Vintage postcard of Howard University's Main Building, one of the first buildings constructed after the university's founding in 1867. It survived as a classroom and administration building until the 1930s and was torn down to make way for Founders Library (1939).

New on Streets of Washington, the history of the beautiful building that Trump wants to paint white: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/a-gray-lad...

We're wrapping up our Potomac excursions with this in-depth look at Marshall Hall and its rich legacy: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/what-happe...

New on SoW: The Wilson Line on the Potomac: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/excursions...

The eastern side of the White House as seen from the Treasury Department, circa 1868.

A streetcar reaches the end of the Route 74 line on Upshur Street NW at Rock Creek Church Road NW, in 1957. The Eagle Gate of the US Soldiers Home is just behind the photographer.

New on SoW: Early steamboat excursions on the Potomac: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/excursions...

Joseph and Stella Lapiana, natives of Sicily, opened the Cavalier Restaurant on 14th Street in Columbia Heights in 1940. The Cavalier was one of the earliest restaurants in DC to offer authentic Italian pizza. In 1949, the Lapianas sold it to “Gentleman Jim” Hance, who moved it to Twinbrook MD.

New on SoW, an enduring preservation success story: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/saving-the...

A streetcar (Route 72/74) makes its way along Maine Avenue SW, along the Southwest waterfront in May 1957. Docked at the waterfront is the USS Davis, a Forrest-Sherman class destroyer that had just been commissioned and was stopping at Washington for Armed Forces Day celebrations.

Rehoboth Beach boardwalk--postcard view from the 1950s

Remembering the Bonus Army 93 years ago:

Remembering a nearly lost DC restaurant tradition...

This Hagerstown, Maryland railroad depot was built in 1890 and designed by E. Francis Baldwin in the trendy Romanesque style. It was demolished shortly after World War II. An almost identical station once stood at the Catholic University of America in DC. It was torn down in the mid 1980s.

A bit of restaurant history on our Substack:

Tuck postcard, circa 1905, of a busy scene at the U.S. Capitol.

A couple of beautiful mansions on Meridian Hill.

One of those "forgotten" DC places...

Another bygone Washington institution...

Great piece about our current sad predicament:

There's more to know and appreciate about the Bartholdi Fountain than you might think...

On the 123rd anniversary...

New today, a look at two WWII supper clubs:

A Streets of Washignton portrait of Woodies, from our vaults

New today on Streets of Washington:

Vintage postcard photos of the GEICO Operations Building at 5620 Western Avenue, across the DC border in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The Operations Building was designed by Vincent King and opened in 1960. GEICO plans to leave of its sprawling Chevy Chase campus in 2026, moving to downtown Bethesda.

Today on Streets of Washington:

Vintage advertising card for J. H. Kroeger, Inc. at 618 9th St NW. Harry Kroeger opened his umbrella store in 1904 (inheriting it from John Hess) and ran it until his death in 1912. He manufactured and repaired umbrellas and canes at the combination store/factory.

New on Streets of Washington:

The Lodge was a Tenleytown Restaurant that predated the Dancing Crab at 4611 Wisconsin Ave NW--now a vacant site awaiting redevelopment. Does anyone remember The Lodge?

Our latest Substack post:

Vintage postcard image of the Ord and Weitzel Gate at Arlington National Cemetery. The gate was originally installed by Gen. Montgomery Meigs in 1879, using columns from the old War Department building at 17th and Pa Ave NW. The gate was removed in 1979 but restored as a pedestrian gate in 2022.

Charming circa 1905 postcard by Raphael Tuck of the Patent Office building at 9th and F Streets NW (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum). Tuck has added various stock images of fashionable folks strolling about, as was typical for him.

New on the SoW Substack:

Vintage postcard views of the Eagle Gate (North Entrance) of the Armed Forces Retirement Home at Rock Creek Church Road and Upshur Street NW. The gate was constructed in 1877.

John B. Hammond, "dealer in builders' materials and mantels," according to an 1895 newspaper notice, moved into this eccentric house at 3115 Foxhall Road NW when it was built in 1891. It still stands, although significantly modified; the observation tower is gone. Postcard by Willard R. Ross.

The Port O’ Georgetown Restaurant opened in 1970 as part of the Canal Square redevelopment project in Georgetown, designed by Arthur Cotton Moore. The restaurant featured antique nautical artifacts as décor. It was run by the Marriott Corporation and lasted into the early 1980s.

From the Streets of Washington "vault," a post we wrote in 2010:

Julian P. Dodge (1869-1957) opened his Ingleside Market at 12th and N Streets NW in 1894, when he was 24 years old. In 1915, Dodge he retired to embark on a transcontinental automobile trip with his wife, Jennie, and another couple. However, their car tragically overturned in Ohio, killing Jennie.

New on the Streets of Washington Substack blog:

The thermometer read 6 degrees on the morning of Ulysses S. Grant's inauguration on March 4, 1873. Did he move it indoors? Heck no! Read all about it on the new Streets of Washington Substack page--and why not subscribe while you are at it? open.substack.com/pub/streetso...

Detail from a late 1860s stereoview of the General Post Office at 7th and F Streets NW, constructed in 1839. The building now houses the Hotel Monaco. Note the "ghost" figure in the lower left corner, where a man was moving as the photo was taken, and all the various loiterers.