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This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is traveling back over 100 years ago to examine a building claiming to be one of the more important buildings in Georgetown’s history: Suter’s Tavern.

The photo comes from a Washington Times article from 1905 concerning the auction of two homes at 3101 and 3103 K St. The photo, however, was not taken in 1905. It is a mid-19th century photo, presumably of the same buildings. The article describes the old photo without question as Suter’s Tavern. But there is reason to doubt it.

Why would anyone care to claim a building to be Suter’s Tavern? Because was a legendary establishment in early Georgetown. Known also as the Fountain Inn, it was the first stop for stagecoaches in Georgetown. And most famously it served as the location of George Washington meetings with Pierre L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicott to plan the new capital city across Rock Creek. (Read here for an exhaustive history of the tavern). Continue reading →

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• What if Georgetown were better linked with downtown along its southeastern corner?
• Tudor Place already opening up for weddings this fall.

3100 block of K St.

As part of my campaign for a seat on the ANC, I’d love to meet more people from the neighborhood. But knocking on doors is out in this unusual campaign season. So I’d love it if you could come out and chat (in a socially distanced way, of course!)

I’ll be hanging out outside of the wonderful Dent Place Market in the heart of our SMD this Friday from 4 pm to 5 pm! Please stop by and say hi! If I miss you this week, I’ll be holding other sessions over the next month. So keep an eye out for more notices.

See you Friday!

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown University senior arrested in connection with first degree murder in Georgia.
• Befitting Georgetown’s Scottish roots, it now has a champion bagpiper.

3200 block of P St.

Right now the city is repaving Wisconsin Ave. through Georgetown (which, frankly, seems like not the best idea for this exact moment, given that it has temporarily displaced the successful streateries, but GM digresses…) And one of the pleasures of observing such projects is that you get a momentary glimpse into what is normally beneath the asphalt. Sometimes it’s cobblestones. And sometime, like right now, it’s a relic of the city’s once extensive streetcar network.

What you see above are the streetcar tracks that once ran (well actually, still run, it would seem) down the center of Wisconsin Ave. You can in fact clearly see the underground conduit that was in the middle and provided the cars with their power while in downtown.

Continue reading →

Photo by Angela N.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Still more positive Coronavirus diagnoses from GU.
• Taste of Georgetown adapts to the pandemic.

3100 block of M St.

During the pandemic, many families started putting stuffed animals in their front windows to give children out for a stroll something to “hunt for”. But what if you’ve found all the stuffed animals and you’re looking for another distraction for your morning walk? Start looking down!

The sidewalks and streets of Georgetown are covered with a large variety of manhole and other utility covers. They’re easy to ignore, but when you start actually investigating them, you realize that they are a veritable history book. And most interesting are the old sewer covers from over a century ago. The ones from that period have the date they were created stamped into them. It can be a fun diversion to try to find the oldest ones.

This idea came from the Twitter account of the DC Council, which came up with the #olddcmanholecover hashtag. So far it seems the oldest covers are from 1891 (like the one above). See if you can find one! Continue reading →