Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield
by Ann Kessler Looking at Connecticut Avenue between Van Ness and Albemarle Streets today, it might be hard to imagine that it was once a destination for drivers seeking gas for their cars. There isn’t even one gas station left. But where there are office buildings and stores and restaurants today, there used to be […]
“We Shall Not Bore the Reader.” That’s the first rule of The Blue and Gold, and a pretty good rule for any publication to keep in mind. But this newspaper is staffed by fourth and fifth graders at Murch Elementary School. The 17 student reporters work under the guidance of Aaron Epstein, an award-winning journalist. […]
by Steve Dryden Way back in the last century, there was a restroom at Peirce Mill – actually next to the Peirce Barn, but it did serve the purpose of making it easier to “use the facilities” without crossing Tilden Street and walking to the picnic pavilion. When the mill was restored, and the landscape […]
The first indoor shopping mall in DC was in Van Ness. Lady Bird Johnson carpooled with other Murch parents. Elvis was here. We have neighbor and historian Ann Kessler to thank for these stories and more. (She’s working on something cool right now. Stay tuned.) Here are some of the other DC historians and social […]
Did you know that today’s neighborhood kids flock to the same sledding hills as they did a century ago? And even in the early part of the last century, siblings could be a pain in the neck. But kids in today’s DC don’t spend their winter days caring for livestock or trying (unsuccessfully) to keep […]
by Ann Kessler The first people who lived here left their mark here. Archaeologists believe that the first inhabitants of the Washington, DC area arrived around 13,000 years ago. According to a 2008 archaeologists’ report on Rock Creek Park for the National Park Service, these ancient people built villages and left many artifacts along the […]
Who was Fred Rhodes? A federal worker whose long and varied resumé included the Manhattan Project and the Nixon administration, and later in life, a Baptist minister. But a century ago, he was just a kid in Forest Hills, and the Soapstone Valley was his playground. Thanks to the Historical Society of Washington and Ann […]
by Ann Kessler The Forest Hills Citizens Association was founded 90 years ago this year by some extraordinary people. One such early resident of Forest Hills was Joseph Sanders, an inventor, businessman, banker, civic leader and philanthropist. Sanders was already quite wealthy by the time he built his home at 2612 Tilden Street NW (now […]
Who was Fred Rhodes? A federal worker whose long and varied resumé included the Manhattan Project and the Nixon administration, and later in life, a Baptist minister. But a century ago, he was just a kid in Forest Hills, and the Soapstone Valley was his playground. Thanks to the Historical Society of Washington and Ann Kessler, […]
by Ann Kessler Some of Fred Burnett Rhodes’ descriptions of springtime in DC sound familiar – the brilliance of the azalea blooms, the minnows in Soapstone Creek. But he’s describing a childhood that began in 1913 on Albemarle Street. And his recollections include his father’s encounter with Prohibition agents, and bringing home a pony he’d […]
