The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Tyler Merbler.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• There was a nice Ward 2 Democratic candidate forum Monday night, you can watch it here.
• How places like the Sovereign are more than just food and drinks.

Last week, GM took a deep dive into a random real estate new article from 1902. In charting out the physical reality described in the article, he relied on a couple very old, very detailed maps. GM thought it would be interesting for readers to learn exactly where those came from and how they might check them out for themselves. It can even help you find the first “picture” of your house.

The maps are insurance maps. They were drawn up to give fire insurance companies an accurate picture of what risk any particular building might face. As a result they depict each structure’s footprint in enormous detail, including the building’s materials (i.e. wood versus brick). Plus, they’re just really lovely maps.

Several different companies prepared the maps for DC, including most notably G. M Hopkins and the Sanborn Map Company. Digital versions of some of the annual collections of maps are available online.

For the earliest collection GM can find, go to the DC Public Library’s online Washingtonia Collection. They have five different editions of the G.M. Hopkins maps, with the earliest from 1887.

The way they typically work is that the first page has a key to to whole city showing with plate each part of the city will appear:

You then can navigate to that plate to see the detailed map. For instance for the 1887 map (above) lower east Georgetown appeared on Plate 38:

(As with this plate, often they appear with north facing right, instead of up.)

The Hopkins maps are interesting both because they are the oldest and because they have a great deal of information about the property owners:

Continue reading →

3400 block of Volta Place

Frankly, if GM were Jack Evans’ campaign manager, he might point out the poor optics of the candidate’s campaign signs being in a vacant Wisconsin Ave. storefront. He’d also suggest a strategy of “not be corrupt”, but the ship has sailed on both those fronts.

There are two issues GM hears most with regards to Jack Evans’ performance as the former Ward Two Councilmember: his parking and the sorry state of Wisconsin Ave. While it must be tempting for Evans to keep his signs protected from vandalism behind glass, it’s really a bit too on the nose.

Photo by John Weiss.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU alums rally to support Wisemiller’s.
• Another Georgetown-founded company, this one Framebridge, looks to be going bigtime.

C & O Canal

GM was taking his morning constitutional through Volta Park yesterday and saw that the pool was being vigorously cleaned by three workers. It will be great to dive into the pristine pool come Memorial Day, next year.

GM might have been in part responsible for this scene. Last week he noticed that the pool was about a quarter full of dark green sludge. This seemed like a great way to grow about a billion mosquitos, so he reached out to the local ANC commissioner to alert him of the problem. DPR was contacted and this appears to be the result. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU expects to be short $50 mil.
• BID puts up signs encouraging mask use.

3200 block of Reservoir Rd.

Sometimes while researching some historical event, GM comes across old newspaper articles that aren’t really about the thing he was looking for, but which are a fascinating snapshot of the times nonetheless. And one such article about the real estate market in 1902 recently caught his eye. Here are some of the fun stories it tells.

It’s from June 29, 1902. The short article is not entirely about Georgetown; it covers news tidbits from across the District. For example, the iconic Woodie’s Building downtown was being constructed:

That building is, of course, still standing, although the department store closed decades ago:

But obviously it was the Georgetown items that most interested GM. For instance, it discussed a social hall being built on 28th st.: Continue reading →