by Ann Kessler On the Flagship Car Wash at 4432 Connecticut Avenue there’s a sign that says “Since 1941.” It’s off by a decade. The car wash was actually built in 1931, and has stood watch over decades of change along this block south of Albemarle Street. 4434 Connecticut The current home of Bread Furst, […]
The neighborhood history in a piece of wrought iron railing
Jerry McCoy, a special collections archivist and librarian at the DC Public Library, is retiring after 24 years. The news, reported by NBC4, got our attention because McCoy was posted at the Washingtoniana Collection’s interim Van Ness location in 2018, during the renovation of the MLK Library. We knew that because, shortly after Washingtoniana moved […]
Business in Brief: Bread Furst and Politics and Prose anniversaries, and a neighborhood border incursion
Two neighborhood businesses are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year: Bread Furst and Politics and Prose. For Bread Furst, it’s been ten years since the bakery opened its doors. Bread Furst’s debut on May 6th, 2014 marked the return of renowned baker and Marvelous Market founder Mark Furstenberg to the neighborhood, and local foodies were practically […]
Avalon Theatre’s May 5 gala celebrates history of film scores, and supports film education for DC schools
The Avalon Theatre’s gala on Sunday, May 5th will celebrate 90 years of Oscar-winning film scores. The next day, the theater will screen a documentary for a special audience that’s another focus of the annual fundraising event. Cinema Classroom at the Avalon began in 2013 and is a free program for DC students in 6th […]
“Undesign the Redline” exhibit views and teaches the history of Ward 3 neighborhoods (including ours) through a different lens
by Joy Bates Boyle “Undesign the Redline” (not about the Metro!) is an interactive, traveling exhibit that explores the history of explicit race-based exclusion, specifically in upper Northwest DC. It presents the policies that created structural racism and inequality, the systems that resulted, and how we can come together in an intentional way to “undesign” […]
Lost Forest Hills: The Rose Hill quarry
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 […]
Neighborhood in the News: Another ambassador moving in; Rent on the rise; The real birthplace of the U.S. atomic age
After living in hotels and other temporary homes in Washington for the past two years, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog is getting a new and permanent official residence. And it’s in Forest Hills. The mansion at 3301 Fessenden Street NW was built in 2019 and originally listed for $15 million dollars. The list price when it […]
Grant Road: A historic country lane in Northwest DC’s modern street grid
by Ann Kessler Throughout DC are several streets that run only a few blocks at a time. They don’t fit in the grid of numbered and alphabetical street names, and they’re not the avenues named for the states. These are remnants of roads that were here before the city grew into the District of Columbia […]
Peirce Barn heading for first renovation in 50 years; Rock Creek Conservancy gets an unusual donation
Some news about Rock Creek Park attractions. The mill at Peirce Mill has been the focus of ongoing restoration efforts since Friends of Peirce Mill formed in the 1990s. Now, Peirce Barn is getting some attention. According to the mill group, the barn at 2401 Tilden Street NW has served many functions over its past […]
Forest Hills Park has a 90-year history of parent advocacy, DIYs, and many do-overs
Forest Hills Park and Playground have taken many forms over the years. And it exists today because of the efforts of neighborhood parents and grandparents going back almost 90 years. Acquiring the property at 32nd and Chesapeake Streets took a federal lobbying effort. Leslie Boudinot Flenner Wright, a neighborhood activist and mother of four, had […]