Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

The lost and untold history of Washington, DC. New and old content regularly tweeted automagically for your scrolling pleasure. ghostsofdc.org Washington, D.C. Joined January 2012

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a hour ago

September 1872: 200 laborers show up at dusk to tear down a Washington market before dawn. By the next afternoon, a butcher and a 14-year-old boy were dead. Boss Shepherd signed the order. ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/17/nor…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

6 hours ago

March 1912: Cleveland Park boys in a backyard shack called themselves Robin Hood's merry men, roasting "venison" by lamplight. Then someone knocked over the lamp, and three fire companies came charging down Newark Street. ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/17/331…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

21 hours ago

For 130 years, the most ceremonial street in DC had a name that sounded like a highway exit: B Street. The story of how it became Constitution Avenue involves a buried creek, a doomed market, and a congressman who died two days before his bill was signed. ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/21/why…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a day ago

Just west of Rosslyn was a ravine so notorious that farmers rode through it in armed convoys. They called it Dead Man's Hollow, and the bodies kept turning up. ghostsofdc.org/2014/05/15/dan…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a day ago

In 1937, the Washington Post promised Barnaby Woods buyers 'careful architectural and social restrictions.' We went looking for them in the deeds. What we found a few blocks away was spelled out in full. ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/16/bar…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 days ago

In 1925, a sitting US president walked up 16th Street to lay the cornerstone of a Jewish community center and declared that "Hebraic mortar cemented the foundations of American democracy." ghostsofdc.org/2019/08/29/dcj…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 days ago

Before it towered over DC, the National Cathedral was a maze of scaffolding and stone. These vintage photos from the 1920s and 30s show it rising piece by piece. ghostsofdc.org/2014/04/15/ear…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 days ago

In 1970, an unemployed bread truck driver hijacked a jet to Dulles, demanded $100 million from the Supreme Court, and insisted the IRS owed him exactly $471.78. It ended in a shootout. ghostsofdc.org/2019/09/03/dul…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 days ago

John Adams slept here. So did a future Chief Justice. The man who ran DC's first hotel sold socks out of the lobby, then vanished so completely even 1850s historians gave up looking for him. ghostsofdc.org/2013/04/18/inc…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 days ago

In 1913, Woodrow Wilson broke a 112-year silence and walked into Congress to deliver the State of the Union out loud. Here's what he said, and why Jefferson stopped the tradition in the first place. ghostsofdc.org/2016/01/12/woo…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 days ago

Lunchtime on 7th Street NW, November 1929: the sidewalk suddenly lifts 40 feet into the air. Six strangers were dead in seconds, and none of them worked at the store above the blast. ghostsofdc.org/2014/02/03/mcc…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 days ago

In 1906, a woman swallowed a diamond at 1612 14th St NW and got 5 years in prison. That's just one chapter in the wild history of what's now Pearl Dive Oyster Palace. ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/10/pea…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 days ago

Arlington County was almost called Mount Washington. The twisting path from a 17th century English earl to Robert E. Lee's confiscated estate explains how it got its name instead. ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/16/why…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 days ago

Critics called it the world's largest doughnut, a Fuehrer Bunker, and an illuminated babka. How did the Hirshhorn end up on the Mall, and what stood there before? ghostsofdc.org/2012/03/22/all…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 days ago

The Hope Diamond once lived on a 75-acre hilltop estate off Wisconsin Ave, complete with an 18-hole golf course. By 1942, it was all gone. What replaced it is still standing today. ghostsofdc.org/2013/10/16/nam…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 days ago

He was a Hawaiian prince, jailed for treason, who ended up walking from a Mass Ave mansion to the US Capitol every day for 19 years. The only prince ever to serve in Congress lived, lobbied, and played baseball right here in DC. ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/13/pri…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

5 days ago

How did "bringing home the bacon" go from a congressman's proudest boast to a dirty word in Washington? One SC rep steered so much pork to Charleston, locals joked about standing still too long. ghostsofdc.org/2012/08/20/con…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

5 days ago

In 1986, three Bowie teens died driving home from a night of Georgetown bars. By Tuesday, DC had reversed years of resistance and raised the drinking age. What finally broke the holdout: ghostsofdc.org/2014/01/29/dri…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

5 days ago

For over 70 years, DC taxis didn't use meters. Instead, a quirky zone system dictated your fare, and Congress fought for decades to keep it that way. Here's how it finally ended in 2008: ghostsofdc.org/2023/11/10/zon…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

6 days ago

In 1969, James Brown performed "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" at Richard Nixon's inauguration. Even stranger? He'd campaigned for the other guy months earlier. ghostsofdc.org/2013/01/17/jam…