The Georgetown Metropolitan

1400 block of 33rd St.

Sure you could celebrate St. Patrick’s day today getting drunk on Guinness at a chain bar, but why not take an opportunity today to explore Georgetown’s Irish history?

As you may know, during the early 20th century, parts of Georgetown were heavily Irish. The center of it was on the west side, close to the Catholic landmarks of GU, Trinity and Visitation.

The Irish concentration is long gone, but with the help of old photos you can imagine the ghosts still walking the streets. In the 30s, photographer Carl Mydans walked through the poor and heavily Irish blocks of west Georgetown and captured the scene of children treating the sidewalks as their playroom:

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Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown and Happy St. Patrick’s Day, here’s the latest:

• Irish patriot Theobald Wolfe Tone’s wife and child were once buried in Georgetown.
• Whole Food’s corporate is really dedicated to the false idea that they have a store in Georgetown instead of Glover Park.

1600 block of 28th St.

GM has lots of unpopular opinions. For instance, he thinks ketchup, mustard, and mayo are all terrible and ruin any sandwich or hot-dog they’re on. He thinks Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney is good as far as Christmas pop tunes go. And-more relevant to today’s discussion-he thinks the West Heating Plant on 29th St. in Georgetown is an attractive building.

Of course it isn’t like most architecture in Georgetown. And perhaps for that reason alone most people hate it. When they elaborate on their hatred, it normally involves words like “looming” or “gargantuan”. GM thinks those are all features of what is in fact an attractive and muscular style. It shares Streamlined Moderne features you’d just as likely find in a 1940’s Buick. In fact, in many ways the building and the works it contains is itself like some gigantic mid-century V8 engine covered up with a giant hood:

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Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Photo of one of the enslaved men sold by Georgetown University surfaces.
• Only a couple more days to eat at the Shophouse, which is closing Friday.

1500 block of 33rd St.

GM writes a lot about street trees and what you can do to help them stay alive, and, moreover, what you shouldn’t do, like prune them yourself. You might be led to conclude that if a tree is on your property, you can do whatever you like. But that is simply not true. The city has strict regulations about how you can prune or take down a tree on your property. And a resident just flagrantly violated those rules and will likely face a hefty fine as a result.

The rules are fairly complicated, but roughly speaking: if you have a decent sized tree on your property you cannot cut it down or dramatically prune it without either getting an arborist to certify that it’s dying or paying a fairly large fee. The rules have been around for a while, but they were updated last year by Council legislation. Here are the rules in more detail: Continue reading →

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Press Secretary gets confronted at the Georgetown Apple Store.
• Lots of the most expensive homes sold in DC last month were in Georgetown.

1500 block of 34th St.