The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week on the pod, I’m joined by my friend and ANC colleague Kishan Putta where we discuss Georgetown’s public schools. I also give a rundown on who all the historic school buildings in Georgetown are named after. Listen here or at Apple podcasts or Spotify

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s your weekly news round-up:

• Man throws beer keg through Georgetown Cupcakes window.
• Across the street from said vandalism, a new donut shop has finally opened called the Salty.
• In that same general area: a furniture store is taking over the former FedEx Store.

Last week I published a podcast episode on Bike to Work Day. You can listen to it here. It’s a bit late as far as guiding you to this year’s BTW day, but it’s got a bunch of tips for anyone considering trying biking to work out, so give it a listen if that describes you!

Georgetown University is hosting a discussion this Thursday night to discuss the role the Georgetown neighborhood had in shaping DC. The discussion will include Adam Rothman, Professor of American Studies, Mary Katherine Lanzillota, Chair of the Old Georgetown Board, and myself. We will be led in our discussion by Uwe Brandes, Professor of Urban & Regional Planning.

The event will take place at the Copley Formal Lounge from 5:30 to 7:00. The event is free and open to the public. More information can be found here.

I hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday to Georgetown! Well, happy slightly belated birthday to Georgetown: On Friday the neighborhood/former city officially turned 275 years old!

It was on May 15, 1751 that the Maryland colonial legislature passed the following bill:

An Act for laying out and erecting a Town on Potowmack River, above the Mouth of Rock Creek in Frederick County. Whereas several Inhabitants of Frederick County, by their hum- ble Petition to this General Assembly, have set forth, that there is a convenient Place for a Town on Potowmack River, above the Mouth of Rock Creek, adjacent to the Inspection-House in the County aforesaid; and prayed that sixty Acres of Land may be there laid out, and erected into a Town. Be it therefore Enacted by the Right Honourable the Lord Pro- prietary, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Lordship’s Governor, and the Upper and Lower Houses of Assembly, and the Authority of the same, That Capt. Henry Wright Crabb, Master John Needham, Master John Clagett, Master James Perry, Master Samuel Magruder the third, Master Josias Bealle, and Master David Lynn, shall be and are hereby appointed Commissioners for Freder- ick County aforesaid; and are hereby authorized and impowered, as well to buy and purchase sixty Acres, Part of the Tracts of Land belonging to Messieurs George Gordon and George Bell, at the Place aforesaid, where it shall appear to them, or the major Part of them, to be most convenient, as to survey and lay out, or cause the same to be surveyed and laid out, in the best and most convenient Manner, into eighty Lots, to be erected into a Town.

And thus the town of Georgetown, MD was established. The town was not established as its own municipality until 1789, at which point Maryland was a state in the newly created United States of America. Georgetown continued as an independent municipality–first in Maryland and then in the new District of Columbia–until it was merged with the city and county of Washington in 1871.

Georgetown was founded by a group of tabacco merchants who set up shop along the Potomac River. With Little Falls just a little ways up the river, this was about as far as ocean going vessels could reach. The merchants petitioned the colonial legislature to establish the town.

But who was Georgetown named after? A definitive answer to that has been lost to time. It was, of course, not named after George Washington, as some mistakenly believe. (George Washington was a teenager living in Virginia when Georgetown was formed.) The most likely candidates are either King George II or one or both of George Gordon and George Beall, from whom the town’s land came.

Perhaps it’s all of the above. By naming it Georgetown (or rather, George Town, as it was more often written originally) they could honor the king and both the primary landowners. Those two primary landowners, it should be mentioned, we’re actually nonplussed about the establishment of the town. They initially refused to sell their land and then sued when the town commission condemned the land to force the transfer. They were ultimately awarded £280 (that’s only about $75,000 in today’s money). So maybe the town name was an olive branch to them. No one wrote down the reason, as far as we know, so we’ll probably never know the actual reason.

But whoever it was named after, they should be proud. The town has existed for 275 years, seeing everything from the negotiations over the purchase of the land that became DC, seances attended by Abraham Lincoln, the founding of IBM, the writing of Country Roads Take Me Home, St. Elmo’s Fire, and more. No too shabby for a scruffy 18th century riverside tabacco port.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s your weekly news round-up:

• Martin’s featured (sort of) on SNL.
• Last call to participate in Fete de la Musique.
• Summary of our last ANC meeting.

The annual Bike to Work Day is this Friday. As is usual, the Georgetown BID will be hosting a pit stop at the Georgetown Waterfront Park. Register here if you plan to stop by.

Bike to Work Day is a great way to explore biking as an option for your commute. I’m a daily bike commuter myself, but 15 years ago I was not. I would occasionally try it out, and I was often quite surprised at how easy and quickly I could get to my downtown job using my old Schwinn. It wasn’t until my daughter started at a nursery school back in Georgetown that it started to be a regular thing. I came to realize that simply put. it was the most reliable way to get across town at rush hour.

The advent of Capital Bikeshare certainly helped. And having a shower in my office building helped even more. There was no moment when I consciously made the switch. It happened gradually. One day I realized that I had hardly ridden the Metro in months. I was a bike commuter.

Maybe that’s not your future. It’s not for everyone. But maybe it is for you. So it’s worth trying out. And Bike to Work Day is a great way to do that. So sign up and head on down to the waterfront this Friday!

The Citizens Association of Georgetown will be hosting their spring concert in the park this Sunday at Rose Park at 4:30 to 6:30. It’s always a great time with the music, food, fun and neighborhood get togethers. Hope you can make it!

Photo by Brian Macauley.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s your weekly news round-up:

• Georgetown’s gothic shrine to beef.
• Sezane returns to Georgetown.
• GU students work to prove man’s innocence.

Scheele’s Market in east Georgetown is the oldest market in the neighborhood and the second oldest shop period (after Weaver’s Hardware). But its future is in some doubt. The owner of the building is putting it up for sale, which may make it impossible to keep the market going.

An effort from the neighbors who cherish this quintessential Georgetown landmark is forming to explore options to save the market. More information is here. The current lease that the market operator is on expires at the end of the year. What happens after that it unknown. Reach out to the group to see what you can do to help.

This would not be the first time the active souls of east Georgetown banded together to save Scheele’s. In 2012, they raised money to buy a covenant to keep the market open for 15 years. That convenant comes to an end at the end of the year.

Let’s hope history repeats itself and this treasure can remain open another 130 years.