The Georgetown Metropolitan

Last night GM was eating take out pizza with his daughter when around 7:30 a constant stream of fire engine sirens got him curious enough to investigate. He quickly found about seven fire trucks and a few ambulances tending to a smoking fire at 1510 Wisconsin Ave.

When GM arrived there was still smoke coming out a hole in the roof of the building. Soon firefighters worked their way inside and helped put down whatever was smoldering. They smashed the glass windows on the second floor in the process.

While the fire did not appear to be major, Luigi Parasmo next door was filled with smoke (and you could smell the smoke from the blocks around).

All in all, while there will certainly be damage to repair, it does not appear that anyone was harmed. Continue reading →

Photo by Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• If you want to eat healthy, and you’re loaded, the Four Seasons has some great news for you.
• What $6,000/mo gets you in Georgetown (and other places)

Dumbarton Oaks Park

This week for Now and a Long Time Ago, GM visits P and Wisconsin. The old photo again comes courtesy of the fantastic Old Time DC (which GM highly encourages you to follow!).

The scene is supposedly 1959, and shows some fantastic relics. Like the last edition, the most obvious site is the PCC streetcar chugging up Wisconsin. If you zoom in the photo, you can see at the far right where the streetcar would switch from getting power from the slot on the ground to overhead wires. Here’s a shot looking south from a block up:

As for the rest of the shot, you can make out quite a bit. Starting in the distance, you can just make out what appears to be a Texaco sign at what is now the Shell gas station.

The streetcar obscures the view of the shops south of Volta (but the Phoenix was there having been opened a few years before). Moving down to the corner of P St., the first visible shop is something called “Ann’s Kitchen”. According to her 1980 obituary, Ann R. Taylor owned and operated the shop from 1948 to 1959 (i.e. supposedly the year of the photo). According to the obituary it was a location “where gourmet fare as the very best cheeses, hopies, croissants, and espresso machines were sold.” Although she sold gourmet foods, apparently it wasn’t necessarily her cup of tea. She once told the Post “I frankly can’t understand why snails are so popular. They taste like little pieces of old rubber to me.” You and GM both, Ann… Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Great long profile of Nancy Taylor Bubes, a Georgetown original.
• Mayor proposes budget that still supports streetcar extension to Georgetown.

Dumbarton Oaks Park

The Georgetown BID resumed its summer sidewalk widening this past weekend. This project takes the on-street parking lanes on M St. between 33rd and Wisconsin and closes them off to allow pedestrians to use them. This year the effort will aim to last straight through the holiday season.

This idea to take the parking and use it for pedestrians had been around for years, but only gained momentum with the Georgetown 2028 project. The first year it was tried out as a pilot was 2015. Due to its success it has continued, with slightly longer seasons. Last year it went to November. This year they’re aiming to continue right to Dec. 31. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrells.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown University wouldn’t be true to the Georgetown name if it didn’t live in the past too much.
• While they looked like barges, the old canal vessels that piloted the C & O Canal were boats, because they could navigate. Barges can’t.

1500 block of 33rd St.