The Georgetown Metropolitan

3300 block of P St.

Photo by Guillermo Fdez.

Last month, GM announced that the fancy French patisserie, Laduree, was almost certainly coming to 3060 M St.  Now it is confirmed, at least accord to the June ANC agenda. The agenda lists a sign approval for Laduree at 3060 M St., as well as some more goodies:

• Something called “Curio” coming to 1071 Thomas Jefferson St.
• Something called the “Shade Store” is coming to 3324 M St. (where Phogenpohl currently is, which is apparently moving to 3327, which is where the Fedex Store is. GM’s not certain all these changes will occur.)
• An “Escape Room” is coming to 3333 M St. These are cool event spaces that have groups come and try to solve a mystery in order to get out of the room.

The meeting next Tuesday at 6:30 pm at Georgetown Visitation. Continue reading →

Photo by Payton Chung.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Georgetown Campus Plan discussions are already off to a much, much better start than the last time around.
• If you saw a weird looking boat in the river last week, it was this.

Dumbarton Oaks

GM is back this week for Now and Long Time Ago by returning to the great Willard R. Ross postcard collection at the DC Public Library archive. Specifically, he’s visiting the Masonic Hall on Wisconsin Ave. above M St.

Home to Weaver’s Hardware since 1889, the Masonic Hall was built approximately in 1878. Like all Masonic Halls, the meeting room in on the second floor. It’s there that Potomac Lodge No. 5 meets. This is the oldest Masonic Lodge in DC, and in fact predates the District having been founded as Maryland Lodge No. 9 in 1789. This lodge, which still meets in the building, has many treasures including the gavel used by George Washington when he laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

Weaver’s ran a typical hardware shop for most of its existence. Here’s a shot inside from 1920 (which is just 9 years after the postcard photo)

Continue reading →

Photo by Payton Chung.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some more stories from the descendants of the slaves sold by Georgetown University.
• It’s a hold-over from a long forgotten over-haul, but Farmers Fishers and Bakers still has some great tiki drinks.

2900 block of O St.

Speaking of streetcars in Georgetown, a lot of people are aware of the more famous artifacts around Georgetown of DC’s old streetcar system. There’s obviously the tracks on O and P St. And also the Car Barn. Some may know that the Georgetown Mall was once a streetcar facility as well. But not many realize that one of the more iconic sites in Georgetown is also streetcar-related: the Hoya Saxa sign. Continue reading →

Photo by Eloísa Ramírez Vaquero.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another write-up on the Georgetown streetcar meeting.
• The former Cappela Hotel is letting non-guests visit the roof for dinner, which, um, they said they wouldn’t.

The C & O Canal