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There are a couple of items on the agenda that may be of interest.

The first that caught GM’s eye is a liquor license application for Georgetown Restaurant Group at 3270 M St. This is the address of the historic Georgetown Market, in which Stephen Starr in planning to open an Italian restaurant/market. The plans appeared to have been held up by various layers of approval. But the fact they are lining up the liquor license should give some hope that the project is finally moving forward.

The application itself gives a little more information about the project, but it’s not really info that wasn’t already public:

New Retailer’s Class “C” Restaurant with a seating capacity of 225 and Total Occupancy Load of 375. Summer Garden with 100 seats. Entertainment Endorsement to provide live entertainment indoors only. Licensee is requesting an Alcohol Carry-out and Delivery Endorsement

Another interesting item on the agenda is actually one that the ANC put on the consent calendar (meaning they aren’t actually going to discuss it.) It’s two items actually: the razing of the West Heating Plant and the construction of the new apartment building in its place. This project has been even longer in the planning and approval process. Richard Levy’s group won the property at auction way back in 2013. He’s been pushing for the completion of the project ever since.

The fact that the ANC isn’t even going to discuss it reflects the fact that most of the issues have been largely hammered out and there’s relatively broad support for the project to finally move forward.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Scenes from the return of the canal boat.
• The 20007 zipcode is the 5th most expensive in the DC area.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is exploring a fantastic photo of some baseball champs. The subject is the Georgetown Athletics, a baseball team from the Herring Hill community of east Georgetown. The year is 1933, and they had recently been crowned District champions.

The Black Georgetown Twitter account offered this description of some of the individuals in the photo:

Hugh Butler of 2708 O St. NW in Georgetown and his 2 brothers Ottoway and Charlie on the local baseball team 1933.Hugh Butler is in 2nd row kneeling 4th in from right. Charlie Butler is kneeling 3rd in from right and Ottoway Butler Jr. is kneeling 2nd row 1st on left.

As for where the photo is, after mulling it over, GM believes this is in Rose Park, looking north across the basketball court to the 2600 block of O St. This was his initial guess, but the homes in the background didn’t quite line up with what’s there now. But looking at older maps, GM sees that most of the homes on that block were added after the 1930s. The two houses on the right appear to be 2619 and 2621 O St. (although it would appear they moved the chimneys at some point.)

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Capital Fringe drama festival is coming to Georgetown.
• Canal boat rides launch again.

The French Market returns this weekend to Book Hill. The festivities start Friday and they run all the way till Sunday. Friday it is from 10 am to 5 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday it’s noon to 5:00.

This is always a great time and this is the first time since 2019 that it has been in its traditional early May time slot. Looks like Friday and Saturday will be beautiful weather, with a few rain clouds threatening on Sunday. So come out early and often!

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Councilmember Pinto cited for holding illegal fundraiser in Georgetown.
• He still doesn’t live there, but Mark Ein still likes throwing parties at the old Katharine Graham house.

This week for Where the Streets Had Old Names, GM is exploring the history of the east Village version of Dent Place and its previous name, Irving Place.

The road now known as Dent Place was carved out of a large plot of land known as Cooke Park. It ran from Q up to R St. west of 30th:

It was named after Henry Cooke, the first Governor of DC, who built the majestic homes along Q that exist today. The map above shows how the land appeared in 1887. At the time there was a jumble of smaller lots without structures built on them as well as a planned street to be called Park Ave.

But before these lots could be developed and Park Ave. born, the land was subdivided into the more regular shape it has today. Here it is in 1894:

So the first question, where did the name Irving Place come from? Sadly GM could not get a firm answer but he can make an educated guess. Around the time the Irving Place was being laid out in Georgetown, Irving Place near Gramercy Park in New York City was enjoying a fashionable reputation. And it’s quite possible that that is what inspired the choice.