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

21 hours ago

Queen City, Arlington. 903 residents, 218 homes, a church, a school, a grocery. On April 17, 1942, the Army cleared the last of it to build the cloverleaf feeding the Pentagon. The families scattered, never relocated as a community. ghostsofdc.org/2026/06/04/pen…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 days ago

A Bentley double-parked on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda in July 1966. A chauffeur in full livery walked into a record store and asked for Brian Jones's stolen dulcimer. A 15-year-old from Chevy Chase had grabbed it from a van behind Washington Coliseum. ghostsofdc.org/2026/06/03/was…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 days ago

May 1957: Marilyn Monroe slept on a sofa bed in a Forest Hills den at 3625 Appleton St NW, biking around in sunglasses while Arthur Miller stood trial for contempt of Congress downtown. The only neighbor who recognized her was a six-year-old. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/31/mar…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

7 days ago

In July 1958, sixty-seven new buses rolled into Washington with chrome script above the windows reading Arcticooler. The man behind them, O. Roy Chalk, also wanted to build a 116-mile monorail to Dulles. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/28/o-r…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a week ago

September 11, 1886. A skinny 23-year-old catcher made his major-league debut on a swampy lot near the Capitol and beat Philadelphia 4-3. His name was Connie Mack. The whole neighborhood is buried under Union Station now. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/27/swa…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a week ago

Frank Lloyd Wright drew Washington a glass city in 1940: twenty-one towers, 2,500 hotel rooms, a 400-foot crystal bar, a theater for 1,000. DC's height limit killed it. The Hinckley Hilton sits on the hill instead. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/25/fra…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 weeks ago

Gordon Parks timed them at seven seconds: boots, coat, helmet, gone. The Black firefighters of Engine Company No. 4 also ate off plates the department labeled separately, and slept on cots assigned by race. DC's first all-Black firehouse, 1919–1962. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/24/eng…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 weeks ago

In 1921, Glen Echo wouldn't let Black Washingtonians through the gate. So a vaudeville star, an engineer, and a writer built their own amusement park in Deanwood. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway played the dance pavilion. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/24/sub…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 weeks ago

On June 30, 1960, five Howard students were arrested for trying to ride the Dentzel carousel at Glen Echo Park. Same horses are still spinning today. $2 a ticket. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/22/gle…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 weeks ago

In 1921 the future Duchess of Windsor was just a separated Navy wife in Georgetown, lunching at the Hotel Hamilton on K Street. That's where she met the Argentine diplomat who would unwind her marriage years before Edward ever did. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/22/wal…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

2 weeks ago

In 1987 the Army and Navy Club at 17th and I was gutted down to its 1912 stone shell. Reagan was supposed to cut the ribbon on the rebuild. A snowstorm scrubbed it. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/21/arm…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

4 weeks ago

Washington's first AI panic happened in 1950. A computer on Connecticut Avenue. Congress held hearings about machines replacing jobs. An MIT professor refused to help build them. Same argument. Different machine. ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/06/was… Live photo animated by Grok.

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a month ago

$3 million in cash hidden in the safes. Burning papers wafting from the chimney on Pearl Harbor Day. The old German Embassy at 1435 Mass Ave NW had secrets that nobody remembers anymore. ghostsofdc.org/2026/04/28/ger…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a month ago

Why is it named Constitution Ave? It used to be B Street. 1937 AI-enhanced clip of 14th St NW near Constitution Ave. An 80-year-old congressman renamed it in a 30-minute hearing. He died two days before Hoover signed the bill. ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/21/why…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

a month ago

Pennsylvania Ave near the Archives could have looked like this. 1964 plan: 10 tunnels underground. An 800×900 ft National Square. A monumental White House gate. Pennsylvania Avenue paved in brick. MoMA exhibited the model. None of it was ever built. ghostsofdc.org/2014/04/22/nev…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 years ago

Who were the ministers from Texas to the United States? ghostsofdc.org/2023/10/11/lon… @TheHistoryofTX @SaveTXHistory

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 years ago

Take a journey back to 1855 and marvel at this stunning painting that gives you a bird's-eye view of Georgetown, D.C. #ReRun ghostsofdc.org/2018/07/13/vie…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 years ago

Exploring Washington, D.C. Through a 1939 Aerial View #ReRun ghostsofdc.org/2023/02/27/14t…

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Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC

3 years ago

The origin of brunch in Washington can be traced back to 1895. It was first mentioned in local newspapers in the early 1900s. Are you feeling peckish? #ReRun ghostsofdc.org/2022/03/15/bru…