The Georgetown Metropolitan

Dumbarton Oaks will finally open its gardens to the general public next month. This news was announced by the institution last week.

Entry will be by timed tickets, which will be offered starting on May 15th. If that is too long for you to wait, season pass holders will be allowed to secure tickets for entry starting April 20th.

GM wonders if this will increase the number of people purchasing season tickets. Getting in three weeks early would be great, especially since this includes the height of the wisteria blooming. But one of the best reasons to get a season pass in normal years is to skip the (often long) line at the gate. With timed entry, the lines will be non-existent. If you think it’s still worth the money for you to get a season pass, buy it here.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• If you’re like GM and carry around a really old Smart Trip card for the bus/Metro, you’re going to need to buy a new one, since they won’t work in the future.
• Woman descended from persons enslaved by GU who matriculated at the school in her 60s is now starring in a play about her enslaved ancestors.

Dumbarton Oaks

The Georgetown BID will shortly be widening the sidewalk for over 4,000 feet of sidewalk through the commercial district.

The sidewalk expansions will take the form of raised wooden platforms. Since they are at the same grade as the brick sidewalks themselves, the extension feels like a genuine expansion of the sidewalk. You can see prototype versions of this model in front of Clyde’s and Laduree, among a few other spots. They will be installed on M St. between 29th and 34th streets, and on Wisconsin between Water and Q streets. Once installed, the platforms will grow the sidewalks from an average of width 9.5 feet to 15 feet.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another piece on the new Donahue cocktail bar moving into the old Smith Point space.
• Georgetown Glow returns tomorrow.

Today on Georgetown Time Machine, GM is posting a nice shot of the Montrose estate in a derelict shape.

The photo, from DCPL’s archive, is from 1891, and shows the estate’s front facade from R St. GM wrote about this property last year. This photo was in that post, but the version above is much clearer. Here is what GM wrote about the estate’s later years:

In 1837 [the estate] was sold to William Boyce, who renamed it Montrose, in honor of his familial connections to the Scottish Earls of Montrose.

Although his family continued to own the property until 1911, they did not live in it after 1858. It fell into disrepair, although some tenants brought it back into shape shortly in the 1880s. Eventually, however, it became totally abandoned and derelict. Georgetowners, led by Sarah Louise Rittenhouse, successfully petitioned Congress to purchase the land and dedicate it as park in 1911.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• If you’re wondering why there’s a bouncer outside the old Smith Point recently, this is the low-down.
• A cyclist was hit by the driver of a truck on M St. by Key Bridge yesterday and taken away with serious injuries, his condition is unknown.