The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m exploring another photo from the DC Historical Society. It is of an unidentified church at an unknown location. The only thing the record can say is that it’s in Georgetown and from between 1895 to 1905.

I love a challenge like this, so I jumped right into trying to figure out which church this is and where. I checked a couple existing spots that could match the photo in terms of location near a corner like this, most notably St. John’s. I knew the church looked different in some if its earlier iterations, but unfortunately that wasn’t it. Here’s what St. John’s used to look like around the time of the photo above:

I checked out a couple of the other smaller churches, but none were near a corner like this.

But then I think I found the answer: Georgetown Lutheran. Here is a photo from the church’s website showing an earlier version of its santuary:

Here is more information about the building:

In 1867, a third sanctuary was built, this time a one-story brick building. The church was larger than the previous ones, and housed a school until 1870. School was taught in German, but in 1870 the congregation decided to end the use of German language and close the school. Georgetown Lutheran Church was re-incorporated as an English-speaking church, and the congregation set out to renovate the sanctuary, install gas lighting, and repaint the building. A rededication ceremony took place in June 1870.

The facade is not exactly the same in the two pictures, but the church’s history describes the construction of an outside vestibule, which could explain the different entrances.

So if I’m correct, the photo on the top was taken from the intersection of Volta Place looking north, with Wisconsin Ave. on the right. A map from the time supports that alignment:

Mystery solved, I think!

Next Tuesday night, the City Tavern will be hosting a Spirit of Georgetown party to benefit the Georgetown Ministry Center. It will be an absolutely fun way to support a critically important community asset. Please come out! Buy your tickets here and here are more details:

On October 14, 2025, The Spirit of Georgetown annual celebration will be held in the heart of Georgetown at the historic City Tavern. This year’s event will be co-chaired by Kristin Cecchi, Amanda Klingler, Leslie Maysak and Claire Wilder. The evening will raise awareness about homelessness in Washington, D.C., and build support for Georgetown Ministry Center’s Drop-In Center, which serves chronically homeless individuals with dignity and care. This much-anticipated gathering is the perfect way to kick off the fall social season.

We are proud to honor longtime GMC volunteer Sue Massimiano, whose extraordinary commitment to our guests reflects the heart of our mission. A regular presence in our Drop-In Center, Sue once walked over during a snowstorm just to see if our team could use an extra set of hands. Her dedication embodies the compassion and reliability that our volunteers bring every day. 

Georgetown Ministry Center is the only entirely privately funded homeless services agency in the greater Georgetown area. That independence gives our team the flexibility to respond quickly and meaningfully to the evolving needs of the people we serve. We rely entirely on our hyper-local community of care to support our critical work ensuring that every guest who enters the Drop-In Center can get their needs met with dignity and compassion.

We seek lasting solutions to homelessness one person at a time.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Alexander Graham Bell’s house is for sale.
• Georgetown Library celebrates turning 90 years old this Sunday.
• The Argentinian bar/restaurant in the old Papparazzi’s space is now open.

Several years ago, the city set aside money to renovate Book Hill Park. As is often the case, it has taken a while to see any evidence of that money actually getting spent. But the day is finally here. On October 8th at 6 pm at the library, DPR will host a community meeting to discuss its planned improvements to the park. I think the bulk of the money is mostly going towards restoration of the wall and steps, but new design elements might be included as well. We’ll see.

The initial budget allocation for this project grouped potential improvements to Book Hill Park with improvements to the triangle park across the street (at 33rd and Wisconsin). But that park is administered by DDOT, not DPR, so whatever improvements it might receive will be handled through a different process, I believe.

If you are interested in what improvements Book Hill Park could receive, come on out to the meeting!

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning, here’s you weekly news round-up:

• Aerie scraps plans to move to Wisconsin Ave.
• Sequoia plans to stick with Georgetown.
• More info on proposed commercial to residential conversion.

We’re holding our October ANC meeting next Monday night at Visitation at 6:30 pm. The agenda is above. Should be another long one!

As I reported earlier this month, the city is moving forward with a new regulatory regime for the streateries. Rather than having the BID be the single permitee for the vast majority of the streateries around Georgetown, each restaurant will obtain its own permit and be responsible for maintaining their allotment.

The first batch of applicants is now working through the process. They are:

• il Canale- 1065 31st Street NW (#11161613)
• Clyde’s- 3236 M Street NW (#11162031)
• Say Cheese!- 1071 Thomas Jefferson Street NW (#11162092)
• Billy Hicks- 3277 M Street NW (#11161300)
• 7th Street Burger- 1424 Wisconsin Avenue NW (#11162011)
• Haagen-Dazs- 3120 M Street NW (#11162116)
• L’Annexe- 2917 M Street NW (#11162380)
• Lutece- 1522 Wisconsin Avenue NW (#11162605)
• Maman- 1353 Wisconsin Avenue NW( #11162457)
• Good Stuff Eatery- 3291 M Street NW (#11162445)
• Angolo Ristorante- 2934 M Street NW (#11162367)
• Thunder Burger & Bar- 3056 M Street NW (#11162371)
• Bodega Spanish Tapas & Lounge- 3116 M Street NW (#11162374)
• Martin’s Tavern- 1264 Wisconsin Avenue NW (#11162425)
• Pizzeria Paradiso- 3282 M Street NW (#11162435)
• Flavio- 1073 31st Street NW (#11162500)

The only applicant that I foresee having some issues might by Martin’s, as the regulations state a streatery can’t be located within 10 feet of a marked cross-walk. Their streatery along Wisconsin is within that 10 foot restriction. The Public Space Committee is empowered to make exceptions, and Martin’s is probably a strong candidate for receiving one. But we’ll have to see.

A lot of people know that Dumbarton Oaks is beautiful in the spring. But I like to to issue this annual reminder that it’s also quite lovely in the fall:

Dumbarton Oaks is well known for its spring displays of incredible seasonal bounties. But people often overlook how spectacular the acres of gardens are in the fall. Hurry up and catch it now before it’s gone.

But here’s just a taste. The wildflowers of the Herbaceous Border are breathtaking:

The rest of the garden is at that magical moment when the gardeners loosen their grips and the plants give off one more explosion before the winter:

Of course the rest of Dumbarton Oaks is also looking great:

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s your weekly news round-up:

• Students push back against a cover charge at the Tombs.
• Argentinian cocktail bar now open in old Papparazzi space.
• Another office-to-residential project proposed.

Yesterday I used the saga of Call Your Mother to explore the capabilities of AI to do my job for me. But I didn’t mention that the Call Your Mother saga just took a significant step forward last week. Specifically, the Board of Zoning Adjustment only just finally issued its order approving the zoning relief sought by the store.

As you may or may not recall, this saga began way back in 2019. The store announced it was coming to 35th and O St. and sought the relief it thought it needed to operate at this location. The Board voted in their favor in January 2020, but it took another six months before the actual zoning order effectuating that decision was issued. The store then took several more months to finally open that August.

As explained in my long piece last year, after the store finally opened some neighbors appealed the zoning order to the DC Court of Appeals. The court partially agreed with some of their arguments and it was sent back to the BZA last year. We went through months more of marathon hearings and then last November the BZA voted once again to approve the store’s zoning request.

But it didn’t issue the order effectuating that decision right away. And it continued to not issue the order for months and months. It took about ten months after the BZA’s vote for the board to issue the written order. (Since the initial zoning relief from 2020 was vacated by the court, theoretically the shop could have been forced to close until it was actually granted the relief order, but early on the city decided to allow the store to stay open pending it’s renewed application. This may be a routine accommodation, I really don’t know to be honest.)

There are at least two significant consequences to this order finally being issued. The first is that the decision of the board was to limit the zoning relief to ten years. But it’s not ten years from the date of the BZA’s vote. It’s ten years from the date of the order. So the store got almost a whole extra year of relief.

Secondly, the neighbors objecting to the store have had to wait for the order to be actually issued before they can be permitted to appeal it again. During the hearings, they made it clear that they intended to do so and expressed confidence that they would win again. I don’t know for certain that they will follow through (no case shows up on the docket yet), and I definitely have no idea how the court will decide it. (I’ll merely point out that the store altered its second application to address the reasons that the court gave for its initial decision, so it’s not simply a case of having the same exact issues and facts presented to the court all over again.)

So the saga goes on…

Also, the delay in issuing the order is not unusual, I’m sorry to report. There is a major backlog in the Office of Zoning for the issuance of the written orders these days. A 9 month to one year-delay is pretty typical. While written orders are not necessary for all BZA decisions, they are required for any case involving party opposition. And unlike the Call Your Mother situation, most applicants can’t just go ahead after a favorable BZA vote. They need to wait for the order. This sometimes can color negotiations between applicants and neighbors. If the neighbors agree not to oppose, the project may get completed up to a year earlier. Conversely, applicants are sometimes in situations whereby they can trim back their plans (and perhaps not in the ways asked for by the neighbors) and then the whole project becomes by-right with no zoning relief needed at all.

The Office of Zoning is supposedly trying to bring that time lag down, but clearly they still have their work cut out for them.