From 1820 to 1837, a newspaper called the Georgetown Metropolitan was published in the city of Georgetown, DC. The copy above is from July 12, 1826, reporting on the deaths of Presidents Jefferson and Adams on July 4th, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For a short while, it was published by John L. O’Sullivan and his brother-in-law Samuel Langtree. O’Sullivan faded into obscurity until the middle of the 20th century when the term “Manifest Destiny” was attributed to him.
So what does this have to do with 2008? Well, not much. But, basically I’ve realized that the neighborhood of Georgetown lacks a neighborhood blog. I’ve decided to give it a try. I looked through Georgetown’s history for a worthy name to resurrect and the Georgetown Metropolitan sounded perfect to me. And so I have reestablished the Georgetown Metropolitan, 171 years since it last was printed. With luck, the Georgetown Metropolitan will serve as a valuable information source for Georgetown residents.
As I have mentioned multiple times over the last year or so, WMATA is in the process of completely overhauling the Metrobus system. By the middle of this summer, every single bus line will have a new name and most will have a new route.
I walked through all the changes that directly affect Georgetown in January. I definitely recommend you read that to get up to speed on the new routes.
Today I can give an update on the timing of the change. Right now WMATA is in the process of installing temporary signs for bus stops that will see a new route name. A couple examples are above. I’ve not seen any up in Georgetown yet, but I may have missed it.
More importantly, WMATA has announced that the day that the new system will become effective in June 29th. I had previously wondered if they were planning on phasing it in, but apparently not. Come midnight June 28th, the agency will snap its fingers and a completely new map will be in effect.
If you at all use Metrobus, you really need to start to get familiar with the new routes asap. In some cases, your reliable bus stop that you’ve been using for years will vanish (this is especially likely if you take the G2). So be prepared!
This week on Georgetown Time Machine, I’m taking a look at a photo from Georgetown’s transportation past. It comes again from the DC Historical Society and shows a streetcar exiting the massive car barn at M and 36th.
The photo record states that it was taken in 1949. In fact, the date from the record suggests that it was taken April 30, 1949. That would make this a more important historical record than it otherwise would be. That’s because that day is the last day that regular streetcar service used the car barn.
As I’ve written about before, the car barn was built in 1895 originally to serve four different streetcar companies. One of the companies that used it was a briefly lived cable-car-powered company called Capital Traction. That is why the facade has that name along with the image of a cable pulley:
The barn was primarily used by Capital Traction until its merger with Washington Railway and Electric Company to form the Capital Transit Company in 1933. Capital Transit continued to use the building, as much for office space as streetcar storage. But with the end of the Rosslyn-to-Benning line on April 230, 1949, the barn ceased to be used for regular service. The photo purports to be from that day.
The car barn continued to be used by Capital Transit to store streetcars until 1950.
The grand dame of Georgetown events, the annual Garden Tour, is returning for the 95th time on May 10th. The organization itself is working on its second century, having celebrating its 100th year in 2024.
And new eatery has arrive to upper Georgetown. Caspian Crust has moved into the cafe space recently occupied by Janti. The cuisine will not change a whole lot with the change. Janti was a Turkish-style coffee shop, and Caspian Crust is similar. As they explain:
Located in the heart of Georgetown, Caspian Crust invites you to start your day with delicious breakfast selections, irresistible paninis, fresh bakery items and savory boreks. Pair your meal with our variety of exceptional traditional coffees or our unique signature coffee creations. Whether you’re stopping by for a quick morning boost or relaxing with friends, our cozy atmosphere will become your new favorite spot in Georgetown!
Glad to see this space continue to bring some cozy treats to upper Georgetown!
This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m returning to another charming painting from the neighborhood. It comes from the DC Historical Society. It’s from 1954 and it’s by John Bryans. The title, as you can see, says that it’s of Wisconsin Ave. and N St.
It took me a minute or so to figure out what buildings this could possibly be, but I believe it’s of the back of the two buildings on the northwest corner of that intersection:
The windows of the now gray building match up with the yellow building in the painting. And the roof lines also match. The first floor extension that now exists clearly doesn’t match the shed-style extension from the painting, but that was probably changed over the years.
Most notably, the painting does not have the Georgetown Inn building. That makes sense since it wasn’t constructed until 1962.
I think I like the yellow better. They ought to bring it back!
Last week I was bemoaning the one-out-one-in trade of Citibank moving down Wisconsin Ave. But a commenter pointed out that another bank branch is closing in Georgetown imminently: the TD Bank at Wisconsin and Q. The reader stated that the closing date will be May 4th.
Another source confirms the branch’s closure. The action is reportedly connected to the bank pleading guilty to money laundering violations last fall. Allegedly as s result of the $1.8 billion fine, the institution is closing 38 branches this year, including the Georgetown location.
Longer term residents likely remember this property as the former Reed Electric building. The company vacated the property around 2007 and the current building was constructed a year or so later. TD Bank has been the only tenant in the building since then.
This vacancy leaves open a property with a great deal of potential. We saw a similar situation arise with the closure of the Capital One down the block. Now that formerly quiet bank branch is packed with people downing coffee and croissants as a Tatte. It’s a great demonstration of the huge amount of potential that buildings occupied by bank branches are likely wasting. And I say that as a Capital One account holder who was inconvenienced by the bank’s closure. Yes, it’s inconvenient, but the area is much better off with a lively cafe instead of a mostly empty bank.
And like the Capital One, the TD Bank building sports a parking lot that could be used, at least in part, for outdoor dining. I hope a restauranteur with a good vision steps forward to take over the space!
Georgetown has too many banks. I’m not sure what the appropriate number of banks is exactly for Georgetown, but it’s fewer than the amount we currently have. This has been a bit of a bugaboo of mine for quite some time. As of late 2019, there were as many as 18 banks in Georgetown. That’s one whole bank for every 500 or so Georgetown residents. If all of DC had that same density of banks, there would be about 1,500 banks in DC. For perspective, there are only six bank branches in all of historic Ward 8 (not counting the wealthy Navy Yard sections that were added to the ward recently).
We’ve made some progress since then. We now have 12 bank branches in Georgetown. The good news is that yet another bank branch closed. The bad news is that it just moved down the street.
The closed branch is that Citibank that has long stood just north of the Safeway on Wisconsin Ave. If anything, you could argue that this was not exactly an egregious case of bank over-saturation: it had been there forever, it was off the beaten path and the neighborhoods to the north and west of Georgetown have few other bank options.
And if that branch’s closing is a mixed blessing, the bad news is not mixed at all. As I previously reported, Citibank has opened a massive new branch in the former Gap store at Wisconsin and N. This is a historical building that once served as a popular theater in the 19th century, once hosting Mark Twain.
It even served as a military prison during the Civil War. (Here’s a great history on the building).
But now it will be just a huge billboard for a bank (with glowing bright TV screens shining their ads through the windows 24/7 and making the purpose of the location clear).
There’s nothing inherently bad about having banks. But when we have so many of them, and when they squat on such prominent properties like this (or the Chase at Wisconsin and P) it becomes a case of the tragedy of the commons. Banks want these locations to take advantage of all the eyeballs of the people walking by who have absolutely no intention on entering their business. They are free-loaders taking advantage of the stores and restaurants that actually draw people to the neighborhood.
It may be that I’m being over-dramatic, but just take a walk by Yellow on a Saturday sometime and count the people in line. Then take a look across the street at the Chase and try to remember whether you have ever seen a single customer enter. If that’s not a gross misallocation of real estate uses, then I don’t know what could be.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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