Own a Piece of Georgetown History

Right now for sale at the Opportunity Shop at Wisconsin and P, is a precious piece of Georgetown history. It’s one of the signs that once graced the street signs across Georgetown marking what what the old names were. In this case, it is for Third Street, which was the name of P St. west of Wisconsin (which was then known as High St.).

The signs were erected in the 50s as part of a celebration of Georgetown’s bicentennial. Here’s a detail from a National Geographic article in 1953 about the signs being installed to commemorate the old names:

The “Old Georgetown” signs near the gas station at M and Pennsylvania (one of which is now at the Peabody Room) were also installed at the same time.

The signs were discussed in a Washington Post article ten years after they were installed:

GM’s couldn’t find any article about the signs being all taken down, but given how fast they were being stolen or damaged, maybe it wasn’t a sudden end. This one can be yours $250. Better yet why don’t you buy it and donate it to the Peabody Room?

GM would love to recreate all these signs to the posts around Georgetown, but it would probably cost a lot more than the original price of $3200. Even on inflation alone, that would amount to about $28,000. But surely they are enough people who would want to contribute to the effort?