The Georgetown Metropolitan

3500 block of Water St.

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Every one of the current councilmembers signed on to a letter denouncing Jack Evans for seeking the Ward 2 seat he just quit.
• Another argument in favor of the gondola.

Montrose Park

Photo by Nathan Arrington.

GM asked this question last year, and it’s still relevant:

Over the weekend, GM finally took down his Christmas tree and chucked it to the curb for pickup. Many would surely laugh that it was still up at all. And the ease with which each branch snapped suggested that the tree would agree with that assessment.

GM grudgingly agrees that explicitly Christmas decorations like a tree or a creche should probably come down in January. GM doesn’t agree with the people who completely de-Christmasify December 26th. But, sure, a rapidly drying Douglas fir should probably not still be inside come MLK Day. Continue reading →

Photo by Washington Area Spark.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Ward Two residents react negatively to Jack Evans’ entry into the councilmember race his ethical violations wrought.
• Protestors arrested on GU campus.

3400 block of O St.

In a move as shameless as it is cynical, Jack Evans is running to reclaim the Council seat he just quit under imminent threat of expulsion.

With six candidates already running for the seat, Evans’ strategy is a clear as it is Trumpian: allow the vote to be split and win a small plurality. By taking this step, whatever withered husk of a reputation remained has been covered in a pile of excrement and set aflame.

And it reveals as true what GM has been saying all along: Evans is only sorry for being caught. He has never once expressed any true contrition for any of his serious ethical violations, despite there being plenty to choose from.

This man is an embarrassment and he’s aiming to make Ward 2 as much of an embarrassment. Frankly, he shouldn’t even be thinking about running for office until he pays back to the city the $1 million that the special election will cost–a special election made necessary by his years of unethical behavior finally coming to light. Continue reading →

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• An album composed by Caroline Shaw inspired by her stay at Dumbarton Oaks won a Grammy this week.
• And yes, yes, f*cking Jack Evans is trying to win back the seat he just quit. (GM will have more to say about this later).

3200 block of P St.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is checking out a photo of the Vigilant Firehouse at 1066 Wisconsin Ave. It is from the archives of the Historical Society of Washington DC. The record indicates that it is from between 1923 and 1927.

Like many buildings in Georgetown, it is blessed with a wikipedia page, which states:

The current building was built in 1844 as a two-story 22 feet (6.7 m) by 44 feet (13 m) rectangle with a single room on each floor, a square wooden cupola and a gable facing the street. An early addition was a two-story shed in the rear, likely used as a stable on the first floor and for hay storage on the second. A single story shed was added to the south, and a two-story addition to the north, both of which run the full depth of the building. Including the additions, the building measures 56 feet (17 m) by 81 feet (25 m).

On the front gable a stone is inscribed “Vigilant, Instituted, 1817” and below this is a wrought iron “V”, likely a trademark for the Vigilants. The “V” also serves as a tension rod tie and is matched by an “S” on the back of the building.

The Vigilants was a private fire company that operated in Georgetown from 1817. In 1867 it was absorbed into the government of the city of Georgetown. And then later it was reorganized under the DC government, which didn’t have a professional municipal fire department until 1871. (Side note: often you’ll see fire insurance badges on houses like this:

When there were only private fire brigades, you needed this on the front of your house in order to assure the brigades that they’d get paid for their services. The thing is, you often see them on homes in Georgetown built after 1871. This is an attempt, essentially, to add anachronistic bric-a-brac to the house, like a fake water pump or never-used horse tie-up post). Continue reading →