretch of water from the Analostan [Theodore Roosevelt Island] Boat House up to within a dozen furlongs of the Chain Bridge is the one most utilized by the oarsmen and canoeists, and the ever-passing throng makes the stream take on the appearance of the Grand Canal at Venice, with the gondolas left out.” (more…)
From a press release:
“The Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. (HCWDC) is pleased to announce its popular House history workshops return. They will be held Saturday, September 21, 2013 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW in the Washingtoniana Division (3rd Floor). Two workshop sessions will
be held: Session I: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm and Session II: 12:30pm – 3:00 pm. This year’s House History Workshop will guide community historians, of any skill or knowledge level, through the DC Public Library Washingtoniana Division’s collections. Participants will learn how to research the history of their own home or any other historical property.
These workshops will feature presentations by professionals who will guide workshop participants on how
to navigate the collection of maps, building permits database, photo archives, microfilm records and the council’s DC Digital Museum. The House history workshops provide residents with an opportunity to explore the history of their homes including the date the home was built, architect, builder, dates of any improvements, former residents, and how the neighborhood evolved over time. House history research is powerful because it provides that personal connection to the past that few other types of historical research can; it allows anyone to forge a strong sense of connection with their neighborhood and their community whether they have called DC home for years, or just moved in last month.
Workshops are free and open to the public. Registration is required, to attend please sign up here.”
Ed. Note: You can see all events here and you can schedule your own event listing here.
Photo by PoPville flickr user NCinDC
NCinDC writes:
“The top photo is Metropolitan Methodist Church, ca 1924, taken by the National Photo Company. (via shorpy) The bottom photo is the Embassy of Canada, ca 2010.
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Facing southwest at the corner of C Street NW and John Marshall Park (where 4th Street would normally intersect) in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The street on the left in the older photo was called John Marshall Place (also called 4 1/2 Street), but that no longer exists.
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Construction of Metropolitan Methodist Church (the current church building is located on Nebraska Avenue NW) began in 1854, but due to the Civil War, wasn’t completed until 1869. The building was designed by the New York architectural firm Mundell & Teckritz. The 240-foot steeple wasn’t finished until 1872, although it was torn down in 1935; the rest of the church building was demolished in 1956.
The postmodern Canadian embassy was completed in 1989 to the designs of architect Arthur Erickson.”
Cool old photo tweeted out by Union Station:
“#UnionStationDC 50 years ago after the #marchonwashington”
We’ve admired Mr. Horsley’s photos many times in the past. This is a must see exhibit!
Photo by PoPville flickr user NCinDC
NCinDC writes:
“The Mathematical Association of America’s headquarters located at 1529 18th Street, N.W., in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Built in 1903, the Classical Revival style building served as the residence of Charles Evans Hughes when the photo on the left was taken in 1921. (via the Library of Congress) The building is designated as a contributing property to the Dupont Circle Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
In addition to Hughes, previous occupants of the building include the Cuban Legation and its Minister Plenipotentiary Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, Senator Frederic M. Sackett, the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States, and the Association of the United States Army.
This is one of my older photos originally uploaded to Wikimedia Commons.”
The new Dunbar High School
Jeff Tignor lives in South Manor Park. If you have a book you’d like to recommend/review please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail with book review in the title. We discussed this summer’s general reading recommendations here.
Alison Stewart’s excellent new book First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School, tells the story of a groundbreaking educational institution born in Washington, DC as a result of a unique set of circumstances and later hobbled by home rule politics, social class conflicts, and racial desegregation without integration. Ms. Stewart, an award-winning journalist who has worked as an anchor and reporter for several major commercial TV networks, as well as NPR and PBS, and whose parents graduated from Dunbar in the 1940s, uses Dunbar as a lens for examining the history of education in Washington, DC. The book covers three distinct eras: First, from 1807-1954, a detailed history of African-American education in Washington, DC and how Dunbar became America’s first African-American public high school; second, beginning with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe decisions, a transitional period in the years surrounding school integration; and third, Dunbar’s post-1960 full transformation to the neighborhood school it is today, struggling with the challenges of urban education. As someone whose family history in Washington, DC dates to the post-civil war 1800s, I learned new facts about DC’s history and was struck by the irony of Dunbar alums arguing for desegregation at the Supreme Court and then seeing their prestigious and beloved alma mater fray as the unconstitutional system of segregation was dismantled. I was moved by the heartbreaking stories of students and educators trying to honor Dunbar’s past and simultaneously create a present and future that will allow the school to once again become a launching pad for great careers. (more…)
