If you have a photo of a neat find from your house or place of work please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail.com thanks.
Thanks to a reader for sending from his house reno near H Street, NE:
“Above:
Honest Measure
Full 1/2 Pint
W NEULAND
Restaurant
Cor. 8th & H St NE
Below:
E.R. DURKEE & Co.
New York
From bottom of the second:
Bottle Patented
April 17, 1877”
If you have a photo of a neat find from your house or place of work please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail.com thanks.
So cool. From the City of Takoma Park:
“Our Planner, Erkin, found some really great old brochures for the Park Ritchie apartments on Maple Avenue; guessing they are from when the apartment complex was brand new. They have a Mad Men-esque / mid-century modern vibe to them.”
If you have a photo of a neat find from your house please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail.com thanks.
Thanks to a reader for sending the second neat find from Stronghold:
“We found this bottle of whiskey in a wall when we renovated the kitchen in our house. The house was built in the early 1900s, 1918 I think, although we also found a newspaper dated 1911. Unfortunately, the bottle was empty”
The reader did a little digging and found:
” Kinsey, as best as I can tell was a whiskey distillery located in Linfield, PA. It had a long, complicated and at times confusing history that goes back to 1891 when it was founded by the 33 year-old Jacob G. Kinsey, includes a dark period during Prohibition, and concludes in 1979 when the bottling line shut down for the last time.”
Ed. Note: I’d love to make this a regular feature – so what’s the strangest/coolest thing you’ve found in your house? If you have a photo please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail.com thanks.
“These two photos are of a medallion I found in my basement in the 1300 block of Corcoran St N.W. I found it in the middle of the floor and my guess is it fell from the old fireplace from the first floor. Anyway, it seems to be an advertisement for two hotels in Atlanta, Ga that were built in the 1880s and razed in the 1920s. I’ve had it for about 10 years and have always wanted to find out more about this type of coin but was never sure where to turn. The old medicine bottle reminded me I had it.”
Any history buffs want to take a shot at finding more info about this one?
“Dear PoP,
I came across this walking stick outside of our McLean Gardens apartment, just at an entrance to a little nook of Rock Creek Park. These two carvings were on either side–I wondered if you had any idea of the story behind it, or if your readers might. (The carved text reads “Uncle Dan’s #24 / Use It Then Leave It”)”
Wow, that’s awesome. Anyone know the story behind this?
“Dear PoP,
Does this count as a reader-suggested Good Deal or Not?? I think it’s a great deal at that price! That’s barely the price of a new iPhone and a weekly Chipotle burrito!!
I’m kidding, of course. A friend collects old magazine/news ads and found this one at a show this weekend. It’s from 105 years ago — an Evening Star ad for sales of housing (58 units total) in the area around Harvard between 7th and 11th Streets. Probably might be of interest to some of your readers, and it would be cool to find out if this model home still stands at 726 Dearborn Street, see how it’s held up all these years.”
Very cool.
“Dear PoP,
I am researching the area around Truxton Circle. During my research, I discovered that the fountain from Truxton Circle is located in Fort Washington National Park in inventory, along with some other treasures (bricks from the Capitol, Washington Monument, McMillan Statue). I went out on Friday to photgraph the remains of the fountain and I attached some pics for any interested residents around the Truxton area.
The circle was located at the intersection of Florida and North Cap, GIS images still show the lots contoured to the circle. Fort Washington Park is located at 13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744 and is quite the gem itself.”
Well this is super cool. Thanks a million for sending and keep us updated on your research!
Thanks to Gabbie for following up and snapping some photos of the inside:
“The deal is they are trying to return to the original old look with booths from an old restaurant and neat retro light fixtures according to Merid. I ran into him out front he let me snap a few pics and said they would complete with the “oldfurb” in a couple days!”
I think returning to the original look with booths is going to be sweet. You? Check out this gem found on the wall:
For some reason it makes me reminiscent of my RunDMC days…
From a reader:
“Unbeknownst to me, when I bought my house I bought a three-bath place instead of a two-bath — when cleaning out my tool shed, I found out that it was really an outhouse. Noting that you haven’t had this discussion online before, I have to ask whether anybody else still has one? I think it is way cool and want to keep it if at all possible, but one of my neighbors said that DC inspectors forced them to remove them a while back. Is this still true, and if so, does having had mine blocked a plumber mean I’m okay? I can’t find anything in the DC website about it, except that apparently it is still a crime to burn an outhouse.
And third question – I’d love to know whether people would keep it, or get rid of it? Folks either seem to love it, or look at me strange for keeping it around. My real estate agent and my friends strongly agree with me about how cool it would be to keep it. The plumber asked why I just didn’t remove the whole thing, and I know neighbors who’ve had theirs removed, even recently. I am curious as to why remove something so quaint/bizarre/fun? Kid safety? Resale value? Mine’s safely blocked now, I have no kids, and I don’t plan on moving for a good, long while. Besides, I love the historical aspect, and it certainly makes for interesting conversation at backyard BBQs. But I am curious about what the wider world of PoPville knows and thinks.
P.S. Because I figure people will ask – there are pipes that lead down and connect to another, dry pipe. I had the pipes blocked to prevent rats and other interesting things from living below. And yes, because someone will no doubt ask – I do plan on keeping it blocked during those backyard BBQs – sorry.”
Wild. I would totally keep it if it were legal. What a cool novelty. But I too am interested in what the community thinks: would you keep the outhouse? Anyone know if it’s legal? Do you need a special permit for it? Super, super cool.
