The Georgetown Metropolitan

Keen-eyed readers may have noticed that recently I haven’t been publishing morning link posts quite as consistently. It hasn’t really been from lack of trying. The problem is that there just hasn’t been a lot of Georgetown-related news to link to. This has largely to do with the collapse of local news. DCist is gone. Washington City Paper is a shell of its former self. Tons of small and local news outlets have closed up shop. Added to that is that I used to rely heavily on Twitter to find links, and, well, you know what happened to that cesspool.

As a result, I have struggled to find even just two interesting links on a daily basis. As a result, I am going to try to shift to a weekly links round-up. I think I can still pull together a handful of items each week. So I’ll try that for now. If I start finding more links, I’ll reconsider, but for now that’s how I’ll proceed.

Next weekend the annual French Market will return to Book Hill. The events kick of Friday 11 am to 5pm, and continue with the same time frames Saturday and Sunday. Fingers crossed for great spring weather!

It’s that time of the month when new applications for the Old Georgetown Board reveal new shops on the horizon. And there are two I’ve noticed this month.

The first is for 3025 M St. This Eastbanc-owned property most recently housed Outdoor Voices. Keeping with the DTC brand theme, a store called Staud is aiming to open. It’s a women’s clothing store with only a handfull of physical locations, which could be said of roughly 90% of the stores that have opened in Georgetown over the last couple years. Although this might be the first to sell luxury pet beds:

The second shop is coing to 1211 Wisconsin Ave. It is On Running. That’s not a brand name I was not familiar with until I saw their logo:

I even own a pair of shoes from this brand and I had no ideal that that was what the company was called. I assumed it was a Q and an N.

Anyway, they appear to be taking over this space, which was a Tori Burch for a long time. It has been a Sezane for a bit, but that was technically a pop-up. This appears to be a longer term lease.

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!

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Lane closures coming to Canal Rd. near the university.
• Georgetown folk map makes it to Antiques Roadshow.

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!

Photo by Beyond DC.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A summary of our last ANC meeting.
• GU’s downtown campus may face enrollment challenges.

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!