The Georgetown Metropolitan

After a long wait, the C & O Canal was finally refilled with water this month. It was a lovely sight to see after years of nothing but puddles and marshlands. But this week the canal dried up again. What gives?

GM reached out to Georgetown Heritage, the organization that is directing efforts to restore and rebuild the canal through Georgetown. And have no fear, the dry canal is not a sign of some mechanical or structural failure. This is part of NPS’s ordinary watering and dewatering process. In this particular case, the canal levels will vary intermittently over the next several weeks in preparation for the return of the canal boat.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Aliens in Georgetown! (Well, not quite…)
• GM is heading out of town next week, so Happy 4th and see you the week after!

Volta Park Pool will return to ordinary weekday hours as the full summer schedule kicks in this week.

DPR Director Delano Hunter announced this change at the ANC meeting this week. Previously the city had planned for all pools to shift their weekday hours from 12-8 to 10-6. This was done in part to accommodate summer camps that wanted earlier access to the pools (it also reflected a shortage of lifeguards). But this would in turn limit the ability of people working office hours to use the pools during the week.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some more old timers that GM forgot. (Also another reader pointed out Booeymongers and New York Cleaners)
• At the ANC meeting, it was mentioned that the Friends of Volta Park are looking to add a farmers market. No details yet.

Four years ago, GM documented all the shops and restaurants that had been holding on in Georgetown for at least 30 years. Surprisingly, the list came to 23.

It’s been a tough four years for Georgetown shops and restaurants, with rents continuing to climb before the pandemic impacted everyone. But surprisingly, only one of the old timers closed over that time period: J. Paul’s. And this closure was born more of Capital Restaurant Concepts winding down than a drop in business or a landlord dispute. And among the old timers, J Paul’s was actually one of the younger establishments, having opened in 1983.

The oldest shop on GM’s list in 2017 was Scheele’s, which opened in 1894. But he egregiously overlooked W.T. Weaver and Sons, which has operated in Georgetown since 1889. GM also missed Ristorante Piccolo, which opened in 1986, La Chaumiere, which opened in 1976, Bicycle Pro Shop, which opened in 1958, and Wisemiller’s, which opened in 1953. And at least one shop has reached the age of 30 since 2017: Georgetown Frame Shoppe was opened 1989.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is exploring an absolutely lovely photo of an earlier incarnation of the P St. Bridge.

The photo comes from the DCPL archives and came to GM’s attention by way of the fantastic Old Time DC Facebook group. It shows the bridge in the late 19th century.

Riding across the top is a horse-drawn trolley. It would have likely been from the Metropolitan Railway, which operated from 1864 until being acquired in 1902. It ran cars along the green lines below:

It was the Metropolitan that constructed the trolley lines along O and P St. that are still visible (albeit in reconstructed form).

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• ICYMI: What did they do to F. Scott’s?!
• Great color shot from the 1950s.