Category Archives: Uncategorized

Photo by Jacquesofalltrades.

Voting is going to be different this year, for obvious reasons. And it’s even going to be different from the two elections we’ve already had so far this year. But with proper planning, you can ensure that your vote will count.

The first change is that all registered voters will receive a mail-in ballot (unlike with the primary in June, when you had to request one). If you’re registered, you should have already received a notice from the Board of Elections verifying your address. If there is a mistake, you were requested to mail back the correction. Unfortunately the card was poorly designed and could cause voters to send it back without crucial information needed to actually update their registration.

If the mailer’s information for you is correct, you don’t need to do anything else. The city will mail you a ballot when the time comes and you can mail it back. You can also drop it off at one of the drop off boxes that the city will be putting out (there will be one at the Georgetown library). Continue reading →

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Four Season suffers fire.
• Back to school, sort of, in Georgetown.

Cady’s Alley

This week on Lost Georgetown, GM is visiting the former home of one of the most successful authors of the 19th century: E.D.E.N. Southworth.

Unlike other successful authors of her time, like Mark Twain or her friend Harriet Beecher Stowe, Southworth’s name has not persisted in the public awareness. (And speaking of names, E.D.E.N. stands for her three personal names and her maiden name: Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte). But during her life she was one of the highest paid authors, writing more than 60 novels.

From around the 1850s until her death in 1899, Southworth lived primarily in a cottage on Prospect St. that was dubbed Prospect Cottage. The Streets of Washington has an excellent write-up of Southworth and the house here).

The house was located directly next where the Exorcist steps are now. In fact, the house stood exactly where the home that was the scene of the exorcism now stands.

The home was built in the carpenter gothic style, which was popular across the country before the Civil War (although if it was popular in Georgetown, no other examples survived). Continue reading →

Photo by Ben Schumin.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Church Hall opened an outdoor biergarten.
• Rent the Runway is closing all its stores, including the Georgetown one.

3400 block of P St.

As readers of this website know, I’m running for ANC (and yes, as far as discussions of my candidacy go, I’m going to dispense with the “GM” affectation). And if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s make a website! So I’ve put together a campaign website. It’s at mathewsforanc.com. Check it out!

If I’m lucky enough to win, I will transition the website to a constituent information site, providing routine updates of news concerning our specific corner of Georgetown (the northwest corner, that is), as well as general ANC updates.

Have no fear, Georgetown Metropolitan readers, I will keep that up as well. Continue reading →

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack Evans is late on paying his ethics fines.
• Large former powerhouse for sale on Grace St.

1400 block of Wisconsin Ave.

This week on Lost Georgetown, GM is discussing the former Dempsey’s Boathouse, which used to sit along the Potomac river.

Dempsey’s Boathouse was built in 1903, and stood immediately upriver of the Aqueduct Bridge. You can see it in the 1931 aerial photo above. The far left building is the Washington Canoe Club (built a year later in 1904), which still stands. Everything from about the “U” in University to the right is Dempsey’s Boathouse. It was really quite large.

This is, unfortunately, one of the few clear photos GM has ever found of the boathouse. Here is another, showing the boathouse from the rear (and which shows how close it was to the B & O railroad tracks):

Unlike the Washington Canoe Club (or the Potomac Boat Club on the other side of the Aqueduct bridge) Dempsey’s was not a private club. It was a public boathouse that offered canoes and kayaks for rental.

Here the boathouse was described in 1913:

While the boathouse was built in 1903, the house was substantial expanded in 1914 (and thus the photos above show it in its expanded form). The Post wrote about the expansion:

The club operated until 1960, when it was replaced by Thompson’s Boathouse. Sadly it then burned to the ground the following year:

The land where Dempsey’s Boathouse once stood is vacant now, spare some trees. The plot is targeted for additional boat storage as part of NPS’s long dormant plan to increase the number of boathouses along the Potomac:

But for now (and likely well into the future) the land will host nothing but a few maples and ducks.