Streets of Washington

The monumental Cohen Building on the chopping block It's been called "The Sistine Chapel of the New Deal"

A lesser-known federal office building that deserves some attention:
streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/the-monume...

Vintage postcard of Howard University's Main Building, one of the first buildings constructed after the university's founding in 1867. It survived as a classroom and administration building until the 1930s and was torn down to make way for Founders Library (1939).

www.archpaper.com/2025/11/aia-...

A Gray Lady: The Imposing Eisenhower Executive Office Building Truman and others thought it a "monstrosity" but didn't change it.

New on Streets of Washington, the history of the beautiful building that Trump wants to paint white: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/a-gray-lad...

Preservationists sue Trump over plans to paint Eisenhower building The complaint alleges Trump’s plan would ‘permanently alter one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital’

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

What Happened to Marshall Hall? A grand remnant of the Colonial era in Southern Maryland

We're wrapping up our Potomac excursions with this in-depth look at Marshall Hall and its rich legacy: streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/what-happe...

Excursions on the Potomac - Part II Taking the Wilson Line to Mount Vernon and Marshall Hall was once the ultimate summer day trip

New on SoW: The Wilson Line on the Potomac:
streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/excursions...

The eastern side of the White House as seen from the Treasury Department, circa 1868.

A streetcar reaches the end of the Route 74 line on Upshur Street NW at Rock Creek Church Road NW, in 1957. The Eagle Gate of the US Soldiers Home is just behind the photographer.

Anti-immigrant riots shook American cities. In D.C., Marines were sent into the streets. This was 1857, and violence had been fanned by the American Party, which posited that the influx of German and Irish immigrants was responsible for declining moral standards.

www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

Once filled with pigeons, historic D.C. church undergoes $30M renovation A $30 million restoration effort seeks to save the National Baptist Memorial Church from a fate suffered by aging churches across the country that have been shuttered or repurposed for other uses.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Excursions on the Potomac - Part I Steamboats to Mount Vernon and Marshall Hall have a long history

New on SoW: Early steamboat excursions on the Potomac:

streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/excursions...

Harry Loveless's Union Station hotels Two 1920s hotels and an Art Deco apartment house on E Street NW

streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/harry-love...

Jimmy Lake, the Mayor of Ninth Street He ran a thriving nightspot on what was called Washington's Broadway.

streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/jimmy-lake...

Joseph and Stella Lapiana, natives of Sicily, opened the Cavalier Restaurant on 14th Street in Columbia Heights in 1940. The Cavalier was one of the earliest restaurants in DC to offer authentic Italian pizza. In 1949, the Lapianas sold it to “Gentleman Jim” Hance, who moved it to Twinbrook MD.

Saving the Magnificent Warner Theater It's the last of the city's 1920s vaudeville/movie palaces.

New on SoW, an enduring preservation success story:
streetsofwashington.substack.com/p/saving-the...

A streetcar (Route 72/74) makes its way along Maine Avenue SW, along the Southwest waterfront in May 1957. Docked at the waterfront is the USS Davis, a Forrest-Sherman class destroyer that had just been commissioned and was stopping at Washington for Armed Forces Day celebrations.

Rehoboth Beach boardwalk--postcard view from the 1950s

In July 1932, the Army attacked its own veterans in DC The "Bonus Army" protesters were routed and their encampments destroyed.

Remembering the Bonus Army 93 years ago:

Seafood and rum buns on the Southwest waterfront Contrary to urban legend, Hogate's didn't invent rum buns.

Remembering a nearly lost DC restaurant tradition...

This Hagerstown, Maryland railroad depot was built in 1890 and designed by E. Francis Baldwin in the trendy Romanesque style. It was demolished shortly after World War II. An almost identical station once stood at the Catholic University of America in DC. It was torn down in the mid 1980s.

Italian comfort food at 19th and M Streets NW Two popular restaurants once competed half a block from each other.

A bit of restaurant history on our Substack:

Tuck postcard, circa 1905, of a busy scene at the U.S. Capitol.

A diplomatic retreat on Meridian Hill Meridian International Center occupies two exquisite mansions designed by John Russell Pope.

A couple of beautiful mansions on Meridian Hill.

Victorian elegance at the Cochran Hotel, opposite Franklin Square It was one of three hotels that have stood at this intersection.

One of those "forgotten" DC places...

Garfinckel's, Washington's Best Dressed Department Store If you were White, Garfinckel's was the place to go for the latest fashions.

Another bygone Washington institution...

Column | The Smithsonian could be the beginning of Trump’s plan to edit history. Or the end. The president may not like how the museum and research institution tells the American story — but Americans do.

Great piece about our current sad predicament:

The Bartholdi Fountain, aka the Fountain of Light and Water ..and sometimes ice. It's a place to see and be seen.

There's more to know and appreciate about the Bartholdi Fountain than you might think...