The Georgetown Metropolitan

3300 block of P St.

Back 30 years ago in March, GM published a piece early on in the crisis with a few tips on how to get out of the house around Georgetown and still practice social distancing. Some of the advice got stale almost immediately after GM published it. So with some wisdom gleaned over the years that have passed these lasts couple weeks, GM has some revised advice:

GM had recommended Tudor Place. Sadly they closed literally the next day. But GM also recommended Dumbarton Oaks Park. And he can report that it is still open and as lovely as it has always been. Even on the weekends it has remained uncrowded, although the walk down Lover’s Lane might bring you in slightly closer contact than you might like. It is still a wonderful place for a walk and peaceful reflection.

GM had also recommended the parks like the waterfront or Volta Park, etc. These (particularly the waterfront) have a tendency to get a bit crowded. Depending on the day and your risk tolerance, you may want to avoid them for now. But GM can add Georgetown University to the list. His daughter has really enjoyed biking both on the campus as well as the nearby streets, which are unusually quiet now. On the weekends there’s a bit of an uptick of crowds, but it’s still fairly empty. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown still only has had 12 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
• The ANC voted on Monday night to request the city expand sidewalks on Wisconsin Ave. during the crisis and the expand the K St. bikelane towards the Capital Crescent Trail.

Montrose Park

There are a couple former schoolhouses in Georgetown that have been converted into condos. And you can buy up one of them when then come available every couple years. But if you want to own the whole school, you’re day has arrived: a former boy’s school on P St. is for sale.

And when GM says “former” he means really former. Like 180 years ago, former. According to the listing, the home was a boy’s school in the 1840s. Hopefully by now they’ve washed out the stench. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Damn, this house is ridiculous.
• Back when the only thing alarming a crowd at the waterfront might present was a chance of a surprise proposal.

1200 block of 30th St.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM was looking through the Henry Wagner collection at the Historical Society of Washington, DC and came across something he’d never heard of before: the Georgetown Poor House.

If you’ve read pretty much any book by Charles Dickens, you know that poor houses were facilities were the poorest residents of a community could go and live. The accommodations were notoriously spartan and the residents were expected to provide labor in exchange for the housing and food. But GM had never heard of such a place being in Georgetown. Turns out it wasn’t quite in Georgetown.

The Georgetown Poorhouse (also known as the Poor and Workhouse) was located in what is now Glover Park. Specifically, it was located just to the east of where the Guy Mason rec center now stands. It was built by the city of Georgetown in 1832, when this area was part of Georgetown. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another case of drivers ignoring commonsense, placing far too much faith in their GPS and ending up in the canal.
• The Starbucks is closing. No, not that one. Or that one. No, not that one either. The other one.

3100 block of P St.