This Date in History

August 2, 1909: Park View easily beat Petworth in the Suburban League before a large crowd. The winners hit the ball hard and at opportune times. Six two-base hits were made. Several of these would have gone for triples, but a ground rule limited all hits to two bases.

This Date in History

July 29, 1922: According to an announcement made by the office of D. J. Dunigan, three groups of houses at Grant Circle on Varnum and Fourth streets had been completed. The homes were of brick construction, contained six and eight rooms, and had all the newest conveniences. The moderately priced homes were on deep lots, with some even having large brick garages in the rear.

Mr. Dunigan also stated that approximately 200 dwellings would be erected in this addition to Petworth. The tract covered six city blosck, with fifteen frontages. The boundaries of the development were Rock Creek Church Road to the east, Webster Street on the north, Grant Circle on the west, and Upshur Street to the south.

Then and Now: 824 Varnum St., NW

824 Varnum as it looked ca. 1920 (left) and as it appears today (2009).

This Date in History

July 5, 1922: A large display of fireworks concluded the Independence day exercises of the Petworth Citizens’ association at Grant circle. The evening entertainment had been postponed from the 4th due to rain.

Petworth Celebrates the 4th … in 1921

I love it when I’m able to find the story behind the pictures. Here, I’ve been able to match up the photographs of the Petworth 1921 July 4th festivities with the Washington Post’s account of the event.

The Post article, published the following day, reads:

Petworth Citizens Take Part in All-Day Program

An all-day program of patriotic exercises and athletic events featured the thirteenth annual celebration of Independence day in Petworth under the auspices of the citizen’s association. A gorgeous display of fireworks at Grant circle last night brought the celebration to a close.

Then and Now: 704 Quincy Street, NW

Left: Built ca. 1907, 702 and 704 Quincy are shown here ca. 1920. Right: Other than being brightly painted, the row of four that 704 belongs too is still in fairly good shape. As you can see below, each house has been painted to make it separate from the others. The only major change viewable from the street is that the corner house has been popped up and converted into multiple units. You can get a better idea from the second photo below.

Police Helicopters Wednesday Night

For those of you that live in northern Park View or southern Petworth, you may have wondered what was up with the police helicopters last night. It’s my understanding that a liquor store on Georgia Ave. was robbed there was a robbery and the helicopters were part of the police response.

If anyone knows more about this incident, please share what you know.

Then and Now: 519 and 521 Rock Creek Church Road

Then: 519 and 521 Rock Creek Church Road, NW, newly completed and offered for sale in this ad from May 29, 1910. Ranging from $4,950 to $6,250, the only major differences in these homes besides the price is the size of the lot and the choice of smooth stucco, textured stucco, and red brick.

Now: 521 Rock Creek Church Road sold on March 26, 2009, for $525,000. It was originally listed nearly a year earlier for $703,500, if memory serves.

Get Your Fireworks!!! While They Last

The firework stand on the corner of Rock Creek Church Rd & New Hampshire Avenue is finally open for business … so get them while they last!

Washington Fences

They say fences make good neighbors, and I’ll tell you, if I had this fence between me and my neighbor I think it would be an improvement. You just can find anything this nice anymore. If I recall correctly, this is on the 700 block of Rock Creek Church Rd.