The Georgetown Metropolitan

Tudor Place

GM received word that the National Park Service has approved plans to restore the tennis courts in Montrose Park. Specifically:

The park will be moving ahead this spring with development of the plans for the reconstruction of the tennis courts at Montrose Park.  The expected time for actual construction is spring of 2018.  I will have more information once a contract for the design work has been awarded.  Only the initial scoping of work has been completed at this time.

The promise to restore the courts has been in the ether since at least the time that the developer of the Montrose promised to do so. The construction of the Montrose came and went without any sign of the tennis courts getting repaired. But apparently the developer did make a donation and that was the seed money to the fund-raising effort that financed the eventual project. Continue reading →

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Dixie Liquor set to reopen in March.
• Tudor Place tickets are just $1 for all of this month.

1300 block of 33rd St.

In connection with the sudden closure of Sea Catch, GM thought it would be interesting to revisit his article about how the space that Sea Catch occupied was, in part, where the IBM corporation was founded.):

Today GM introduces yet another in his long line of occasional series: Did You Realize? As he digs into the history of Georgetown, GM sometimes comes across a fact or story that is surprising and not widely known.

For the first installment of this new series, GM asks you this: Did you realize that IBM was started here?

It’s true. It all started with the 1890 Census. The prior census almost took an entire decade to compile. Thus to complete the 1890 census on time, the Census Bureau realized that they needed to turn to technology. Serendipitously, just one year earlier, a Buffalo inventor, Herman Hollerith, received a patent on the great-great-great-grandfather of the computer hard-drive: the punched card. Recognizing the benefit of Hollerith’s invention, the Census Bureau hired him. Continue reading →

Photo by Kin Lane.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice culinary tour of DC, which starts out at Georgetown’s Das.
• Portrait of Yarrow Marmout is on display at the National Portrait gallery right now.

Oak Hill Cemetery

After a long wait, the highly anticipated (by GM at least) French bakery Boulangerie Christophe will open this Saturday.

GM first reported on the possible opening of the store way back in 2015. Apparently it will have an “all day bakery and cafe downstairs. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the upstairs restaurant.” The restaurant’s website has some pictures, but no menu yet. Continue reading →

Photo by Bob M.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Sea Catch has closed.
• Some Valentine’s Day specials around Georgetown.

3200 block of Volta Place