The Georgetown Metropolitan

There’s a beautiful new mural on P St. It’s on the side of the Just Paper & Tea at 3232 P St. It appears to be a woman drinking tea with a giant pencil on her back (presumably in keeping with the store’s wares).

GM noticed the artist spray painting the mural Sunday night, but was rushing to a birthday party and couldn’t inquire about it. It looks like the work of Aniekan Udofia but that’s just a guess. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Vegetarian smoothy place, Postmodern Foods, coming to M St.
• Bank of Georgetown sells out.
• Georgetown’s 7-11 locations sold.

Montrose Park

In the process of researching the Exorcist steps two weeks ago, GM came across a fact that he was surprised to find: despite its impression of permanence, the Car Barn has changed quite a bit over the years.

The photo above shows the top of the Car Barn as it exists today. But that is already a lot different from how it appeared in 1966:

Notice that there are not buildings on the roof in 1966 as there is today. Also, there’s no clock, which is really surprising, because you’d think that a tower like that would have always had a clock on it. Interestingly, when Roy O. Chalk–the owner of the streetcar system before it was closed down–died in 1996, the Post describes the Georgetown car barn as having a “Romanesque clock tower [that rears] up from the District-side of the Key Bridge.” It is a tower. And it does have a clock on it, but that’s a relatively recent development. Continue reading →

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Madda Fella, another southern clothing store, is holding a pop-up in the old Capitol Prague space. (GM is counting this as yet another example of clothing stores taking over former restaurant space on M St., even if it is just temporary.)
• Have a Night out with Georgetown authors Nov. 19th.

3300 block of N St.

Photo by DoD News Features.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

•  Why Wisconsin Ave. looks different between Q and R these days.
• GM always assumed this building was just a garage. Guess not.

Potomac River

In his retelling of the story of the Exorcist Steps, GM described 36th St. prior to the steps’ construction as “flowing over” a steep rocky hillside running from Prospect down to M St. A reader wrote in an corrected GM. 36th St. was on maps but it wasn’t really much of a true road.

The photo above from 1865 shows 36th St. (which at the time was called Gay St.) as it tumbles down to M St. (which was itself known as Falls St. at this time). It’s a stretch to call it a street. Yes you could probably scramble up the slope to get to Prospect St., but it would be even harder than it is to sprint up the Exorcist Steps today. Continue reading →

Photo by DoD News Features.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Keep the Halloween season alive with a nightly ghost tour.
• GM left too early to do a proper write-up of Monday’s ANC meeting. Here’s a good one.