Robert Pohl worked for many years as a computer programmer but recovered from that and became a full time stay-at-home dad. With his son now in school, he has expanded his horizons and become a self-taught historian. He has written books about his house as well as Emancipation in the District of Columbia. You can reach Robert at Robert[at]thehillishome.com
If you’re anything like me, to you Providence Park is mainly important for its hosting of Soccer on the Hill for the younger crowd. Only a small plaque (part of which is currently stolen) indicates Providence Park’s history as the site of one of DC’s oldest hospitals. In today’s column, I’ll look at the history […]
While in my usual columns about lost Capitol Hill I write about landmarks that are completely lost, it is good to see that I am not the only person trying to remember some of these buildings. Today I write about a place that I found out about only because there is still a small memento […]
Christ Church, located today 620 G Street, SE, was built in 1807 and consecrated in 1809, is the oldest church in Washington DC. It was not, however, the first building used by this congregation. That honor goes to a small wooden structure located nearby. Christ Church was created by an act of the Maryland legislature. […]
Our final ghost story for this month finds us back on the Capitol grounds, and the Russell Senate Office Building in particular. When it came time to clear the site preparatory to building the first office building for the Senate, a number of old buildings had to be torn down, including the old Casualty Hospital, […]
During a hearing in 1962 Representative H. R. Gross asked a witness “You have heard that old saying, Mr. Macy, that there is nothing so permanent in Washington as something temporary, have you not?” It was hardly a new sentiment at the time; one reason why the temporary structures built during WWII were made to […]