The Georgetown Metropolitan

Longtime ANC2E Executive Director Peter Sacco is stepping down from this role to take up an exciting position in the DC government. He will be greatly missed by the ANC and the community. And not just here in Georgetown. Peter was executive director of ANCs in Dupont and Foggy Bottom as well.

Peter is leaving big shoes to fill, and maybe your feet can fit! ANC2E is currently hiring Peter’s replacement. This is a great job for a civically minded resident looking for a part time job. We are also open to exploring a similar arrangement that Peter had with the other ANCs. Please reach out to me at 2e02@anc.dc.gov if you have any questions or are interested!

Here is the full job description:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Former Google CEO bought the former Jackie Kennedy house.
• GU students trying to get renowned union-buster, Starbucks, off campus.

Sherwin Williams will be covering the earth with paint from a little further up Wisconsin Ave. The store is leaving its longtime location at 1805 Wisconsin Ave. and moving up to Glover Park.

I have not confirmed, but I believe this departure is in connection with the approved construction of a new apartment building on that corner:

This building will occupy the Sherwin Williams space as well as the former Next Day Blinds and the parking lot. The project was supposed to begin construction back in 2022, with delivery by this year. But it clearly was delayed. I hope that Sherwin Williams moving is a sign it is finally moving forward.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Yesterday was the anniversary of Georgetown losing its legal independence.
• Coco Health salon robbed last week.

Longtime readers will know that one of my great worries with Georgetown is the risk that Dessert Deserts might arise. These are desolate stretches of commercial strips where a poor soul will have to travel as far as two blocks to find a purveyor of frozen treats. When last I looked into this situation, I found that two dessert deserts were emerging along Wisconsin Ave. Sadly today those stretches are still somewhat bereft, moreover, the overall ice cream situation in Georgetown is stable, but still presents some concerns.

Back in 2018, there were seven shops selling ice cream or frozen yogurt. After a few closures and openings, we stand at the same level in 2024. Or, at least we will once Ice Cream Jubilee opens in the old District Donut spot on M St. This should shore up Georgetown’s western defenses. But with the closures of Ben And Jerry’s and Cream and Crepes, our eastern flank is woefully exposed. Hagan Daas is the thin maroon line that separates us from total chaos.

So if you happen to find yourself on the eastern end of the neighborhood on a hot summer day, you’re going to actually earn that Rocky Road as you schlep up to four blocks to your “closest” shop.

Stay tuned for more Dessert Desert news as it evolves.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some business ins and outs.
• Events around Georgetown for Black History Month.

This week, in honor of Barnes and Noble returning to Georgetown, Washingtonian put out a list of former Georgetown establishments they’d love to see come back. In honor of that desire, for Georgetown Time Machine this week I thought I’d skim through my old pile of photos from 1993 and pluck out those with some of the more dearly departed shops. Enjoy!

Georgetown Cafe: For a certain vintage of GU student, this was the spot for late, late night eats. It closed up sometime in the late 2000s, I believe.

Peoples Drug: This pharmacy chain pre-dated the introduction of CVS taking over the whole market. I don’t know if it was better per se, but it at least was local.

The French Market: This high end market can be seen on the right above. Georgetown foodies who were lucky enough to know it, still rave about it.

Pied au Conchon: I’ve written about this place plenty. It was fairly long in the tooth by the time I got to Georgetown 20 plus years ago, but it was still a big loss.

Olsson’s: This local book store chain was still in great shape when I got here in the late 90s. But between big box stores and Amazon (and Napster) its demise came quickly.

There are surely other stores that were around in 1993 that are dearly missed, but sadly they are not in my photo collection. If you could bring back just one store from Georgetown’s past, what would you choose?

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New store called Rails open. It sells clothes, not cheap liquor (as the name might suggest…)
• Nice summary of some significant real estate projects in the works.

In honor of Black History Month, I am re-running a piece from 2016 touching on the complicated relationship between preservation and the Black community in Georgetown.

Most people with even just a passing knowledge of Georgetown history are aware that at some point in the neighborhood’s past there was once a significant African American population that is for the most part not around anymore. Those with a slightly deeper knowledge will attest to the fact that Georgetown was in the 1930s the first neighborhood in DC to undergo a process that was later to be called gentrification. But what most people don’t realize is how much the current state of Georgetown was intentionally built upon that process.

Among the first qualities of Georgetown cited by people extolling its charms is the historic architecture of the neighborhood. And it’s true that Georgetown as a neighborhood is a virtual ark of American architecture from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. One of the reasons the building stock has survived is that Georgetown entered a long economic lull in the late 19th century. It was an age of benign neglect which spared Georgetown from dramatic demolition and expansion that a more prosperous time would have inevitably brought. By the time interest grew again for living in Georgetown in the 1930s, the fog of nostalgia had descended. The first flickers of a wider preservationist movement (Colonial Williamsburg was formed in the 1920s to wide acclaim) sparked a drive to save Georgetown as it stood.

That, at least, is the sanitized version of how Georgetown became Georgetown.

Continue reading →

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Wall with sketchy past, lowers its price.
• Great collection of old photos of industrial Georgetown.