The Georgetown Metropolitan

1400 block of Wisconsin Ave.

This week on Lost Georgetown, GM is discussing the former Dempsey’s Boathouse, which used to sit along the Potomac river.

Dempsey’s Boathouse was built in 1903, and stood immediately upriver of the Aqueduct Bridge. You can see it in the 1931 aerial photo above. The far left building is the Washington Canoe Club (built a year later in 1904), which still stands. Everything from about the “U” in University to the right is Dempsey’s Boathouse. It was really quite large.

This is, unfortunately, one of the few clear photos GM has ever found of the boathouse. Here is another, showing the boathouse from the rear (and which shows how close it was to the B & O railroad tracks):

Unlike the Washington Canoe Club (or the Potomac Boat Club on the other side of the Aqueduct bridge) Dempsey’s was not a private club. It was a public boathouse that offered canoes and kayaks for rental.

Here the boathouse was described in 1913:

While the boathouse was built in 1903, the house was substantial expanded in 1914 (and thus the photos above show it in its expanded form). The Post wrote about the expansion:

The club operated until 1960, when it was replaced by Thompson’s Boathouse. Sadly it then burned to the ground the following year:

The land where Dempsey’s Boathouse once stood is vacant now, spare some trees. The plot is targeted for additional boat storage as part of NPS’s long dormant plan to increase the number of boathouses along the Potomac:

But for now (and likely well into the future) the land will host nothing but a few maples and ducks.

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Where Clyde’s Restaurant got its name.
• GM sent an email to the BID’s Jamie Scott and got a paternity leave out-of-office reply. Congrats Jamie!!

C & O Canal

Sadly it appears that Zannchi has closed. The restaurant now has signage up saying that something call City Sliders is coming to replace it.

Zannchi, which opened in 2016, won early plaudits for its Korean comfort food and secured a steady crowd of Georgetown University students, likely drawn to its affordable prices. Soon Kung Fu Tea opened up on the second floor.

GM was not able to verify Zannchi’s closure, nor could he find any information on City Sliders. The sign states that it is “fusion cuisine”, which might suggest an Asian spin on tiny hamburgers.

It’s a shame to see Zannchi close, but it’s surely better that it will be quickly replaced than for it to be vacant.

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Update on the canal boat getting built right now.
• Nice article on the challenges of communities, like Georgetown, dealing with students returning to a campus that isn’t open.

C & O Canal

We’ve hit the rainy season here in DC. And you’d be forgiven for thinking that means our street trees can rely on Mother Nature for their needed water. But sadly you’d be mistaken. We still need to water our street trees, particularly those recently planted.

The thing about out nearly daily afternoon monsoons is that they are over relatively quickly. And while a lot can come down in that short time, it mostly runs right into the sewer (hence the brief flooding spells we’ll see on the street). The ground hardly has chance at all to absorb the water before it’s gone. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM’s been waiting on a package sent from King of Prussia, PA since last Monday. Have other people been experiencing excessive package delays too?
• A. Scott Bolden recalls the time the police pinned him to the ground outside his own Georgetown house because his security alarm went off.

1600 block of Wisconsin Ave.