The Georgetown Metropolitan

Potomac River

All yes, the dreaded ginkgoes. This week GM tackles his long stinky nemesis. If you live here, you’re probably already familiar with these trees, but if not, here we go.

The ginkgo is an old tree. A really, really old tree. It has been around for at least 270 million years. That’s 9.8 billion Scaramuccis.

The tree is only found in the wild in China, but it has long been chosen as an ornamental tree throughout the globe. It is chosen primarily for the brilliant yellow fall foliage it displays. You’ll be able to see this around Rose Park, R St. by Montrose Park and Potomac St. in about 4-6 weeks.

You can recognize the tree during the summer months from it’s distinctive and quite beautiful fan-shaped leaf:

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Photo by Omar Bárcena.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown-based company developing a method of fiber optic wires that can be laid directly on the road.
• GM had to miss the ANC meeting last night, but apparently the commission came out against the proposed cutting of Circulator stops.

Potomac Boat Club

Signage up at 1037 33rd St. indicates that a MacKenzie-Childs store is coming to that location. This is a New York-based furniture/homeware company that specializes in a certain….style? Affectation? Let’s just say it must be an acquired taste. Continue reading →

Photo by Joe Flood.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Rapha website confirms that they’re coming to 3025 M St., but this suggests it’s just a pop-up. (GM should point out that East Banc often hosts “pop up” stores that end up being around for years, like the West Elm).
• Crazy story involving an employee of the Georgetown Wells Fargo ripping off a homeless man with nearly $200,000.

1000 block of 29th St.

Photo by Joe Flood.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice memory from the descendant of a man who once owned a barbershop on Wisconsin Ave.
• If you’ve noticed odd bikes around, like the ones above, here’s what that’s about.

Dumbarton Oaks

Today for Georgetown Time Machine, we’ll visit the heart of commercial Georgetown: M and Wisconsin.

The photo, part of a series of aerial shots of Wisconsin Ave., is from about 1960. For the most part, not a lot has changed between then and now in this scene. But here are some notable differences:

The building on the north side of Grace St. along Wisconsin Ave. is still the former building. The building now occupied by Patagonia came later. And across the street, you can just make out the old building that once stood where a surface parking lot is now.

The Georgetown Park mall was still about two decades away from being built, so you can still see what the block looked like when it hosted a streetcar facility. Continue reading →