Last November, GM moved into a new home that has an alley behind it. He quickly realized that the alley lights (one of which is shown above) get awfully bright and glaring at night.

As you can see from the photo, the light had a glass “bulb” that hung below the hood. It lit up fully, so it gave the effect of a hanging bare light bulb in an otherwise unlit room.

GM was resigned to just live with the nightly glare, but then he heard at the most recent ANC that if you are unhappy with your streetlights, DDOT will attempt to mitigate the glare. So GM wrote Ron Lewis, his commissioner, and about a week later brand new lights were installed:

The new lights actually make the alley itself brighter, but without the exposed glass “bulb” the light is more directed downward rather than sideways. It still creates a less than romantic atmosphere in the garden, but the glare into the house itself is significantly reduced.

So let it be known: if your alley lights are glaring into your bedroom at night, give your commissioner a call!

This week for Now and a Long Time Ago, GM stays on M St. but heads east from last week. The subject of today is 3210 M St.

Currently this property hosts BCBG Maxazari, a pricey women’s store. But it’s had quite an illustrious history. It was built in 1796 to house the Bank of Columbia. Among the banks shareholders was none other than George Washington himself, who served as a director of the bank. The bank only stayed at this location until 1806. From 1807 to 1822 the federal Bureau of Indian Trade was housed in the building.

Most interesting for Georgetowners, the building served as town hall for Georgetown from 1822 till 1871, when the city’s charter was revoked by Congress.

The tall doors are a giveaway to how this building was used next. From 1883 till 1940, it was used as a station for Fire Company No. 5. In 1940 the company was merged into another company and the property was abandoned. It was used as a garage for DC’s sanitation department at least into the 1960s.

All this information plus the old photo (which dates from 1966) comes from the Library of Congress.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• When did GU start using bulldogs anyway?
• Great history of the mistakes made and the neighborhood destroyed to build the Whitehurst Freeway. Plus a Morrisey quote.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Vox Populi reviews the new Pinkberry.
• Gifted program coming to Hardy.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Yesterday Eleanor Hart Mathews was born. Today GM is a proud papa, but way, way too tired and preoccupied to write many posts this week. This news should be enough to carry you over for a while!
  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2012/01/09/the-morning-metropolitan-633/feed/ 15 GM EHM http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/and-happy-holidays-too/ http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/and-happy-holidays-too/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:59:37 +0000 Topher http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/?p=10406 ]]>

  GM wanted to take the opportunity to be a little more ecumenical in his well wishings, and (more to to point) play around with animation again. So Merry Happy!

  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/and-happy-holidays-too/feed/ 2 GM Happy Holidays http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/seasons-greetings/ http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/seasons-greetings/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:00:34 +0000 Topher http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/?p=10401 ]]>
  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/20/seasons-greetings/feed/ 2 GM Merry Christmas http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/09/other-places-named-georgetown/ http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/09/other-places-named-georgetown/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:00:24 +0000 Topher http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/?p=10329 Continue reading →]]> Photo by Mikerhicks.

  For every morning post that GM does, he searches in Flickr for recent photos uploaded tagged with the word “Georgetown”. Most of these photos are of our neighborhood here in DC, but lots are of far more exotic Georgian locales. So for no other reason other than the fact GM’s got nothing else to write about, let’s take a stroll through them.

  The shot above is from George Town on Grand Cayman. This town was named after George III. This is a big tourist stop on the Caribbean cruise circuit.

  Photo by arichards63.

  Staying in the Caribbean, another Georgetown that pops up from time to time is Georgetown, Guyana. It too was named after George III.

  Photo by Michael Boer.

  Probably the most common non-DC Georgetown that pops up in Flickr is Georgetown, Seattle. It’s an industrial neighborhood on the south side of the Emerald City. From the photos, it appears to be full of old abandoned steam plants, art school grads, and beer. It’s probably the most interesting Georgetown on the list.

  This Georgetown was named in honor of the town founder’s son, George Horton.

  Photo by Snap Man.

  Staying out west, another Georgetown that shows up a decent amount is Georgetown, Colorado. This one seems to include photos of a old steam train a lot.

  This Georgetown was named after the older of two brothers who founded the town in the Gold Rush: George Griffith.

  Photo by Khalzuri.

  The last of the exotic Georgetowns to pop up with any regularity is Georgetown in Penang, Malaysia. Like our Georgetown, this Georgetown is an “old town” surrounded my a modern city.

  This Georgetown is named after George III.

  

  Finally, GM couldn’t help but mention Georgetown, Connecticut. Not because it pops up in Flickr, but because GM grew up just a mile away from it. This old industrial neighborhood is dominated by the empty Gilbert & Bennett Factory (seen above) that was still making wire fences for GE when GM was playing pee-wee soccer on the nearby fields. Before the real estate collapse, this neighborhood was poised to be a model of new urbanism for the suburbs.

  This Georgetown was named after local grist miller George Abbott.

  By the way, no one knows for sure who our Georgetown is named after, although the leading theory is that it is named for either George Gordon and/or George Beale, who were two of the first land owners of Georgetown, Maryland.

  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/12/09/other-places-named-georgetown/feed/ 3 GM Other Places Named Georgetown Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, Washington Georgetown, CO Georgetown, Malaysia Factory Stream http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/21/gobble-gobble-hey/ http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/21/gobble-gobble-hey/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:53:43 +0000 Topher http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/?p=10229 ]]> Between unpacking 1,000 boxes and heading over the river and through the North East Corridor for Thanksgiving, GM is going to have to take a break for a week. Check back on the 28th. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/21/gobble-gobble-hey/feed/ 1 GM http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/16/the-other-washington/ http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/16/the-other-washington/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:00:51 +0000 Topher http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/?p=10201 Continue reading →]]> As mentioned yesterday, GM’s packing up and getting ready for a move this week, so he didn’t have time for a normal post. So even though it’s got nothing to do with Georgetown, here’s a film GM took this summer of his trip to Washington State. You ought to visit it sometime:
  
  ]]> http://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2011/11/16/the-other-washington/feed/ 5 GM