Ghosts of DC

The DC doctor who held a dying Lincoln also had a wild idea: wrap the entire city in a giant mosquito net anchored to the Washington Monument. ghostsofdc.org/2012/10/19/mos…

Just west of Rosslyn there was a ravine where bodies turned up so often locals called it Dead Man's Hollow. Then one prosecutor grabbed an axe and decided to fix it. ghostsofdc.org/2014/05/15/dan…

In August 1960, a 19-year-old model was hoisted by forklift into a glass house on top of Anacostia's Big Chair. She lived up there for 42 days. ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/12/big…

In August 1929, a developer ran a full-page ad for four brand-new Chevy Chase houses: $1,500 down, slate roofs, sun parlors. Nine weeks later, Black Tuesday hit. Here's what happened next. ghostsofdc.org/2013/11/27/192…

Ever wondered what your DC neighborhood looked like 150 years ago? We dug up 23 gorgeous 1874 real estate maps showing LeDroit Park, Mount Pleasant, Uniontown, Barry Farm and more. ghostsofdc.org/2020/01/31/187…

Built as luxury apartments weeks before the 1929 crash, this Foggy Bottom building kept a hand-operated elevator until 2011. Its bar looks like a British manor in colonial Shanghai, and there's a reason why. ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/11/hot…

An eight-minute bathroom schedule, tripling up at the sink, and finding your husband down the hall: rare 1943 photos capture life inside a DC boarding house. ghostsofdc.org/2014/01/06/pho…

In 1918, a nation was declared from a window at 2400 16th Street NW. Ten senators lived there. A Holiday Inn was sketched in the lobby. Meet the Senatorial Beehive: ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/10/mer…

In 1912, Washingtonians crowded a granite-fronted showroom on Connecticut Avenue to gawk at the newest Cadillacs. For 15 years, this was where DC's elite came to buy their luxury cars. ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/10/coo…

In July 1952, radar over the Capitol lit up with objects no one could identify. Jets scrambled, pilots gave chase, and the blips vanished the moment fighters arrived, then returned when they left. ghostsofdc.org/2018/02/26/fly…

Eight minutes in the bathroom, or social suicide: step inside a 1943 DC boardinghouse through Esther Bubley's stunning wartime photos. ghostsofdc.org/2014/01/06/pho…

In 1976, a State Department officer walked out of Foggy Bottom, drove home to Bethesda, and murdered his entire family. He's been missing ever since. The FBI still wants him at age 89. ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/09/bis…

He laid the Washington Monument's cornerstone in 1848, watched its capstone placed 36 years later, and in between became the last man DC residents would elect as mayor for over a century. ghostsofdc.org/2013/11/18/las…

In June 1925, a family drive along Connecticut Avenue ended in horror when their sedan tore through the Klingle Bridge railing and plunged 75 feet. Only one tiny passenger survived. ghostsofdc.org/2012/04/20/two…

One brick storefront on Macomb Street. Before 2 Amys fired up its wood oven, it hosted a New York scalp specialist, a radio repairman who went bust in the Depression, and the cobbler who resoled Amy Carter's shoes. ghostsofdc.org/2018/06/05/bef…

A jump down the elevator shaft, a catcher chasing a ball dropped 500 feet, and a 10-hour bomb standoff ended by a record sniper shot. Three wild stories from the Washington Monument. ghostsofdc.org/2012/03/13/thr…

In October 1814, with the Capitol still smoldering, the House came within 9 votes of moving the seat of government out of Washington for good. One South Carolinian's tiebreaker nearly ended DC. ghostsofdc.org/2012/03/01/the…

In 1924, DC threw a massive send-off party at the Willard for Walter Johnson before the World Series. Even the world's most famous gatecrasher bought a ticket. ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/03/the…

You can't legally fly over the White House today. But for a few decades, photographers routinely circled at 1,000 feet with cameras rolling, capturing a South Lawn most Americans have never seen. ghostsofdc.org/2013/11/11/awe…

A decapitated dog named Ginger. A rogue USDA scientist. An axe-wielding half-goat stalking Fletchertown Road. The 1970s origin of Maryland's strangest legend: ghostsofdc.org/2023/11/03/mar…