This week marks the 100th anniversary of DC’s infamous “Knickerbocker Storm”. Our friend & colleague Larry Clark at Federal City Private Tours, shares the story in a special piece for the Historic America Journal.
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The image of United States Marines raising the American flag over the battlefield of Iwo Jima during the height of the Second World War is easily among the most iconic in American memory. In fact, this harrowing silhouette is the at the core of the Marine Corps War Memorial — a monument dedicated to all U.S. Marines that sits just outside the District of Columbia.
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This week marks the 177th anniversary of the first ever telegraph message being sent. This message, sent between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, opened the door for the inventions of instantaneous communication we enjoy today. In order to celebrate, we dive into the history of Samuel Morse’s invention and how revolutionary it truly was.
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In today’s Journal entry, we spotlight another fascinating stop on our new Millionaires, Mansions & Moonshine tour. At the iconic Heurich House, we tell stories about a dynamic immigrant turned business tycoon, the art of brewing, massive fires, World War I and spontaneous fermentation. OH MY!
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We have a new YouTube series here at Historic America! Our Virtual Tour episodes began last week with the FDR Memorial and continue this week with a look at perhaps the most famous DC landmark of all - the Lincoln Memorial.
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On this day forty years ago, President Ronald Reagan was shot by would be assassin John Hinkley, Jr. after delivering a routine speech. While some blamed the “20-Year Presidential Curse” for the attempt on President Reagan’s life, the real circumstances surrounding the lead up to and aftermath of the event itself are perhaps more bizarre than an alleged presidential curse.
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Historic America is excited to relaunch its Millionaires, Mansions, & Moonshine tour this upcoming weekend. The tour is a journey through all the splashy scandals and outrageous misbehavior of DC’s uber wealthy from the Gilded Age through Prohibition. It’s centered in DuPont Circle; a millionare’s enclave filled with amazing mansions of a bygone era. One of our favorite characters on the tour is Andrew Mellon - the famous art collector, businessman, and US Treasury Secretary who loomed large on the DC scene. Today’s entry is a look behind-the-scenes at one of our tour stops.
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Oak Hill Cemetery is a historic treasure in Washington DC. Visible from the grounds of Oak Hill, are the grounds of Mount Zion and Female Union Band Society cemeteries. The contrast of picturesque, meticulously preserved Oak Hill Cemetery, to the peculiar blight just east of it’s boundary, is a visual representation of systemic inequity, the indignities of segregation, and the devastating cultural erasure of gentrification.
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Join Historic America’s Aaron Killian and Christopher Surridge behind the scenes of the next installment of our “Dead, White, and Blue” series at Oak Hill Cemetery! While you wait however, make sure to catch up on the stories of famous Americans buried at Washington DC’s Congressional Cemetery.
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The murals in Washington D.C.’s U-Street Corridor, which has long been known as “The Black Broadway,” honor many important black American artists. Among them is Paul Robeson: singer, actor, athlete, and overall true Renaissance man.
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Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, Washington D.C. erupted in shock and outrage. The D.C. Riots of 1968 had a lasting physical and psychological impact, particularly around D.C.’s historically black U-Street Corridor. Following the violence and chaos only three businesses that witnessed that night remain standing today, over 50 years later.
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Using a string of far-flung military outposts as base camps for adventure, Catlin crisscrossed an untamed landscape, all-the-while painting a tremendous volume of Indian portraits and native scenes. The images were unlike anything the world had ever seen.
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I’m now on a mission to convince one of my regular groups that they should schedule a Baltimore day with yours truly as the group leader. Let me entertain and thrill you, damnit!
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Let’s stay among the Irish today and learn about the history of Swampoodle - a now vanished DC neighborhood that was once home to the city’s working class Irish (until Union Station came in and ruined everything).
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You remember the speech don’t you? “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”
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If you’re interested in lovemaking, life taking, and law breaking at the highest level, this is the tour for you!
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A thousand pardons for DC’s Boy Scout Memorial. Ever since it was unveiled on the White House Ellipse in 1964, your memorial has elicited mockery. Why? In truth - it’s odd and vaguely upsetting to look at.
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Are you interested in becoming a tour guide? Perhaps, you know someone who would be great at leading historic tours. Quit drilling friend - you just hit oil!
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We’re so excited about this tour, Rachel and I thought it deserved a video introduction. Would you give it a look for us?
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