On the property on which the Folger Shakespeare Library sits, there once stood a row of grand houses known as Grant’s Row, after the architect and builder who created them. The buildings were the grandest on the Hill when they were built, in 1871, and would have probably still be considered such if they had […]
In searching for something completely different, I came upon a picture of the Speaker of the House protecting their head from being pelted by something. No, it isn’t Steny Hoyer, and the projectiles aren’t tea-party brick-bats, but rather Representative Pat Boland of Pennsylvania, and he is protecting himself from large hailstones. This bizarre and – […]
In looking for picture of the subject of last week’s column, I saw that there was a church next door, one that had also been knocked down to make way for the Adams Library of Congress building. A quick search of the records turned up the information that this was the predecessor to the Lutheran […]
There has been freemasonry and freemasons on Capitol Hill since at least the day that the cornerstone of the Capitol was laid on September 18, 1793. George Washington was there that day in full masonic regalia, presiding over the ceremony. It was over ten years, however, before the masons officially opened for business on Capitol […]
George Washington may have given his name to our city, but he did not live to see the Federal Government move here. This did not mean that he was never in the city that he always preferred to call “The Federal City.” Indeed, he was here numerous times, often on his way from Mount Vernon […]