The Georgetown Metropolitan

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.

This Thursday, CAG’s Concerts in the Parks committee is holding its annual fundraiser at Via Umbria. The event helps fund the three concert-series, which is always a big hit for the whole community.

The event is from 6:30-8:30, and fitting for the location, the theme is an Umbrian Holiday. There will be an Italian spritz bar, cheeses, and more. It’s always a fun time with neighbors, so come on out.

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Four Seasons is aiming to make Chinese visitors feel more at home.
• Descendants of the slaves sold by Georgetown University obtain a lawyer to represent them.

Montrose Park

Photo by MEB.

While most of the attention around the Georgetown 2028 project was focused on splashy items like the gondola or renovating the canal, the report called for many other smaller projects to improve the neighborhood. One of the action items involved improving the “gateways” to Georgetown. And the BID is now moving to address that goal.

The issue is over whether when a visitor arrives to Georgetown whether they even realize it. Depending on the way you approach Georgetown, you might not have any visual cue that you’ve arrived. For the main thoroughfares, like M St. or Wisconsin Ave., at least, the BID would like the transition to announce itself more.

How to do that is the question. And next week the BID is holding its first public session to survey for suggestions. The meeting will be held at the Georgetown Library next Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Here’s what the BID had to say in its public invite: Continue reading →