Funkstown Blog

By Frank Leone We are nearing Halloween, so let’s start with the scary stuff. Albert H. Fish (1870-1936) was perhaps the most notorious serial killer in American history, known as the original bogeyman. He was born in Washington, D.C.  In 1875, when he was five years old, his father, a ship captain, died, leaving his mother with too many children to care for.  She entrusted Albert to an orphanage until age nine. He later moved to New York. In 1917, his wife ran off with their

A large crowd gathered in the Watergate Retail Plaza on October 10 th  to view Laurie Munn’s “Watergate Portraits.” The Watergate Museum and sponsors hosted the event. The exhibition will be on view until January 31 st . Check the Museum’s web site  for opening hours. (F.Leone  Oct 2025)   Up next : GW & The Watergate Museum present acclaimed journalist and historian Garrett Graff, author of Watergate: A New History, who will discuss the myths and realities of Watergate. Wedn

The DC Preservation League has posted a “ Digital Tour: Gone, But Not Forgotten (Architectural Ghost Tour) .” This tour includes 19 historic sites in D.C. that had historical and/or architectural significance but were still demolished.  Some of these lost places went down with a fight, but all these losses reflect a constantly changing city. The tour starts in Georgetown with Alexander Ray’s flour warehouse (1855-1974) (Ray also owned the F Street House  in Foggy Bottom). It

By Frank Leone Did you know that Foggy Bottom contains important Civil War locations? Camp Fry, south of Washington Circle, was the home...

By Denise Vogt Long before the first “ Arts in Foggy Bottom ” exhibition in 2007, the Foggy Bottom Association sponsored the “First...

By Frank Leone It’s virtually all residential today, but in 1920, the seven-block Foggy Bottom Historic District study area housed eleven...

By Frank Leone The 1792 map of the new City of Washington contained about 1,136 numbered blocks (called “squares”) and Square 1 is right...

More than 25 people joined our sold-out walking tour of the Foggy Bottom Historic District on a beautiful Saturday, September 20, 1025....

By Frank Leone The western end of Foggy Bottom’s Avenue of the Americas  (Virginia Avenue) is anchored by a statue of Mexican patriot...

By Frank Leone Since Denise Vogt and I founded the Foggy Bottom Association’s History Project in 2021, we have included George Washington...

By Frank Leone The large building with the graceful, dove-like roof that welcomes you to D.C. is the United States Institute of Peace...

By Frank Leone Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post  columnist Colbert King announced  on June 21 that he would retire in September...

From the DC History Center : “To help its community digitize important memories and histories, the DC History Center is now offering...

By Frank Leone You may have noticed that northeast of Washington Circle  is a triangular block of impressive dark red brick rowhouses....

By Frank Leone On October 26, 1939, John Ihlder, Executive Director of Washington, D.C.’s Alley Dwelling Authority, spoke to the...

By Frank Leone In 1890 about 10% of D.C.’s population - generally the poorest 10% - lived in alley dwellings. A 50-year effort to...

By Frank Leone Colbert King on Community Displacement and Renewal - Washington Post Pulitzer-Prize columnist and former West End resident...

By Frank Leone The Organization of American States  building is one of Foggy Bottom’s (and  D.C.’s) most beautiful buildings.  It...

Although these are challenging times for history advocates, the 51st DC History Conference was a tremendous success. The DC History...

By Denise Vogt The West End. In the early days of spring, imagine a time before K Street was lined with vehicle traffic and trees...

By Frank Leone The newly established (2024) Watergate Museum presented its first program  featuring NPR’s Scott Simon interviewing Joe...

History Project Co-Chairs Denise Vogt and Frank Leone were among the 70 judges for DC’s National History Day  event.  National History...

By Frank Leone The John Lenthall Houses, built circa 1800, are likely the oldest houses in Foggy Bottom. They were built on 19th Street,...

A special guest column by Emma Wiley Funkstown is happy to present a guest post by Emma Wiley. Emma is a public historian with a special...

Thanks to a generous grant from the Foggy Bottom Association Defense and Improvement Corporation, the FBA is now sponsoring up to three...

At the Martin Luther King Public Library . The DC History Conference is now over 50 years old and better than ever! Register now for the...

By Frank Leone At the southern edge of Foggy Bottom (2101 Constitution Avenue) stands the semi-classical National Academy of Sciences...

Join the new Watergate Museum (est. 2024) for “The Stories behind the Watergate Complex - a conversation with Joseph Rodota and Scott...

You can read about notable Foggy Bottom women in some of our prior Funkstown  posts – Foggy Bottom Notable Women - Architect Rodeck and...

By Frank Leone Last fall, the FBA History Project was honored to be included in a program on neighborhood history at the DACOR Bacon...

By Frank Leone One of our favorite activities at the FBA History Project is helping George Washington University students discover and...

By Frank Leone HistoryMakers  Digital Archive is the nation's largest African American video oral history collection and is now available...

The DC Office of Planning recently launched a digital tour of Washington, DC Black History Sites . The tour includes nearly 300 places...

By Frank Leone Stevens School (1050 21st Street, N.W.), built in 1868, is one of the city's oldest schools. Named for Pennsylvania...

By Frank Leone The early 1870s were a booming time in Washington. The Civil War caused a significant increase in population and housing...

Too many historic district property owners carry out substantial alteration, demolition, or new construction in violation of their...

Foggy Bottom Association History Project Co-Chairs recently presented a webinar  for the DC Preservation League’s neighborhood history...

By Denise Vogt & Frank Leone, Co-Chairs The FBA History Project  begins its fifth year of researching and sharing Foggy Bottom...

Best wishes for a new year of rediscovering Foggy Bottom and our city's past. FBA History Project Co-Chairs, Denise Vogt and Frank Leone,...

By Frank Leone 200 years ago, America welcomed the Marquis de Lafayette, “the Lancelot of the revolutionary set,” for a triumphant return...

General Lafayette has his Square in front of the White House, and his mentor, General Washington, has his Circle in Foggy Bottom/West End...

On December 11, 2024, Foggy Bottom Association History Project Co-Chairs presented a webinar for the DC Preservation League’s...

By Denise Vogt Thanks to the GWU Library Special Collections, you can now easily browse the back issues of the Foggy Bottom News  on-line...

By Frank Leone The DACOR Bacon House (1801 F St., two blocks from the White House) is one of Foggy Bottom’s oldest and most stately...

By Frank Leone Foggy Bottom Underground Railroad conductor Rev. Leonard Andrew Grimes – who helped 400 enslaved people seeking freedom –...

By Frank Leone and Denise Vogt On October 19, 2024, we led a walking tour which began in the Foggy Bottom Historic District and ended at...

By Frank Leone If you haven’t yet, be sure to vote  on or before Election Day, November 5th!  Washington D.C. has a complicated...

By Frank Leone   We have reported on the ongoing efforts to connect the Kennedy Center to the city and improve the highway wasteland in...

By Frank Leone In Foggy Bottom’s marshes, the “incessant croaking of frogs at night furnished material for ghost stories.”  One such...

By Denise Vogt Denise Vogt and Frank Leone recently welcomed Adrian Bloom , British author, speaker, horticultural specialist and owner...