When the James Madison Memorial Building finally opened on May 28, 1980, it filled a block that had been empty for almost 20 years. This was a block that had housed a great variety of buildings whose businesses had catered to the workers who crowded the Congressional buildings that abutted it to the north and […]

After posting last week’s column about changing the name of B Street SE, a commenter wondered how Georgia Avenue SE had become Potomac Avenue. Fortunately, others have already found the answer to that question, so I have been able to dig up a fairly coherent story about how it happened.

To all of us living on the Hill, the names of Constitution and Independence Avenues are a part of our daily routine just as much as H Street or Pennsylvania Avenue. They are not, however, the names originally given these thoroughfares by Pierre L’Enfant: He had given the designation of ‘Avenue’ only to those routes […]

Some of you may have seen the article in the latest Hill Rag, in which a Hill resident describes finding an old advertisement painted on a brick wall in their house. It’s on the wall they share with their neighbor’s house, and was clearly painted when only the neighbor’s house was standing, then later plastered […]

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 […]