The lost and untold history of Washington, DC. New and old content regularly tweeted automagically for your scrolling pleasure.
Washington, D.C.
Joined January 2012
- Tweets58.2K
- Following3.1K
- Followers27.7K
- Likes368
A Lutheran church on Thomas Circle, built as a memorial to the end of slavery, protected by Nation of Islam members while 14th Street burned in April 1968. The pastor who left quietly in 1911 later wrote one of America's bestselling novels.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/05/07/lu…
In 1978, a Washington Post reporter rented out his house off Foxhall Road. The tenant paid on time, remodeled the basement, and turned out to be the FBI running Abscam.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/26/ab…
In 1941, a man walked into the Toddle House diner at 1971 Calvert Street NW, complained about the coffee, and left with 12 stitches in his wrist. That little brick box is still standing.
ghostsofdc.org/2016/01/11/ca…
In 1867, an Army engineer scouted four sites to move the White House out of the swampy city, including Meridian Hill and a hilltop estate with views deep into Maryland and Virginia. Where could the President have lived?
ghostsofdc.org/2013/01/09/pr…
Adams Morgan is named after two elementary schools that sat a block apart in 1955. One was white, one was Black, and their principals decided it was time their neighborhoods met.
ghostsofdc.org/2022/03/16/na…
In 1967, Army soldier Allen L. Adams left Ft. Myer for a drink at a downtown DC bar and vanished. Nearly 30 years later, a bulldozer uncovered what was left of him.
ghostsofdc.org/2015/08/20/vi…
In 1941, a man walked into the Toddle House diner at 1971 Calvert St NW, complained about the coffee, and left with 12 stitches in his wrist. The little building is still standing in Adams Morgan.
ghostsofdc.org/2016/01/11/ca…
In 1621, a ship called the Tiger sailed up the Potomac to trade corn. 26 men aboard. The Nacotchtank ambushed them all. One captive lived with the tribe for 5 years, and his journals shaped what we now call Anacostia.
ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/13/an…
Carl Mydans photographed these row houses on Massachusetts Ave near Union Station in September 1935. The yards flooded after every rain, and the privy entrances sat underwater for days.
ghostsofdc.org/2012/12/04/ch…
February 11, 1964: a snowstorm forced the Beatles onto a train to DC, where 8,092 fans pelted them with jelly beans and Ringo's drum riser had to be spun mid-set.
ghostsofdc.org/2012/01/06/be…
In 1906, Montgomery County's prosecutor declared war on a strip of gambling dens and speakeasies just over the DC line. They outlasted him, outlasted Prohibition, and ended with a gambler shot dead in 1935.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/23/co…
You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at ghostsofdc.org/podcast
Ghosts of DC is now a podcast. Same stories, now something for the Metro or the walk to work.
First up: the Beatles’ first US concert, a shark in the Potomac, and why DC has no J Street.
For 72 years, one flag flew over Prince and St. Asaph in Alexandria without ever coming down. Union troops raised it in 1861 and simply never left this building.
ghostsofdc.org/2013/07/24/al…
In March 1977, 12 men seized three DC buildings and 130+ hostages. A reporter was killed, a councilman named Marion Barry took buckshot to the chest, and it ended with three ambassadors reading the Koran.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/22/ha…
In 1924, a 12-year-old girl in a white frock sat for the National Photo Company in DC. Her name sat under the image for 85 years. Then her son found it on Shorpy and filled in what she became.
ghostsofdc.org/2012/12/10/mi…
In March 1791, George Washington rode into Georgetown, checked into Suter's tavern, and in three days talked a group of Maryland farmers into handing over the ground beneath the White House and Capitol. Even the obstinate Mr. Burns came around.
ghostsofdc.org/2012/03/02/d-…
In 1927, Marie Rogers sold her Dupont Circle inn. Three years later, she stood on N Street at a trustees' auction and bought it back for $2,000. The deeds tell a story the Tabard doesn't.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/10/21/ta…
On March 1, 1976, a Foreign Service officer saw a promotion list in a Main State hallway, left work early, and bought a hammer, a shovel and a gas can. By midnight, five people at 8103 Lilly Stone Drive were dead.
ghostsofdc.org/2026/07/09/bi…
Hains Point isn't named for someone who lived there or fought there. It's named for the Army engineer who literally made the land, dredging it out of the Potomac starting in 1882.
ghostsofdc.org/2022/04/08/wh…
