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
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…
2
15
967
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…
1
4
959
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…
1
11
2,015
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…
2
11
1,549
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…
4
44
5
228
10,739
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…
1
1
19
3,730
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…
2
12
1,793
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…
3
22
2,132
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…
1
16
1,722
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…
1
4
1,109