Category Archives: Uncategorized

Potomac River

This week on Know Your Trees, GM is visiting a tree that is both beloved and hated for the exact same thing: its fruit. The tree in question: the mulberry.

Mulberry trees are a fast growing deciduous tree. The variety you are likely to see around DC, the red mulberry, is native to the eastern United States. The range spans basically all of the country east of the plains states and south of Chicago.

The red mulberry has a spade-like shaped leaf, like this:

But the leaves can also look like mittens and tridents, like this:

Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Great article about two Georgetown treasures: our historic manhole covers and Jerry McCoy.
• This confusion reminds GM of when he would tell people he was getting married at Dumbarton House. If their eyes shot open in surprise, GM knew they thought he meant Dumbarton Oaks.

3200 block of O St.

This week on Georgetown Time Machine, GM returns to the wonderful collection of old Georgetown Branch photos by William Duvall. The photo is specifically of a train as is lumbers between Georgetown and Maryland in December 1967.

The particular spot is just east of Fletcher’s Boathouse. As you probably know, the Georgetown Branch was turned into the Capital Crescent Trail. So if you go to this spot today, you’ll see dozens of cyclists and walkers trundling along the same path. Continue reading →

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The rain is doing a number on GM’s vote tally for paint color.
• Come meet the new canal donkeys!

Potomac River

It sounds obvious, but it must be stated: historical preservation is about buildings not people.

This self-evident point jumped to GM’s mind last week when he read this thoughtful piece on preservation and the neighborhood of Kingman Park. The article, by Lindsey Jones-Renaud with Karen Smith, argues in favor of the historic designation of the neighborhood (which is northeast of Capitol Hill) and moreover argues that the city ought to consider the opinions of those who no longer live in the neighborhood when deciding this question.

For those unfamiliar with the neighborhood, the authors provide a helpful and informative description:

Of the 34 neighborhood historic districts in Washington, most have a social history that reflects the achievements of white Americans and a few present multiracial histories. But in Kingman Park, the founding homeowners were exclusively African American. Despite forced segregation until the mid-twentieth century and redlining in later decades, black families like Karen’s grandparents built Kingman Park into a prosperous community. It is this history that the applicants of the historic district sought to preserve. It is the first neighborhood in Washington DC that has received historic designation because of its African American history.

(This last point is wrong. Several historic districts have a period of significance during which the neighborhood was majority African-American, such as Shaw, Blagden Alley, and the Old West End).

Jones-Renaud and Smith focus their argument on the question of whose opinion should matter when deciding whether to designate a neighborhood as an historic district. They make a persuasive case that those who have left a neighborhood, but who contributed greatly to the neighborhood’s history, should be considered at least (if not more) than those who currently live there. Continue reading →

Photo by Aimee Custis.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Chinese Disco closed.
• The controversy over Duke Ellington School continues.

1600 block of 31st St.